Nikola Corp. has made two leadership changes to advance the company’s commercial and energy efforts. Pablo Koziner, currently president of energy and commercial, is the new president of commercial. Carey Mendes, currently global head of energy finance, has become president of energy. They will report to Michael Lohscheller, recently named president of Nikola Corp., and who will be the incoming CEO, effective January 1, 2023.
In his new role, Koziner will lead all of Nikola’s sales activities, including business development, sales, service, dealer network and charging solutions. Since joining Nikola in June 2020, Koziner has played a key role in expanding the company’s hydrogen infrastructure capabilities, including the recent announcement of three California hydrogen station locations to advance and scale up Nikola’s long-term hydrogen distribution solutions to service market demand. Prior to Nikola, he spent more than 19 years at Caterpillar Inc. in roles of increasing responsibility and most recently served as president of solar turbines.
Mendes, Nikola’s global head of energy finance since October 2021, brings more than 20 years of operational expertise and experience in the energy and renewables space. In his new role, he will be responsible for all aspects of the company’s energy business, including infrastructure, supply and trading, technology and development, and finance. Before joining Nikola, Mendes held several senior global roles at BP, including CEO for BP’s North America and Latin America Energy Trading and Marketing division, and leadership positions over BP’s Global Crude Oil Trading team and Global Renewable Energy Trading teams.
“These appointments reflect the depth of our executive team and our focus on helping the industry transition to zero-emissions through the sales of Nikola’s battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks and the energy infrastructure to support them,” says Lohscheller. “It is an exciting and pivotal time for Nikola and these new positions for Pablo and Carey will place greater focus on two critical parts of our business and help drive our next phase of growth. I am confident they will step seamlessly into their new responsibilities and be instrumental in delivering innovative solutions to decarbonize the transportation industry.”