Nikola CEO Steve Girsky remains upbeat despite the myriad of challenges the company is facing, according to FreightWaves.

“I think our prospects are great,” Girsky said in an interview with FreightWaves. “I think 2024 is going to be the best year in the history of the company.”

Nikola founder Trevor Milton was sentenced earlier this month to four years in prison on wire and securities fraud convictions. Nikola wrested $165 million from Milton in arbitration in October. And Girsky said the company is pursuing all avenues to recover as much as it can to cover the tens of millions it paid for Milton’s defense as part of a September 2020 separation.

Nikola is producing fuel cell trucks at its plant in Coolidge, Arizona, and beginning deliveries to customers.

Nikola is patching together a network of hydrogen fueling stations in California that would allow the trucks it sells there to operate.

The challenges remain daunting. Nikola needs to nail down a source — maybe two sources — of batteries to repair 209 battery-powered electric vehicles recalled last August and resume taking orders. It needs certainty that Volvo Group will supply battery packs for the fuel cell trucks after acquiring the battery business of Proterra Inc. out of bankruptcy in November.

“Everything we’ve heard so far says they want to continue to run the business as a stand-alone and scale it,” Girsky told FreightWaves.

Nikola’s stock languishes around $1 a share — it traded intraday at 87 cents last week— in part because more than 1 billion of 1.6 billion authorised shares are on the market. Newly activated shares dilute the value of longer-term holders.

Then there’s the revolving door of senior executives. Two CEOs, two CFOs, the head of the energy business and others departed in 2023.

“There’s been a lot of turnover. But I think morale at the end of the year is much better than it was when I took over [in August],” Girsky said. “The situation is stabilizing from a personnel perspective. There’s more to come. But I think we’re all starting to row in the same direction.”

Girsky, 61, became Nikola’s fourth CEO in as many years, giving up the role of board chairman to oversee daily operations.

“The board asked, ‘Do you want to do a search?’ I said, ‘No. This company’s had four CEOs in four years. It needs stability.’ I wanted to lead this team.”

Girsky recruied Mary Chan, his partner at VectoIQ, as Nikola’s first chief operating officer. He elevated Steve Schindler, VectoIQ’s CFO, from director to chairman to succeed him.

The retirement of longtime CFO Kim Brady in April, and his successor, Stasy Pasterick, in November, after only six months in the role, leaves a major function to fill.

Girsky also said he expects no additional mass layoffs, following the release of 270 employees in June.

Girsky said customers whose battery-electric trucks were recalled in August will begin getting their trucks back in the first quarter of 2024. He declined to name a battery supplier or suppliers.

“We’ll share the decision at a later date. You should just know we have a plan A and a plan B,” he told FreightWaves.

“The goal is to start to get them back in customer hands in Q1 and then build from there. So, we get the trucks back to customers, we restock the dealers and then we have a handful that we can incrementally sell.”