I have no idea how they managed to survive for years after that. The CEO was found guilty of fraud, and it didn't seem like they had any actual product.
It's the natural extension of the startup ideology to non-software industries. How many times on this website have you seen 'founders' be celebrated for doing 'epic demo hacks' at least this fraudulent? How many tech startups achieve massive valuations with a broken product and a totally hypothetical pathway to profitability?
It's easy to see through this showmanship when the product is a car. So why not when the product is software?
Can't speak for anyone else, but I have an issue when it's software too [1].
I think the reason that it's more prevalent with software is that it's easier to hand-wave away stuff, because you can say "well we're creating the market for this field". I don't fall for that stuff anymore, but I did when I was first starting in this field.
You mean anyone that uses growth hacks? There have been many growth hack posts here. Pretty much every single start up has used some to attract investors.
You have a bunch of people who consider themselves "the smart money" who have been had, and if they pull out, that's an acknowledgment that perhaps they're not that smart.
They decidedly did not deliver what they promised. Their hydrogen truck did not work, which is why their promo video had to tow a truck up a hill and film it rolling down.
Ah yes. The Nikola Gravity Drive™ has been a roaring success and is now powering millions of trucks worldwide. This bankruptcy is merely a blip in their continuing success.
I have no doubt it's entirely possible to make an electric truck, but you still have to spend a year in the trenches actually doing it and solving all the little design problems before you have something to show off.
Especially if you weren't previously making ICE trucks. Then you have to learn how to make a truck from scratch, instead of just the new electric parts. You can of course buy an ICE truck and convert it for your prototype, which I think is what Edison Motors did, but then you'll be showing off a rusty old truck that won't get any venture capital or journalist attention because it's nowhere near shiny enough.
No they aren't. We've been making ICE vehicles for 100 years. The drivetrains are well understood and don't present any technical hurdles. Especially in trucks. EV heavy trucks are still pretty uncharted territory.
There were literally electric cars 140 years ago. Getting enough energy density in a battery is a definite technological problem that's difficult, but making a car move with an electric motor isn't.