Nikola Corporation
Nikola Corporation was an American manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles and fuel-cell electric vehicles. It presented several concept vehicles from 2016 to 2020, the first of which was a natural gas fueled turbine-electric semi truck. The company went public on June 4, 2020. In February 2022, the company projected deliveries of between 300 and 500 of its first battery-electric semitrucks — known as the Nikola Tre — to customers. The company delivered its first two battery-electric trucks in December 2021. The company is named in honor of Nikola Tesla, but not related to the inventor. Nikola Corporation is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
In September 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice launched investigations into securities fraud allegations. In July 2021, a United States federal grand jury indicted Nikola founder and former CEO Trevor Milton, but did not indict the company. The indictment charged Milton with three counts of criminal fraud—for "lying about 'nearly all aspects of the business'"—and two counts of securities fraud. Publicly traded shares in Nikola dropped to around after falling from over $65 in mid-2020, when its market valuation had exceeded that of the Ford Motor Company. In October 2022, Milton was found guilty in federal court of three of four counts of fraud against him, over statements he made while CEO of the company.
On February 19, 2025, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stating that it would seek to sell off all or most of its assets. Gordon Brothers offered for sale over 100 Nikola trucks, hydrogen business machinery and inventory products.
History
Founding (2014–2019)
Nikola Corporation was founded by Trevor Milton in 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah., the first 5,000 Nikola One hydrogen-powered glider trucks were slated to be built by Fitzgerald Glider Kits in Tennessee. In March 2019, Nikola acquired a 389-acre parcel of land in Coolidge, Arizona, for $23 million, with future state and local tax breaks. Nikola said in 2019 that they expected truck factory construction to start in 2020, truck construction in 2021, and the fabrication of 35–50,000 trucks per year by 2023.
In February 2019, Mark Russell was hired as company president. Russell had most recently been president and CEO of Nikola Corporation's investor, Worthington Industries.
In April 2019, Nikola held the Nikola World event in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two-day midweek event included a public demo day to show off the Nikola Two truck, the Nikola Tre truck, the Nikola NZT UTV, and the Nikola WAV watercraft.
Going public (2020)
In March 2020, Nikola Corporation announced its plans to merge with VectoIQ Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company run by former General Motors vice-chairman and Stephen Girsky. This resulted in the combined company being listed on the NASDAQ exchange with the NKLA ticker symbol. As part of the merger, founder and CEO Trevor Milton had his title changed from CEO to Executive Chairman and Nikola President Mark Russell became president and CEO. Nikola's stock began trading on June 4, 2020, a day after the merger was completed. By June 9, the shares had more than doubled since they began trading, as investors continued to bet on the growth potential of electric transportation. At the end of June, Nikola started taking reservations for pickup truck, the Badger, even though a prototype had not been shown to the public.The company was valued at around $13 billion in early August 2020, compared to its revenue in the first six months of 2020 of $80,000.
On September 8, 2020, Nikola and GM announced a partnership, by which GM would acquire an 11% stake in Nikola. GM would also earn the right to nominate one member to Nikola's board. In return, GM agreed to use its manufacturing facilities to begin production of the Badger, as well as supply fuel cells and batteries to Nikola globally. Nikola stock jumped by 50% after the announcement.
Fraud allegations and guilty verdict (2020–2022)
On September 10, 2020, short seller firm Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Nikola of being "an intricate fraud" perpetrated largely by Milton. Further verification by Financial Times and Research Enquirer confirmed the report's claim regarding a showcased Nikola One rolling down a gradual slope with no onboard propulsion and instead by using the force of gravity. The stock fell by 10% that day while the stock of GM, which had made an agreement with Nikola days earlier, fell by 4%. By September 12, Nikola stock had fallen by 36%.Nikola called these claims "false and misleading" and threatened legal action against Hindenburg. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York showed interest in the report. Previously, Milton had alleged that those who were short-selling Nikola stocks are fans of rival company Tesla and are "anti-Nikola or paid attack accounts". In response to the release of the Hindenburg report, Mary Barra, CEO of GM, said her company conducted appropriate diligence before its deal with Nikola. Reports that became public on September 14 stated that the Securities and Exchange Commission had started a probe into the fraud allegations and on September 15, the Department of Justice began an investigation into Nikola as well.
On September 21, 2020, Executive Chairman, founder and former CEO Trevor Milton announced his resignation from Nikola, and Stephen Girsky became non-executive chairman of the board. News of the allegations caused the share price of Nikola Corp to drop by 20%. Following the resignation, Nikola then "issued copyright-takedown notices targeting critics on YouTube who used clips of the promotional video in which a Nikola One semi-truck was seen rolling down a hill" without a working drivetrain. The Drive called Nikola's action an "abuse of YouTube's copyright takedown system".
On September 23, BP backed away from a potential partnership to develop hydrogen refueling stations for Nikola's EV Trucks; Nikola's stock price fell by more than 25% intraday after BP's statement. The partnership was cited as a critical component in Nikola's business plan for its electric vehicle trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Nikola had planned to announce the BP partnership days after the GM partnership.
In November 2020, GM announced that the proposed deal to take an equity stake in Nikola would no longer occur. A revised deal was proposed, having GM provide Nikola with the promised fuel-cell technology, but leaving out the 11% stake in the company as well as no longer producing the Badger electric pickup truck for the company. The Badger was subsequently cancelled.
In December 2020, Republic Services stated that their previously announced partnership with Nikola would be terminated. The two companies had agreed to jointly develop zero-emissions garbage trucks in August 2020, including the production of at least 2,500 to 5,000 trucks for the Republic Services fleet by the start of 2023. Nikola's shares fell 9.8% after the announcement was released. Analysts call the cancelled order a short-term setback, allowing the company to channel more focus towards the core of the business, being the production of semi-trucks designed for long-haul transport.
In February 2021, the company publicly dropped their Powersports unit along with any plans they previously had to produce any of the powersports concept vehicles they had shown, including the Nikola WAV watersports vehicle. Also in February, as part of YE2020 filings with the SEC, the company stated that they now intended to produce just 50-100 Nikola Tre vehicles in 4Q2021. In June 2021, Nikola invested $50 million in a new hydrogen factory headed by Wabash Valley Resources to produce fuel for semi-truck fuel stations across the Midwest. In July 2021, the company announced plans to add five new Class 8 truck dealers in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Delaware, Florida, Maryland and Virginia. In late July 2021, a United States federal grand jury returned an indictment against Trevor Milton that included three counts of criminal fraud, including "lying about 'nearly all aspects of the business'" and two counts of securities fraud. Milton pleaded not guilty to the charges and was freed on $100 million bail, secured by two Utah properties. Nikola's share price dropped further and traded at $12 after falling from near $65 in June 2020, when Nikola had a company valuation in excess of the Ford Motor Company.
Following the indictment of Milton in July 2021, the company stated "We remain committed to our previously announced milestones and timelines and are focused on delivering Nikola Tre battery-electric trucks later this year from the company's manufacturing facilities." In October 2022, Milton was found guilty in federal court of three of four counts of fraud against him, over statements he made while CEO of the company. On December 18, 2023, he was sentenced to four years in prison.
On March 27, 2025, Milton was fully pardoned by President Donald Trump.
2022–present
In August 2022, Nikola announced that it would be acquiring the battery company Romeo Power. On August 4, 2022, it was reported that Nikola had delivered 48 vehicles to dealers, and reported a revenue of $18.1 million. In September 2022, all 93 of its Tre Class 8 battery-electric vehicles were recalled due to an issue with seat belt anchor assemblies. Nikola published in October 2022 that they had completed the acquisition of Romeo and "look forward to executing on the opportunities ahead."In June 2023, a Nikola truck caught fire at its headquarters due to a coolant leak inside its battery pack. In August 2023, a second truck's battery pack malfunctioned, which led the company to announce a recall of all the battery-electric semitrucks it had made to that point. It suspended sales of its battery-electric trucks until a repair would become available. On September 4, 2023 a third truck caught fire at Arizona Lithium in Tempe, Arizona, and on September 8, a fourth truck fire occurred near Nikola's headquarters in Phoenix.
Nikola sold 112 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in the first half of 2024. Nikola’s expansion of its own hydrogen mobility, HYLA, includes establishing 14 refueling solutions by year-end.
In February 2025, Nikola filed for federal bankruptcy. By then, shares for the company were valued at 44 cents each, and the company had somewhere between $1 billion to $10 billion in debt, as opposed to only $500 million to $1 billion in assets. Despite Nikola’s collapse, customer interest in hydrogen trucks for heavy-duty applications—particularly those requiring long range, fast refueling, and high productivity—remains evident.
As of July 2025, customers remain in limbo, actively pursuing contingency plans while hoping for a positive outcome from the bankruptcy court. The shift from Chapter 11 to a potential Chapter 7 liquidation remains a concern, though executives like Brad Bayne of Duncan Trucking express hope that a strategic buyer will emerge to continue Nikola’s zero-emission mission. State and port authorities are seen as potential allies in supporting hydrogen infrastructure development, which could help sustain existing FCEV operations beyond Nikola’s collapse.
Lucid Motors has acquired select facilities and assets previously belonging to Nikola Corporation, subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The acquisition does not include Nikola's business, customer base, or technology related to Nikola's hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. Lucid plans to offer employment to more than 300 former Nikola employees in various roles across Lucid's Arizona facilities. The acquisition adds over 884,000 square feet to Lucid's Arizona footprint, including state-of-the-art manufacturing and warehousing buildings, extensive battery and environmental testing chambers, and more.
Hyroad Energy's acquisition of Nikola Corporation's hydrogen fuel cell trucks and related assets was a strategic move to enhance its zero-emission fleet capabilities. The deal, which included 113 Nikola Tre fuel cell electric trucks, spare parts, software platforms, and intellectual property, was made at a fraction of the estimated value of the assets, providing Hyroad with immediate capacity to grow its fleet. The acquisition was part of Nikola's bankruptcy auction, and Hyroad plans to establish maintenance and parts facilities to support the operation of the trucks. The trucks will primarily be deployed in California, where Hyroad is expanding its hydrogen refueling infrastructure. This acquisition significantly advances Hyroad's mission to provide turnkey hydrogen trucking solutions, reducing the complexity and risk associated with adopting zero-emission technologies.