Nikola Motors sues Tesla for $2 billion over alleged design-patent infringement

Enlarge / The Nikola One in December 2016. (credit: NMC)

On Tuesday, zero-emissions truck startup Nikola Motor Company sued Tesla for allegedly infringing on its design patents. Nikola says that Tesla's Semi, which was revealed in November 2017, too closely resembles its Nikola One, a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle that was revealed in December 2016. (Somewhere, the ghost of Nikola Tesla is feeling very conflicted.)

Nikola is currently based in Salt Lake City, Utah, but it's planning to move its headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona, in July. The patent lawsuit (PDF) was filed in US District Court for the Federal District of Arizona. Nikola is asking for $2 billion in damages.

The hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle startup filed design patents on its Class 8 truck in December 2015 and showed off a real-world prototype in December 2016 (you can read Ars' coverage of that announcement here). Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in July 2016 that his company was just beginning to build a semi truck.

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