Just last week we wrote about General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) announcing a strategic partnership with Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA), giving it an 11% stake in the company. As part of the deal, GM will produce the Nikola Badger by the end of 2022 while Nikola also gains access to GM’s Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell technology.

"Nikola is one of the most innovative companies in the world. General Motors is one of the top engineering and manufacturing companies in the world. You couldn’t dream of a better partnership than this," Nikola founder Trevor Milton said of the announcement.

Shares of both companies jumped on the news, with shares of Nikola gaining more than 40%. For Nikola, however, the enthusiasm was short-lived as the company faced pressure for the rest of the week after being accused of being a fraud.

"Nikola is an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies over the course of its Founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton’s career," Hindenburg Research wrote.

"We have gathered extensive evidence—including recorded phone calls, text messages, private emails and behind-the-scenes photographs—detailing dozens of false statements by Nikola Founder Trevor Milton."

The extremely detailed report has 53 questions for Milton to answer before coming to the conclusion that "Nikola is a massive fraud constructed on dozens of lies."

"We have nothing to hide and we will refute these allegations. They have already taken up more time and attention than they deserve," Nikola said in response.

"We have retained leading law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP to evaluate potential legal recourse, including with respect to the activist short seller and any others acting in concert."

Shares of Nikola obviously didn't react well to the company being accused of fraud. Shares gave up all of their gains from the GM news and then some, ending the week more than 40% below the highs following the GM news on Tuesday. Shares of Nikola are now down nearly 70% from their high in June.

Well-known short-seller Citron Research agreed with Hindenburg Research's assessment of Nikola, tweeting "Congrats to Hindenburg for exposing what appears to be a total fraud." Citron also said it would cover half of all legal expenses Hindenburg Research may accumulate.

GM is standing by Nikola despite the allegations of fraud.

"We are fully confident in the value we will create by working together," GM said.

"We stand by the statements we made in announcing the relationship."

It appears Nikola will have a legion of detractors that believe the company is a fraud to deal with just like it's larger rival Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has had to for years.

BEIJING — Chinese automakers have announced plans to increase sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, a niche segment in the world's biggest auto market, and the government is expected to announce supportive new policies, possibly as early as this month.

SAIC Motor, China's biggest automaker, which has partnerships with Volkswagen and General Motors, said on Sunday it plans to sell over 10,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2025.

Commercial vehicle maker Beiqi Foton Motor, a BAIC unit, said last week it aims to sell 4,000 hydrogen vehicles by 2023, and 15,000 such vehicles by 2025.

The announcements came after a finance ministry official said earlier in September that China will roll out a new package of policies to support hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

China now has a fleet of just over 7,000 hydrogen vehicles, compared with over 4 million pure battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Current policies to support electric vehicles offer subsidies on sales. But new supportive policies will require local city governments and companies to build up a more mature supply chain and business model for the industry. Three industry sources familiar with policy discussions said authorities could announce a new policy as early as this month.

Pilot cities will likely include Beijing, Shanghai, as well as cities in northern Shanxi and eastern Jiangsu provinces, according to sources, who declined to be named as the issue is not public.

The Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some global automakers from Toyota to Hyundai have already announced plans for hydrogen vehicles in China

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/09/14/hydrogen-vehicle-sales-china/

Nikola Corporation and General Motors Co. have announced a strategic partnership that begins with the Nikola Badger and carries cost reductions through Nikola’s programmes, including: Nikola Badger, Nikola Tre, Nikola One, Nikola Two and NZT. As part of the agreement, Nikola will utilize General Motors’ Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell technology, representing a key commercialization milestone for General Motors.

Nikola will exchange $2 billion in newly issued common stock for the in-kind services and access to General Motors’ global safety-tested and validated parts and components. General Motors will be subject to a staged lock-up provision beginning in one year and ending in June 2025. General Motors will engineer, homologate, validate and manufacture the Nikola Badger battery electric and fuel cell versions.

Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman, Nikola, said: “You couldn’t dream of a better partnership than this. By joining together, we get access to their validated parts for all of our programs, General Motors’ Ultium battery technology and a multi-billion-dollar fuel cell programme ready for production. Nikola immediately gets decades of supplier and manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested production-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and investor confidence. Most importantly, General Motors has a vested interest to see Nikola succeed. We made three promises to our stakeholders and have now fulfilled two out of three promises ahead of schedule. What an exciting announcement.”

Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, General Motors, said: “This strategic partnership with Nikola continues the broader deployment of General Motors’ all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec fuel cell systems. We are growing our presence in multiple high-volume EV segments while building scale to lower battery and fuel cell costs and increase profitability. In addition, applying General Motors’ electrified technology solutions to the heavy-duty class of commercial vehicles is another important step in fulfilling our vision of a zero-emissions future.”

The agreement with Nikola extends General Motors’ utilization of its fuel cell technology to the Class 7/8 semi-truck market and represents a high-volume commercialization of its leading Hydrotec fuel cell system and complements the company’s battery-electric propulsion. Fuel cells will become increasingly important to the semi-truck market because they are more efficient than gas or diesel. General Motors sees additional growth opportunities in multiple transportation, stationary and mobile-power end markets.

General Motors’ battery development work is ongoing. Its Ultium battery technology roadmap includes silicon anodes and lithium metal anodes, which will improve vehicle range, affordability, and reduced dependence on rare and costly metals. It is already demonstrating automotive-grade durability and significantly higher energy density.

Nikola will be responsible for the sales and marketing for the Badger and will retain the Nikola Badger brand. The Badger was first announced in Februay 2020 and will make its public debut in December 2020 at Nikola World 2020 in Arizona. Badger production is expected to start in late 2022 at a location to be announced at a later date.

９月１日は防災の日。 日々の生活をイメージしたある実験が行われました。 実験用の集合住宅で行われたのは、災害で停電が発生したとの想定で、外部からの電力供給を48時間止める実験です。 【記者リポート】 「48時間停電することを想定した実験が行われているのですが、このように、部屋の電気はつけることができるんです」 ここは、大阪ガスの社員が実際に暮らしている住宅で、家庭用燃料電池などがあり、停電していても、最大で1200ワットの電力を生み出すことができます。 こちらのお宅では、扇風機のほか、３台あるエアコンのうち、１台は使用可能。 比較的涼しい玄関の近くで過ごすなどして暑さをしのぎました。 【実験に参加した人は…】 「本当に災害が起こった時にはこういう形で生活ができるんじゃないか、始めの３日間くらいは生活できるんじゃないかと実感をすごく持ってます」 大阪ガスでは、新型コロナウイルスの影響で自宅避難のニーズが高まる中、停電が起きても自立して発電できる自社の家庭用燃料電池を広めたいとしています。

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5b4e7b701dd81d29fb686abb3048784cbee858d9

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has given its approval for five Japanese companies to participate in a demonstration project for high-power fuel cell (FC) vessels commercialisation.

The five companies are NYK Line, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) and ENEOS Corporation.

The project is expected to commence this month and will be the first effort of Japan to develop a fuel cell vessel and to conduct a demonstration operation.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) can be completely eliminated when fuel cells are used as a power source.

The companies are planning to develop a high-power FC vessel that will weigh 150t and will operate as a medium-sized tourist ship.

The feasibility study of the vessel and the fuel supply will commence this month, while the vessel design and equipment installation process will begin next year.

The construction and production are planned in 2023 with pilot operation expected in 2024.

https://www.ship-technology.com/news/japanese-companies-fuel-cell-vessel/

Major Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K. said Tuesday that it will conduct a trial to put high-power fuel cell commercial ships into practical use with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corp. and others.

Using hydrogen as fuel, the ships will not emit carbon dioxide.

It will be the first test of its kind to be conducted in Japan, according to Nippon Yusen.

The companies will develop fuel cell batteries for vessels. They will then start operating a vessel equipped with such batteries as a midsize tourist ship that can accommodate around 100 people.

The ship will be based in the port of Yokohama. The test will be held until February 2025.

The companies will consider whether to introduce the batteries to small coastal vessels, including cargo ships, on the basis of the results from the test.

Eneos Corp., which will also participate in the test, will develop a hydrogen station for vessels.

The international shipping industry is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 2008 by 2050.

Seeing hydrogen fuel as a viable option for the industry, Nippon Yusen and others are speeding up efforts to develop related technologies.