# Electric truck video was fake \[Update 18-Dec-2023 CEO sentenced to prison\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126 "2020-10-03T16:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/1 "2020-10-03T16:40:04Z")
Had not heard of this company until recently. Pretty good fake. > **[Nikola admits prototype was rolling downhill in promotional video](https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/09/nikola-admits-prototype-was-rolling-downhill-in-promotional-video/)** > > “This thing fully functions,” Trevor Milton said in 2016. It didn't. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/2 "2020-10-03T16:50:35Z")
An update on the cover-up: > **[Nikola issues copyright takedowns against critics who use rolling-truck clip](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/10/nikola-tries-to-silence-critics-with-copyright-takedowns-of-youtube-videos/)** > > Nikola video of truck that didn't work is at center of YouTube copyright battle. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/3 "2020-10-03T20:11:05Z")
That’s par for today’s world. You get caught running a con and the first thing you do is file actions to ensure the law-abiding folks exposing you have to suppress their legit evidence of your crime. Sounds like a perfect setup for the whistle blowers to launch a RICO and/or anti-SLAPP counteraction. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/4 "2020-10-03T21:36:46Z")
Oh, and things got crazier and crazier. I was keeping up with everything on Jalopnik. Their CEO was whacky and … well … > **[Sexual Assault Accusations Drive Ex-Nikola CEO To Delete Twitter Account A...](https://jalopnik.com/sexual-assault-accusations-drive-ex-nikola-ceo-to-delet-1845145778)** > > Nikola Motors CEO and prolific Twitterist Trevor Milton stepped down from the EV startup yesterday amid accusations that he had misled investors. But it seems to have taken public accusations of sexual assault, from a family member, to finally push... ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/5 "2020-10-04T01:50:39Z")
Aren’t lots of truck ad videos fake? You see a pickup zooming up a rough road on a mountain–and it real life it only crawls (particularly if you don’t want to destroy the vehicle’s suspension). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/6 "2020-10-04T02:32:28Z")
It’s a semi, not a pickup. Visual puffery is one thing, telling investors in a public company that a truck was moving under its own power when it was actually rolling down a hill is quite another. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/7 "2020-10-04T03:00:37Z")
BTW, I believe that the fakeness of the truck demo was first confirmed (though suspected earlier) by the [short seller report](https://hindenburgresearch.com/nikola/) from Hindenburg Research. (Yes, they named themselves Hindenburg.) It’s a fascinating report and goes into exhaustive detail about all the fakery and lies at Nikola. The stock continues to plummet and their CEO has resigned and their putative deal with GE is now in jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/8 "2020-10-04T13:07:36Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > (Yes, they named themselves Hindenburg.) Not a bad name for a company whose product is predictions about which things currently floating high are full of hot air\* and doomed to crash and burn soon. * * * \* Yes, I know the HIndenburg flew on hydrogen, not hot air. Gimme a little room for hyperbole here. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/9 "2020-10-04T14:52:08Z")
certainly reminds me of Elizabeth Holmes, she was so fake she even used a deeper fake voice to sound more powerful ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/10 "2020-10-04T22:57:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > certainly reminds me of Elizabeth Holmes, Or Liz Carmichael. > **[1974 Dale: Dollar For Dollar, The Best Car Never Built! - Riverside Green](https://jackbaruth.com/?p=14113)** > > Note: Another post by Tony LaHood. Enjoy. -TK Sherman, set the way-back machine to 1974—to the wonderful days of seat belt-ignition interlocks, presidential resignations, 55 mph speed limits, and soaring Continue Reading → ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/11 "2020-10-05T13:45:21Z")
First time I’ve ever heard of this company. Are we all just pretending not to notice that calling themselves “Nikola” is a blatantly transparent attempt to piggyback on the fame of Tesla? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/12 "2020-10-05T13:54:54Z")
So they’re doing the same thing that Elon Musk’s company is doing? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/13 "2020-10-05T13:57:08Z")
I think a fair number of people think Tesla is a made up name and not named for a real person. Weezer had a song Buddy Holly and younger people did not know he was a real person ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/14 "2020-10-05T17:44:58Z")
Right, but in the case of both these companies, [Nikola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Corporation) and [Tesla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla,_Inc.), they are both named after the inventor. Nikola Corporation _The company is named after Nikola Tesla but is not related to the inventor._ Tesla, Inc.: _Founded in July 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors, the company’s name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla._ There is also the rock band, [Tesla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_(band)). Popular guy, he is. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/15 "2020-10-05T19:04:11Z")
Just watch out if they start shooting promotional videos for aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/16 "2020-10-05T20:06:49Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Are we all just pretending not to notice that calling themselves “Nikola” is a blatantly transparent attempt to piggyback on the fame of Tesla? Honestly, I did indeed initially assume Nikola was affiliated with Tesla (as in Elon Musk’s company). I’d previously heard that Tesla was developing a semi, and when I heard Nikola my mind made the obvious connection to Nikola Tesla, and assumed that was what Tesla was calling their semi, or that they’d spun off their semi truck division as a separate subsidiary called Nikola, or something like that. I had to research the company before I realized Nikola Corporation had no affiliation whatsoever with Tesla, Inc. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/17 "2020-10-05T20:41:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Just watch out if they start shooting promotional videos for aircraft. The aviation industry is full of start-ups with glitzy videos promising shiny new air machines with impossible levels of performance and price. Just send in a $100K deposit to reserve your early delivery date! It rakes in the (wealthy) rubes every time. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/18 "2020-10-05T20:55:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The aviation industry is full of start-ups with glitzy videos promising shiny new air machines with impossible levels of performance and price. Just send in a $100K deposit to reserve your early delivery date! I have seen a lot of that happen in the light aircraft industry, aircraft and engines that were never delivered. Those guys didn’t even have to work hard to rake in the money, they sent out a press release and the money came rolling in. The lucky guys only lost their money, some of these aircraft fell apart in the air. Take a look at the record of [Jim Bede](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bede), aircraft designer extraordinaire. He had a long string of business and technical failures but never had a problem finding new investors after each failure. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/19 "2020-10-05T21:00:49Z")
Yeah, Bede is sort of the elder stateman of that breed. He at least appeared to be trying, at least in the early years. The late 60’s BD-4 was the RV-4 of its day. The -5 & especially -5J? Not so much. Nowadays it seems like many of these are pure cons. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126/20 "2020-10-05T21:18:10Z")
I don’t think Bede was trying to con anyone, he was just a bad businessman that people were throwing money at. The results were kind of predictable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-truck-video-was-fake-update-18-dec-2023-ceo-sentenced-to-prison/922126.md?page=2)