August 15, 2023: On Monday, shares of electric truck maker Nikola extended smartly lower after the firm reported a memory of all the battery-electric semi trucks it has made to date, 209 in total, following an investigation into a recent fire found a flaw.

On Monday, shares were down regarding 11% in mid-morning trading to roughly $1.75 each.

The recalls do not affect Nikola’s latest model, a semi-truck suggested by a hydrogen fuel cell. Presentation of the fuel cell trucks began last month.

On Friday, Nikola said that a third-party investigation found that a coolant leak inside a battery pack was likely responsible for a fire in a truck parked at the firm’s Phoenix headquarters on June 23. That fire spread to other nearby trucks, destroying five.

Nikola had initially suspected that the trucks were deliberately set on fire in an act of destruction. It now believes that “foul play or other external factors were unlikely to have caused the incident,” it said in its Friday night statement.

Nikola said that a second truck used by the company’s engineering team had a similar battery-pack malfunction on August 10. However, the problem was caught before it became a significant fire.

Following the third-party report, Nikola’s engineers determined that a component in the battery pack, manufactured by an outside supplier, was the likely culprit. It expects to have a repair available soon.

The company is halting sales of its battery-electric trucks until the repair is available.

Nikola remotely monitors all of its battery-electric trucks for signs of a similar defect. Although the company said it believes the risk is low, only two battery packs out of over 3,100 made have had the problem noted; it advised operators that while they can continue to use the trucks, the trucks should be parked outside until the repair is made.