In a discovery claim in the $2 BILLION lawsuit filed by Nikola Motors against Tesla for patent infringement, Tesla lawyers allege that the design for the Nikola One truck was bought for $1500 in 2015 from a Croatian designer. If true, this may invalidate all of Nikola Motors claims against Tesla.
Theres also this... in the article there are unconfirmed reports that both the SEC and Treasury Department are investigating Nikola Motors, most likely for securities fraud.
Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman of Nikola, resigned after an investment fund accused him of making false assertions about his company’s technology.
www.nytimes.com
Head of Nikola, a G.M. Electric Truck Partner, Quits Amid Fraud Claims
Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman of Nikola, resigned after an investment fund accused him of making false assertions about his company’s technology.
By
Neal E. Boudette and
Jack Ewing
Trevor Milton, a college dropout, turned his entrepreneurial visions into Nikola, a start-up aiming to develop long-haul semi trucks powered by hydrogen and electricity. General Motors was so taken with the idea that it took a $2 billion stake in the company, even though it essentially has no revenue and has not produced a single truck
But Mr. Milton’s ascent has come to an abrupt end. On Sunday night, Nikola announced that he had resigned as chairman amid allegations that he had deceived investors about the company’s technology.
His departure followed a
report by the investment fund Hindenburg Research on Sept. 10 accusing him of making numerous false assertions about Nikola’s technology, including producing a video in which a truck was rolled down an incline to make it look as if the company had developed a working prototype.
Hindenburg, a short-selling firm that said it was aiming to profit by betting Nikola’s share price would go down, called Nikola “an intricate fraud.” Its report appeared two days after the company and G.M.
agreed to cooperate on production of battery-powered pickup trucks and hydrogen-powered heavy trucks.
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