Nikola Motor was once considered Tesla’s most serious competitor, especially in the area of alternative fuel tractors. But after a rapid rise, one blow comes after another.
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It has only been a few months since Nikola Motor was able to boast a higher value than that attributed to Ford. An ambitious manufacturer of hydrogen tractors and commercial vehicles, which has not produced virtually anything, has been going through a relatively challenging period since then.
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It all started when Nikola was accused by the investment company Hindenburg Research of allegedly buying technology and masquerading it as a product of its own research. This resulted in problems with some suppliers / partners and subsequently in the resignation of the company’s founder Trevor Milton.
He called the allegations made by Hindenburg Research a lie, but the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission had enough charges to launch an investigation. Unfortunately, Nikola’s problems do not end there.
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According to the Financial Times, the company bought (and did not pay for) its own technology, but also design. Specifically, we are talking about the design of the One hydrogen tractor, one of the most important concepts of the brand, which was to be created in Croatia. However, the company pretends to be its own.
The story, which colleagues from the Financial Times allegedly have two witnesses, was supposed to start writing as early as 2015. At that time, Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola Motor, was to travel to Croatia to negotiate with Rimac. Negotiations on cooperation on an unspecified project did not turn out, but Milton did not leave empty-handed.
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Milton was to pay several thousand dollars to a certain Adrian Mudri, one of Rimac’s designers, for drawings and 3D models of his “Road Runner” tractor concept, which Mudri had created as part of his dissertation. The name Road Runner was supposed to be the working name of the Nikola tractor for a while, adds the Financial Times website.
Although Nikola Motor itself acknowledged the connection with designer Mudri, in a statement to the Financial Times, it denied that its design should be used for the final production tractor Nikola One. “Truck Nikola One was designed and patented by Nikola,“The company should have declared it.
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„During the development of the vehicle, it is common to license third-party designs, and although Adrian Mudri’s design license was acquired at the beginning of the development, he was not part of the design team and its design differs significantly from the design developed by Nikola for Nikola Ona,Quotes The Drive website with a link and the Financial Times.
After making serious allegations, the departure of the founder, problems with some suppliers and partners, and the ongoing investigation by two respected US institutions, Nikola finds himself in a very unpleasant and thorny situation, which could significantly damage it in the future. It will definitely be interesting to follow her future.
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