Electric-truck maker Nikola has little in the way of momentum. But at least the modest amount of propulsion it does have is real this time.
The Arizona-based company infamously faked a promotional video to prove that its hydrogen-powered truck engine was functional. In fact the vehicle was using gravity to roll downhill. Short seller Hindenburg Research figured this out, and eventually so did the US Department of Justice. Nikola’s founder Trevor Milton is set to serve four years in prison for securities fraud over faking the company’s prospects.
Nikola did not collapse immediately after Milton’s legal problems. It very fitfully commercialised its hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks, along with conventional battery electric trucks. But like many other clean energy concepts that raised hundreds of millions in capital during the pandemic boom, the company’s operating chops failed to match marketing hype.