Nikola (not diesel) is dead—or is it?

After a prolonged run of scandal and financial struggles, Nikola Corporation has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is seeking approval to sell off what operations it can. It’s a huge blow to the vision of zero-emission transport, as the company was promising both battery-electric and hydrogen heavy-duty trucks, as well as green hydrogen to power them. “We’ve essentially solved the biggest transportation problem in our history,” former Chief Executive Trevor Milton told Automotive World back in 2016, just ahead of the Nikola One Class 8 heavy-duty truck’s public debut in December that year.

Milton was a charismatic leader whose passion and confidence in the company’s vision secured a devoted following reminiscent of a pre-political Elon Musk. In 2016 he was boasting: “We believe we will pass the current market leaders like Daimler, Paccar, Volvo and Navistar in sales orders within the next 12-24 months.” His rallying cry of “diesel is dead” epitomised the transformative nature of his mission, but it wasn’t matched by technological readiness.