Upon its debut after merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), management projected more than $150 million in revenue for 2021. Instead, in its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 financial report, Nikola said it still hasn't sold any commercial trucks and reported a nearly $700 million net loss for the full year. But looking ahead, the company said it has real prospects for near-term sales of its battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and sees much progress with the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) side of the business.

A crash at the start line

Nikola ran into trouble right out of the gate when short-seller Hindenburg Research released an article in Sept. 2020 that challenged several of Nikola's claims on its progress and technologies.