Month: September 2020

Enlarge / A Nel/Nikola refueling pump is shown in a 2019 publicity photo. (credit: Nikola Motor Company)

Shares of hydrogen truck startup Nikola plunged 26 percent on Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was struggling to find partners to build a planned network of hydrogen fueling stations. Nikola's stock closed at $21.15 on Wednesday, a decline of 57 percent from the $50 peak reached on September 8, the day Nikola announced that GM would design and manufacture its Badger pickup truck.

Shortly after the GM deal was announced, the short-selling firm Hindenburg Research revealed that Nikola founder Trevor Milton wasn't telling the truth at a 2016 event when he claimed that the Nikola One truck on the stage "fully functions." Nikola now concedes that the truck never worked and that a promotional video of the truck was made by rolling it down a hill.

Nikola argued that this was old news because Nikola is no longer marketing the Nikola One and has a working prototype of the Nikola Two. But the revelations threw the company into chaos and forced Milton to resign on Sunday.

Enlarge (credit: Seagate)

Earlier this month, Seagate announced an 18TB entry in its Ironwolf Pro lineup. Western Digital answered Wednesday morning with 18TB versions of its Red Pro and Purple consumer-targeted lines. The new 18TB Red Pro and Purple drives follow the company's first 18TB CMR drive, a Gold released in mid-July.

Both NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives—Seagate's Ironwolf Pro and Western Digital's Red Pro—are CMR drives and not the more performance-problematic SMR technology. Western Digital's announcement of the 18TB Purple did not mention either SMR or CMR at all, which we must assume means it is an SMR drive.

Seagate's 18TB Ironwolf Pro is available for ordering at select retailers now for $580 retail, but actual stock isn't expected until mid-October. Western 18TB Gold drives are available now for $593; the 18TB Red Pro and Purple drives are expected sometime in October but no prices have been announced yet.