[St00k]

Interesting to see this tie-up between Nikola and GM,. Makes me think this thing is more real now. I've always thought of Nikola as vaperware.

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General Motors and Nikola Corporation announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday in which GM will supply hydrogen fuel-cell systems and battery systems to Nikola.

Furthermore, GM will build the upcoming Nikola Badger pickup truck starting in 2022.


The Badger will be built with GM’s Ultium battery systems, which include cells jointly developed between GM and LG Chem. The Badger will be offered in at least two powertrain versions: one battery-electric and the other leveraging the advantages of fuel cells and batteries together.

GM will build Nikola Badger electric truck, supply hydrogen fuel-cell tech

A partnership gives GM a portion of Nikola in exchange for necessary fuel-cell tech to power commercial trucks and more.

www.greencarreports.com

 

[eHauler]

GM really got a good deal on the partnership:

1. GM gets 11% stake in Nikola and they can start cashing out 1 yearvfrom now
2. GM is licensing IP to Nikola. (Where is Nikola's super battery and super efficient fuel cell?)
3. Nikola is paying GM 700 Million to expand GMs factories
4. GM has a cost plus model- they build the badger, get profit, and Nikola has to sell the end product
5. GM is the exclusive provider of fuel cells and batteries to most of the world for Nikola, even the 18-wheelers.
6. GM responsible for engineering and design of the Badger
7. GM is keeping 80% of the ZEV credits.

 

[St00k]

I don't think I have enough time in my life to read this whole thing, but it's FASCINATING!

Apparently Nikola is just a big pile of lies

Nikola: How to Parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America

(NASDAQ:NKLA) Today, we reveal why we believe Nikola is an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies over the course of its Founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton’s career.We have gathered exte…

hindenburgresearch.com

This one is my favorite

• We reveal how, in the face of growing skepticism over the functionality of its truck, Nikola staged a video called “Nikola One in Motion” which showed the semi-truck cruising on a road at a high rate of speed. Our investigation of the site and text messages from a former employee reveal that the video was an elaborate ruse—Nikola had the truck towed to the top of a hill on a remote stretch of road and simply filmed it rolling down the hill.

 

[R99]

First of all, with this deal what is left for Nikola to do? GM is doing all the work now.

Also, I love that the research group is called Hindenburg. Pretty fitting for this article. I've been going through it and there's some more gems.

• The company’s Nikola One “reveal” was a total farce. We corroborate Bloomberg’s earlier work debunking Trevor’s claims regarding its semi-truck that “this thing fully functions and works…this is a real truck” and provide new evidence.
• We present behind-the-scenes photos showing that Nikola had an electricity cable snaked up from underneath the stage into the truck in order to falsely claim the Nikola One’s electrical systems fully functioned.
• Nikola’s key partners and backers have been cashing out aggressively. Worthington, Bosch and ValueAct have all sold shares. Worthington sold $237 million shares over a 2-day span in July and another $250 million in August. We think they know exactly what type of company Nikola is, and we expect that as Nikola’s GM “partnership” boosts the stock price, key holders will continue to exit.
• Trevor has ensured he is not going down with the ship. He cashed out $70 million around the IPO and amended his share lock-up from 1-year to 180 days. If he is fired, his equity awards immediately vest and he is entitled to collect $20 million over two years. Milton has laid the groundwork to extract hundreds of millions from Nikola years before ever delivering on his promises.

 

[islander98]

Wow! If even a small percentage of this is true, what the heck is GM doing? Are they spending their money just to buy a brand and hope they can make it legitimate? Barnum once said...there is one born every minute.

 

[JimmyEV]

Wow! If even a small percentage of this is true, what the heck is GM doing? Are they spending their money just to buy a brand and hope they can make it legitimate? Barnum once said...there is one born every minute.

Yeah some of this stuff seems to crazy to be made up. If I were GM I'd rather be focusing on the Hummer rather than the Badger. But maybe their plan in the long run is to gut Nikola and take whatever fuel cell tech they may have.

 

[JimmyEV]

Some big news coming from Nikola! There might be some validity to these claims that @St00k shared. Nikola's CEO Trevor Milton is leaving the company.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1307927801966866438

 

[R99]

It's official, GM will NOT be making the Badger.

GM drops plans to build Nikola’s EV pickup

The new deal, a non-binding memorandum of understanding, eliminates plans for GM to take an equity stake in the startup as well as plans for building Nikola's Badger electric pickup truck.

www.autonews.com