News
A Timeline of Nikola’s Trevor Milton: From Fictional to Fraudulent
Earlier today, it was announced that former Nikola Motor CEO Trevor Milton had been indicted on three counts of fraud by U.S. prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following comments and claims he made regarding the automaker he used to run. Through the years, Milton has gone from fictional to fraudulent, never bringing a truly functional product to the market or to demonstrations for that matter, and allegedly lying to investors along the way.
Established in 2014 by Milton, Nikola worked toward revolutionary new battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell automotive powertrains for commercial and passenger vehicles. The beginning of the company’s somewhat inevitable fall was marked by the release of a shocking report from Hindenburg Research that claimed the company’s first vehicle demonstration of the Nikola One semi-truck was misleading, claiming the vehicle was not self-propelled. Nikola initially denied this but then admitted the vehicle was placed on a low-grade hill to appear to be functional. The company was not willing to put any more money into a prototype.
(Photo: Isaac Sloan/Nikola Motor)
However, Nikola’s long journey, which has culminated in the arrest of Milton with charges to be formally announced later today, started long before Hindenburg’s report.
- 2009 – Trevor Milton launches dHybrid after selling an alarm sales company for $300,000. dHybrid entered a contract with Swift, a major transportation company in the heavy trucking sector. Swift agreed to convert up to 800 trucks, securing a $16 million contract for dHybrid shortly after its establishment.
- Swift would later sue dHybrid, claiming the company’s truck did not work and some company executives “misappropriated capital for personal use,” according to the Hindenburg report.
- Hindenburg also claims that Milton reached out to dHybrid investors, claiming the contract with Swift was valued at $250 million – $300 million.
- 2014 – dHybrid acquired by Worthington for $15.9 million.
- 2016 – Nikola announces it will unveil the Nikola One electric semi, claiming that it will be fully functional at the December 1st event. Nikola claimed to have “The Holy Grail” of hydrogen tech for trucking just months before the event.
- 2017 – Nikola signs a deal with Powercell AB, a Swedish company, to supply hydrogen fuel cell stacks. Nikola also signed with Bosch, who agreed to help assist in the production of Nikola Two prototypes.
- 2018 – Nikola begins to market the Nikola One as the “largest energy consumer” in America. Targeting the Tesla Semi, Nikola filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that Tesla violated a design patent of the Nikola One. Several elements, including the wraparound windshield, mid-entry door, front fenders, and the electric truck’s aerodynamic body, were all claimed by Nikola to be taken by Tesla.
- Nikola said in November that it had refunded all 11,550 deposits for its vehicles. It did this to show that it was not operating on customer’s money
- 2019 – Nikola World event shows five zero-emission vehicles that will eventually produce and release. The company announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch, who ordered 800 trucks from Nikola.
- Nikola offers Tesla a new design for its Cybertruck. Milton extends the pickup truck design to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, giving it to him as a “backup plan” if Cybertruck pre-orders were unsuccessful. Tesla has received over 1 million pre-orders for the Cybertruck since November 2019.
- 2020 – Nikola and GM come to a partnership to see GM handle fuel cell and battery systems in early September. The deal gives GM a $2 billion equity stake.
- Hindenburg releases its report on Nikola called, “Nikola — How to Parlay an Ocean of Lies into a Partnership with the Largest Auto OEM in America.” The report claims Nikola is “an intricate fraud” by gathering phone calls, emails, text messages, photographs, and other pieces of evidence that claim the company has been misleading shareholders. Hindenburg claims they’ve “never seen this level deception at a public company, especially of this size.”
- Nikola admits that the Nikola One was not self-propelled.
- Nikola CEO Trevor Milton steps down from his post at the helm of the company. “Nikola is truly in my blood and always will be, and the focus should be on the Company and its world-changing mission, not me,” Milton said. Stephen Girsky became the new Chairman of the Board.
- Nikola plans the next “Nikola World” event, but it is postponed as uncertainty due to its lack of executive leadership continues.
- GM reconsiders its partnership and eventually cuts back the terms of its conglomeration. NKLA stock falls 24% as GM partially backs out of the deal.
- 2021 – Nikola files a 10-K filing with the SEC following its Q4 2020 Earnings Report and admits its former frontman Milton misled shareholders by lying. The company said that several statements made by Milton were “inaccurate in whole or in part when made.”
- Today, July 29th – Trevor Milton surrenders to federal authorities on three counts of fraud for lying about “nearly all aspects” of Nikola’s business. Milton is required to forfeit all properties that are traceable to the commission of his offenses.
Milton will be presented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York at 11 am EST today.
*LIVE EVENT*
There will be a press conference today at 11:00 a.m. to announce charges against Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola Corporation and one-time executive chairman of the company. livestreamed on Facebook @USAOSDNY. pic.twitter.com/RPFuuUcuXq
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) July 29, 2021
News
Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E
When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.
Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.
Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.
However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.
The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.
Ford is now charging $495 on the Mustang Mach-E frunk (front trunk). What are your thoughts on that? pic.twitter.com/EOzZe3z9ZQ
— Alan of TesCalendar 📆⚡️ (@TesCalendar1) February 24, 2026
Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.
Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.
When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.
Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking
It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.
It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.
News
Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.
The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.
Here’s what they look like in action:
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- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
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- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.
There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:
🚨 Tesla is quietly upgrading Matrix headlights.
Software https://t.co/pXEklQiXSq reveals a hidden feature:
matrix_two_stage_reflection_dip
This is a major step beyond current adaptive high beams.
What it means:
• The car detects highly reflective objects
Road signs,… pic.twitter.com/m5UpQJFA2n— BERKANT (@Tesla_NL_TR) February 24, 2026
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.
Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.
This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.
Elon Musk
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.
Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards.
Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD.
Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible.
The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.
Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E
Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows
