Posting Siconik's comment on arstechnica: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/09/nikola-admits-prototype...

To address some of the "how will GM react" question:

- GM has conspired with Nikola management to, for the lack of a better term, rob Nikola investors. The chances are great that GM knew exactly what Trevor Milton and Nikola really are, and price they extracted for playing along reflects that.

Nikola's supposed USP was this "amazing, decades-ahead" technology that somehow made hydrogen-based propulsion not just competitive, but a non-brainier. They were going to drive everyone out of the market! But don't take my word for it:

https://nikolamotor.com/pdfs/Nikola_Pre-Sale_June13_FINAL.pd...

Quote:

“Our technology is 10-15years ahead of any other OEM in fuel efficiencies, MPGand emissions. We are the only OEM to have a near zero emission truck and still outperform diesel trucks running at80,000 pounds. To haveover7,000reservationstotaling more than 2.3 billion dollars, withfive months remaininguntil our unveiling ceremony, is unprecedented,”said Milton.TheNikola One truck leasing program costs $4000 to $5000 per month,depending on which truck configuration and options the customer chooses. The first million miles offuel is included with every truck sale, offsetting 100% of the monthly lease for every owner. An average diesel burns over $400,000 in fuel and racks up over $100,000 in maintenancecostsover 1,000,000 miles. These costs are eliminated with the Nikola One lease.“We believe we will pass the current market leaders likeDaimler, PACCAR, Volvo and Navistar in sales orders within the next 12-24 months.Just imagine the orders that will come in once we begin taking dealer applications. We have shown other OEMs and their shareholders why they should be nervous about NikolaMotor Company. Some of the top class 8 dealerships in America have reached out and are willing to either add our brand or move away from their existing brands,” he added.

So, with this amazing tech at hand, let's look at the terms GM was able to secure from Nikola:

- $700M in cash to build a production line that GM retains full ownership of.

- $2B to design a vehicle platform that GM retains full ownership of.

- Profit on the front end, as an exclusive major drivetrain component supplier

- Profit on the back end, thanks to a cost-plus nature of the contract

- Profit off all of Nikola's alleged other products (Class 7/8) trucks, as exclusive drive train supplier

- Most of Nikola's ZEV credits

That's quite a haul from the company that claimed to have breakthrough technology, which, funny story, they appear to have discarded as part of this deal. The cost-plus contract on top of being an exclusive supplier is also a head-turner: GM would be ordering parts from.. GM to build a truck for Nikola and then charging cost+margin back to them. Nice arrangement if you can get it!

Equally interesting is what GM is not getting involved in:

- Distribution and sales

- Support, Service and Warranty

You are free to draw your own conclusions, but if Nikola was actually a legitimate company, this would have been one of the most fundamentally terrible deals in the history of North American capitalism.

What it instead appears to be GM's deal with the devil: They managed to extract such inordinate toll from Nikola (precisely because, I would argue, Nikola is build on fraud and was willing to do anything to gain some legitimacy), as to feel comfortable to ignore the ethical end of it.