The Nikola Badger, without ever being given a thorough once-over by the public (even in prototype form), is bringing in 1,500 reservations per day in the dawn of product’s open-for-businenss timeline according to Trevor Milton, Founder and Executive Chairman of Nikola Corporation.
This week on Twitter, Milton divulged the reservation numbers, as well as Nikola’s plans for the marketing rollout of the model. On August 24, the company will show off photos of the truck’s interior. The public will see the truck’s frame, batteries, and axles on September 21. Mid-October, teaser photos of the truck “in the wild” will be released and one month later video of the full truck will be published.
Then, on December 3-5, the Nikola Badge makes it big debut as part of #NikolaWorld2020.
Milton went further, engaging with Nikola enthusiasts inviting them to have input on which version of the truck he drives onto the stage as part of the debut- one in black or blue?
Nikola is selling battery-electric (BEV) and fuel cell electric (FCEV) versions of the midsize truck. Badger BEV starts at $60,000 and has a 300-mile range. Badger FCEV models are fueled by hydrogen, have a 600-mile range and start at $80,000.
Buyers can choose from three packages for each vehicle: Honey, Predator, or Instinct. Honey requires a $5,000 deposit and gets you one of the first models off the assembly line. It is signed by Milton. Additionally, buyers received $5,000 off the purchase price of their vehicle (Nikola matches the deposit), two backstage meet-and-greet passes for Nikola World 2020, and 25 entries in a Badger giveaway contest. The deposit is fully refundable. If the purchaser uses the passes before asking for a refund, the forfeit the $250 value of the passes.
The Predator package sells for $1,000. It includes $1,000 off the purchase price of their vehicle (Nikola matches the deposit), two tickets to Nikola World 2020, and five entries in a Badger giveaway contest. The deposit is fully refundable. If the purchaser uses the passes before asking for a refund, the forfeit the $250 value of the passes.
Nikola’s Instinct package is structured similarly and is priced at $250. It features a Nikola-matched $250 off the purchase price of their vehicle, one ticket to Nikola World 2020, and one entry in a Badger giveaway contest. The deposit is fully refundable. If the purchaser uses the passes before asking for a refund, the forfeit the $250 value of the passes.
The Honey Badger packages is sold out with around 1,000 reservations taken. Milton says that sales have so far netted around $100 million in future revenue. According to his tweet thread, Milton is also publicly committing to being transparent regarding sales figures. something that chief rival Tesla has not done regarding Cybertruck reservations.
Nikola released this rendering of the interior of the Badger last year.
Photo courtesy of Nikola Corporation
According to data received by Finbold.com, reservations for the Tesla Cybertruck amount to more than the total number of vehicles the company made in 2018 and 2019, combined.
Production of both vehicle is slated to begin in 2021. Meanwhile, GMC has plans to put its Hummer all-electric truck on sale around the same time and an EV version of the Ford F-150 is on a similar timeline.
