General Motors is investing $2 billion in the electric truck maker Nikola, the company announced Tuesday.
GM will take an 11 percent stake in the Phoenix-based company, which makes zero-emission semi trucks using battery or hydrogen fuel cell technology, and be able to nominate one member of Nikola’s board. Nikola will gain access to GM parts, its Ultium battery technology and a multibillion-dollar fuel cell program. GM said it expects to receive $4 billion in benefits from the investment.
“It’s a perfect relationship. They’re one of the purchasers, manufacturers, engineering houses in the entire planet,” Nikola founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
GM’s investment led to a 45 percent spike in shares for Nikola while GM jumped by almost 9 percent, according to CNBC.
“As we started to talk, we realized we shared a common vision of the world of creating an all-electric future,” GM CEO Mary Barra told CNBC.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares fell by 15 percent on Tuesday after having risen 400 percent this year, CNBC reported.