Nikola Corporation

Nikola Corporation (formerly Nikola Motor Company) was an American manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 by Trevor Milton in Salt Lake City, Utah, the company aimed to transform the Class 8 trucking industry with zero-emission alternatives to diesel semi-trucks. Its flagship products included the Nikola Tre BEV - a battery-electric semi with up to 300 miles of range - and the Nikola Tre FCEV, a hydrogen fuel cell semi capable of up to 500 miles of range with zero tailpipe emissions. The company also planned to build out a proprietary hydrogen refueling infrastructure network to support its FCEV fleet, positioning itself as a vertically integrated clean transportation solution.

Nikola went public via a SPAC merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp in June 2020, initially drawing enormous investor enthusiasm and reaching a market cap of ~$13 billion - briefly exceeding Ford's valuation. The company subsequently entered high-profile partnerships, including a landmark deal with General Motors for technology and equity, and secured orders from Anheuser-Busch and other fleets. However, Nikola was dogged by severe controversy starting in late 2020 when short-seller Hindenburg Research accused founder Trevor Milton of widespread fraud. Milton resigned, was federally indicted in 2021, and convicted in 2022 on three counts of fraud. The company itself was not indicted and continued operations, delivering battery-electric Tre trucks beginning in December 2021 and recalling 209 trucks in 2023 due to battery fire incidents.

Despite significant effort to establish a commercial foothold in hydrogen trucking - a sector critical to decarbonizing long-haul freight and diversifying the US energy supply chain - Nikola was unable to achieve financial sustainability. On February 19, 2025, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and initiated an asset sale process. Lucid Motors won the bankruptcy auction for select facilities. The hydrogen trucking assets and customer base were separately acquired by Hyroad Energy, which continues to pursue the hydrogen-as-a-service model for freight decarbonization. Nikola's story represents both the promise and the peril of early-stage hydrogen mobility in the US energy transition, and has materially shaped investor and regulatory attitudes toward the sector.