Trucking News: Nikola Motors is a fraud?

ironpony

Professional Pot-Stirrer
nikola_one_14-2-640x325.jpg

Been seeing videos on YouTube today, claiming that the entire enterprise is fraudulent, the "breakthroughs" in hydrogen and battery technology never happened, and the video of the Nikola One truck rolling along a highway was unpowered on a downgrade.

The Nikola scam starts at about 7:00 in the video. There are others being posted as well.

 
They fired a CEO or something like that. They have been getting money from companies large and small to pre order their amazing save the world trucks.

I think the trucks were supposed to hit the market a few years ago.

Scam you say? Lol
 
I remember lots of people investing something like $1500 for a deposit on these trucks. It was 2-4 years ago, can't remember exactly.

Truck was going to be ready within a few months. Cost of the truck, can't remember, but the cost included the fuel for a year, or something like that.

No network for fueling, but it was going to magically be built.

Here we are, a few years later, and nobody has anything to show for their investment.
 
I'm not surprised. Fuel cells that exist are surprisingly touchy, so claiming they're ready for prime time in trucking is suspicious to begin with.
I don't fault anybody for making the $1500 investment. Looked like horrible odds to me, so I passed, but had they hit it would have been a very low cost truck to run as there would be no fuel or maintenance costs if I remember correctly.

For me, though, it was a case of too good to be true.
 
I remember lots of people investing something like $1500 for a deposit on these trucks. It was 2-4 years ago, can't remember exactly.

Truck was going to be ready within a few months. Cost of the truck, can't remember, but the cost included the fuel for a year, or something like that.

No network for fueling, but it was going to magically be built.

Here we are, a few years later, and nobody has anything to show for their investment.
same as with tesla
 
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.


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
  • Sept. 21, 2020

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.

(more)
 
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.


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
  • Sept. 21, 2020

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.

(more)
I'm not defending Nikola but I mean all this badmouthing is by a company that will lose its ass if the company doesn't fall hard and soon.
 
I'm not defending Nikola but I mean all this badmouthing is by a company that will lose its ass if the company doesn't fall hard and soon.
The "badmouthing" is by investors who have been defrauded to the tune of billions. Probably why the SEC is investigating them. Then there's the nonexistent proprietary battery technology. How about the "truck" the filmed rolling downhill with no engine... being passed off as a functioning truck.
 

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