Nikola Is Done: Electric Truck Manufacturer Files for Bankruptcy The corporation is remembered for copying Tesla's font and mimicking Elon Musk's brainchild during the hype—leading to Nikola being valued higher than Ford in 2020. However, in reality, the very first truck test ended in scandal when it was revealed that the truck wasn't running on a "breakthrough engine" but was simply rolling down a hill. Throughout its existence, Nikola swindled $2 billion in investments from GM, and its founder ultimately ended up in prison for fraud.