Nikola Starts Taking $5,000 Reservations for Their Badger Pickup
We all love some electric vehicle competition, but that doesn’t mean any mention of Nikola won’t stir up some debate about the hydrogen-truck manufacturer.
Their Badger pickup wasn’t going to be made, until CEO, Trevor Milton, decided he didn’t like the Cybertruck. Now, they’re taking reservations of $5,000, even though a prototype still hasn’t been shown.
The company has been stuck in a lawsuit with Tesla, after they accused the latter of stealing their electric semi-truck design. They also are proponents of hydrogen fuel cells, which Elon Musk has derided as stupid in the past.
The disagreements don’t end there, in fact they come full circle, and relate to reservations.
Previously, Nikola has refunded all of its reservations for their semi-truck. They claimed that using reservation dollars to run their business was antithetical to their business philosophy, and alluded to other companies that commonly take preorder money (Tesla).
This dig at Tesla, which was a couple of years ago to be fair, shows just how caught up in the rivalry Nikola stands. First they sue over the Semi, now they taunt with the Badger preorders, saying they are only releasing it because the Cybertruck doesn’t tickle their fancy.
The two companies are linked by their names, both references to Nikola Tesla, but the exchange seems particularly one-sided. While we would love to see more electric-pickups on the road, especially ones with 0-60 times under 3 seconds, and ranges of 600 miles like the Badger, it would be nice if the companies developing these products weren’t so shady.
Nikola’s recent revaluation set them as being worth $25 billion, although they haven’t brought a single product to market. As for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, time will tell if they’re anything to call home about.
