Nikola presented itself as a promising start-up with a full focus on electric mobility last decade. With the Badger, an electric pickup truck, it sought to target a rapidly growing market in its home country of the United States. It was also working on an electric truck, the Nikola Tre hydrogen-electric truck. The plans convinced General Motors to partner with Nikola for the Badger, while Iveco hooked up with Nikola for the Tre. However, things quickly fell apart when Trevor Milton, the founder, was accused of being deceptive and ended up resigning. It turns out now that he was actually guilty of the crime.
The jury believes that the 40-year-old former top executive deceived shareholders and other stakeholders with his pleasant words about Nikola. Prosecutors charged that Milton claimed Nikola developed its own battery technology and that the brand's truck did not work at all, even though he claimed it did. The ball got rolling when investor and shareholder Hindenburg Research investigated and came across foul play.
It is not clear what punishment Milton will face. Nikola, now led by former Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller, says it is pleased that it can now close this chapter. It remains to be seen when we will hear from the company again. Patent drawings by Nikola surfaced last summer, but nothing concrete has emerged from them as yet.
Source: Reuters