Nikola Hydrogen Truck Video Fraud: Deceiving Capital Markets with Prop Vehicles and AI Rendering

Who Gets Targeted

The primary victims include institutional investors chasing the new energy and hydrogen sectors, retail investors in the secondary market, and industry partners drawn in by Nikola's 'Tesla of the trucking world' narrative. Many investors lacked the professional technical expertise to evaluate hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks, making them susceptible to meticulously edited promotional videos, test-drive clips, and the founder's highly inflammatory public demonstrations. Their psychological vulnerability stemmed from a desperate desire for the 'next Tesla' growth story, leading them to ignore red flags in technical due diligence and substitute future imagination for present facts.

骗局怎么运作

• Around 2016, Nikola unveiled the Nikola One hydrogen fuel cell heavy truck, claiming to have mastered breakthrough hydrogen energy technology. The founder, Mr. A, showcased a video of the truck driving at high speed during the launch event, implying the vehicle was capable of real-world road testing, which attracted early attention and capital interest.
• In 2020, short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report alleging that the Nikola driving video was actually a prop vehicle rolling down a gentle slope, with no powertrain installed at the time. The report also pointed out that the company exaggerated its battery technology, the progress of hydrogen station construction, and falsified key customer orders.
• Faced with the allegations, Nikola initially denied them but later admitted that the truck in the video was not self-propelled, but rather pushed onto a gentle slope to be filmed while rolling via gravity. An internal company investigation confirmed that some statements were false or misleading, and founder Mr. A subsequently resigned as Executive Chairman.
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched investigations. In 2021, Nikola agreed to pay $125 million to settle SEC civil fraud charges, admitting to misleading investors regarding its business, technology, and product progress. Founder Mr. A was also criminally charged.
• In 2022, a federal jury found Mr. A guilty of three counts related to securities fraud, and he was sentenced to four years in prison in 2023. Although Nikola secured a brief partnership and a $2 billion investment intent from General Motors, subsequent cooperation shrank significantly, and the company ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection in 2025.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The vehicle's movement in promotional videos did not match real power output characteristics, such as the lack of exhaust heat waves or acceleration jerks, which were later confirmed to be the result of downhill coasting.
• 🚩 The founder frequently used vague expressions like 'milestone breakthrough' and 'changing the world' but refused to provide third-party technical verification or reproducible test data.
• 🚩 Key customer order numbers were exaggerated to the thousands, while so-called 'pre-orders' were mostly non-binding letters of intent.
• 🚩 After the short-seller report was released, the company failed to provide effective rebuttal evidence, instead attempting to shift focus by replacing executives and changing PR narratives.
• 🚩 Partners like General Motors significantly scaled back their cooperation after due diligence, retaining only a small equity stake and component supply, indicating doubts about the authenticity of the technology and the quality of assets.

真实案例

• In September 2020, Hindenburg Research released a short-selling report alleging that Nikola's promotional video was fraudulent and the vehicle was not self-propelled. Nikola's stock price fell sharply on the day the report was made public.
• In December 2021, Nikola agreed to pay a $125 million settlement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, admitting to misleading investors in multiple public disclosures. Details of the settlement amount and SEC penalties are available in official announcements.
• In December 2023, Nikola founder Mr. A was sentenced to four years in prison for three counts of securities fraud and other charges. In February 2025, Nikola announced bankruptcy protection, marking the end of the first global hydrogen heavy truck stock.
• In February 2025, hydrogen and electric truck company Nikola Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, planning to auction off all assets for orderly liquidation. On the day of the filing, the company had only about $47 million in cash on its books, despite a peak market capitalization of $30 billion. The company failed to recover after the founder was charged. (Source: https://www.autoweek.com/news/a63852456/nikola-truck-startup-bankruptcy-filing/)
• At the end of 2023, Nikola's founder was sentenced to four years in prison, and the company paid a $125 million civil penalty to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A previous short-selling report had exposed that its promotional video was faked and the vehicle was not self-propelled, causing the stock price to drop significantly in a single day. (Source: https://www.autoweek.com/news/a63852456/nikola-truck-startup-bankruptcy-filing/)

Official Stance

• In December 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an announcement declaring a settlement regarding fraud charges against Nikola Corporation, involving a $125 million fine.
• In October 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Nikola founder Mr. A had been found guilty of securities fraud-related charges by a federal jury.
• In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement confirming that Mr. A was sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding investors.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Before investing in new energy or cutting-edge technology companies, require technical verification reports issued by independent third-party institutions; do not rely solely on promotional videos or founder speeches as the basis for due diligence.
• ✅ Verify key data in promotional materials, such as order quantities, test mileage, and hydrogen station construction progress, by tracing them back to publicly auditable contracts or regulatory filings.
• ✅ Pay attention to the continuous scrutiny of target companies by short-sellers, media investigations, and industry experts, and compare information from different sources to avoid being brainwashed by a single narrative.
• ✅ If investing in a publicly traded company, use the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system to check company filings and compare them for inconsistencies across previous disclosures.