Nikola’s vision included using hydrogen rather than the Tesla standard electricity to power it’s trucks. The plan was to have a worldwide hydrogen fueling network with H2 stations available everywhere.
In December 2016, the company presented to the public its prototype Nikola One truck. Before, during, and after the unveiling event, Milton repeatedly claimed the truck was “fully functional”. But now it’s clear, that there was a lot more “smoke and mirrors” than hydrogen powering the truck.
The truck didn’t have a hydrogen fuel cell, or for that matter, any motors and gears to drive the wheels.
Perhaps Hindenburg’s most damaging allegation is, that a year later, in January 2018, the Nikola One truck still wasn’t functional. The video that appears to show the truck was driving was actually rolling downhill. Critics are questioning whether the Nikola One was operational.
In a September 14 press statement, the company said, “Nikola One was an incredibly successful proof of concept.”
Nikola went public on June 4. This followed a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: VTIQ), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The newly infused Nikola debuted with a $12 billion market value. Less than a week later it mushroomed to $30 billion.
