Nikola Purchases Battery Supplier Romeo Power for $144 Million

Electric truck manufacturer Nikola is looking to start making battery packs, as shown by its recent acquisition of a battery supplier.

Nikola announced that it purchased battery supplier Romeo Power for a total of $144 million on Monday, sold at a price of 74 cents per share, according to Automotive News.

Romeo Power has been supplying batteries for Nikola’s prototypes, as well as other companies such as LG Energy Solutions and Proterra.

In June, Nikola said it was contemplating building battery packs on its own to boost production volumes and reduce costs, starting as soon as 2024.

Nikola Stole Design for Truck Patent, Claims Tesla in Court https://t.co/0vUtSz4gFA

— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) September 25, 2020

The past several months have seen electric vehicle (EV) battery prices skyrocket, with prices increasing even more due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nikola plans to give Romeo Power $35 million in interim funding to help the battery manufacturer continue building battery packs, before officially starting the deal.

Nikola was forced to pay a $125 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last December, after Founder Trevor Milton was charged with securities fraud over a non-working prototype that was made to look like it propelled itself down a hill.

In 2020, General Motors was set to purchase Nikola, but ended up dropping the deal after the allegations had surfaced.