The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup announced on Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit against Tesla Motors for patent infringement. In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona, Nikola accuses Tesla of infringing on three Nikola patents.
The patents cover design elements of the Nikola One fuel-cell-powered truck. According to the suit, published images of the Tesla Semi have similar designs as those Nikola protected with patents, reports Digital Trends. Specifically, Nikola says Tesla Semi’s fuselage design, windshield wrap style, and mid-entry door violate Nikola’s patents for the same design elements.
Interestingly, Clean Technica suggested that many saw the lawsuit as an underhanded way to rain on Tesla’s parade right when first-quarter earnings statements were coming out. But Elon Musk managed to rain on the parade all by himself in an earnings call to investors, according to Digital Journal.
After introducing the idea of a semi truck in May 2016, Nikola claims it had received over 7,000 orders worth about $2.3 billion. The company now alleges it has lost sales to the tune of $2.0 billion in future truck sales because of Tesla’s infringement on the patents.
“Tesla’s design has caused confusion among customers. The confusion has diverted sales from Nikola to Tesla. Further, any problems with the Tesla Semi will be attributed to the Nikola One, causing harm to the Nikola brand,: reads the lawsuit.
“It’s patently obvious there is no merit to this lawsuit,” Tesla conveyed to The Verge via a spokesperson. Nikola’s response to the Tesla statement? “The lawsuit speaks for itself.”
Anheuser Busch orders 800 Nikola trucks
Anheuser Busch is the largest brewing company in North America and has already decided to convert its long-haul fleet over to renewable-powered vehicles by 2025. The order of 800 hydrogen fuel cell trucks from Nikola Motors could go a long way to meeting that demand.
Behold, the Nikola One in motion. Pre-production units to hit fleets in 2019 for testing. The Nikola Hydrogen Electric trucks will take on any semi-truck and outperform them in every category; weight, acceleration, stopping, safety and features – all with 500-1,000 mile range! K53FdYaZ34
— Nikola Motor Company (@nikolamotor) January 25, 2018
Nikola trucks replace the diesel engines found in tractor trailers today with electric motors, batteries, and a hydrogen-powered fuel cell that supplements the output of the batteries. Nikola claims a maximum range of 1,200 miles for its trucks.
Robert Bosch, the world’s largest supplier of automotive parts, is supplying the fuel cells to Nikola. Robert Bosch has also supplied diesel exhaust control systems for passenger cars during the past several decades, including Volkswagen.
