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Remember when they rolled a car down hill because it couldn’t even drive?

by idontwantthis 2y ago

m0llusk 2y ago
That was a classic. They should have pivoted to comedy.
sct202 2y ago
I couldn't believe people kept pumping this company like it had real promise after that came out.
Me000 2y ago
Imagine if someone had said this about Tesla. They would have been swamped if wall of text responses. At least Nikola delivered what they promised.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- tombert 2y ago
  They decidedly did not deliver what they promised. Their hydrogen truck did not work, which is why their promo video had to tow a truck up a hill and film it rolling down.
  - bayesianbot 2y ago
    At least funnily the video delivered its promise as it was titled “Nikola One in Motion”
    - tombert 2y ago
      Technically correct, which is the best kind of correct.
- idontwantthis 2y ago
  What did they deliver that they promised?
- hot_gril 2y ago
  Imagine if Tesla copied another automaker's name then created a demo of their car rolling down a hill.
- faefox 2y ago
  Trevor, is that you?
- DarmokJalad1701 2y ago
  > At least Nikola delivered what they promised. Ah yes. The Nikola Gravity Drive™ has been a roaring success and is now powering millions of trucks worldwide. This bankruptcy is merely a blip in their continuing success.
tombert 2y ago
I have no idea how they managed to survive for years after that. The CEO was found guilty of fraud, and it didn't seem like they had any actual product.
- DC-3 2y ago
  It's the natural extension of the startup ideology to non-software industries. How many times on this website have you seen 'founders' be celebrated for doing 'epic demo hacks' at least this fraudulent? How many tech startups achieve massive valuations with a broken product and a totally hypothetical pathway to profitability? It's easy to see through this showmanship when the product is a car. So why not when the product is software?
  - tombert 2y ago
    Can't speak for anyone else, but I have an issue when it's software too [1]. I think the reason that it's more prevalent with software is that it's easier to hand-wave away stuff, because you can say "well we're creating the market for this field". I don't fall for that stuff anymore, but I did when I was first starting in this field. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41723417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41723417
  - martinky24 2y ago
    Can you point me to one single example of "a founder being celebrated on this website for 'epic demo hacks' that are fraudulent"? Genuinely asking. Be sure that the fraud is obvious at the time of the post (and not in retrospect), is actively celebrated at the time.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      You mean anyone that uses growth hacks? There have been many growth hack posts here. Pretty much every single start up has used some to attract investors.
    - fransje26 2y ago
      > Can you point me to one single example of "a founder being celebrated on this website for 'epic demo hacks' that are fraudulent"? Something, something [..] bulletproof Cybertruck [..]
dismalaf 2y ago
How do you even make an electric car that can't drive? Electric drivetrains are way, way simpler than ICE ones...
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  No they aren't. We've been making ICE vehicles for 100 years. The drivetrains are well understood and don't present any technical hurdles. Especially in trucks. EV heavy trucks are still pretty uncharted territory.
  - dismalaf 2y ago
    There were literally electric cars 140 years ago. Getting enough energy density in a battery is a definite technological problem that's difficult, but making a car move with an electric motor isn't.
- cheema33 2y ago
  > How do you even make an electric car that can't drive? The "pusher" truck was not supposed to be EV. It was supposed to be a Hydrogen truck. In reality it was neither.
- immibis 2y ago
  Reality has a surprising amount of detail: http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-... I have no doubt it's entirely possible to make an electric truck, but you still have to spend a year in the trenches actually doing it and solving all the little design problems before you have something to show off. Especially if you weren't previously making ICE trucks. Then you have to learn how to make a truck from scratch, instead of just the new electric parts. You can of course buy an ICE truck and convert it for your prototype, which I think is what Edison Motors did, but then you'll be showing off a rusty old truck that won't get any venture capital or journalist attention because it's nowhere near shiny enough.

Remember when they rolled a car down hill because it couldn’t even drive?

m0llusk 2y ago

That was a classic. They should have pivoted to comedy.

sct202 2y ago

I couldn't believe people kept pumping this company like it had real promise after that came out.

Me000 2y ago

Imagine if someone had said this about Tesla. They would have been swamped if wall of text responses. At least Nikola delivered what they promised.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
tombert 2y ago
They decidedly did not deliver what they promised. Their hydrogen truck did not work, which is why their promo video had to tow a truck up a hill and film it rolling down.
- bayesianbot 2y ago
  At least funnily the video delivered its promise as it was titled “Nikola One in Motion”
  - tombert 2y ago
    Technically correct, which is the best kind of correct.
idontwantthis 2y ago
What did they deliver that they promised?
hot_gril 2y ago
Imagine if Tesla copied another automaker's name then created a demo of their car rolling down a hill.
faefox 2y ago
Trevor, is that you?
DarmokJalad1701 2y ago
> At least Nikola delivered what they promised. Ah yes. The Nikola Gravity Drive™ has been a roaring success and is now powering millions of trucks worldwide. This bankruptcy is merely a blip in their continuing success.

tombert 2y ago

I have no idea how they managed to survive for years after that. The CEO was found guilty of fraud, and it didn't seem like they had any actual product.

DC-3 2y ago
It's the natural extension of the startup ideology to non-software industries. How many times on this website have you seen 'founders' be celebrated for doing 'epic demo hacks' at least this fraudulent? How many tech startups achieve massive valuations with a broken product and a totally hypothetical pathway to profitability? It's easy to see through this showmanship when the product is a car. So why not when the product is software?
- tombert 2y ago
  Can't speak for anyone else, but I have an issue when it's software too [1]. I think the reason that it's more prevalent with software is that it's easier to hand-wave away stuff, because you can say "well we're creating the market for this field". I don't fall for that stuff anymore, but I did when I was first starting in this field. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41723417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41723417
- martinky24 2y ago
  Can you point me to one single example of "a founder being celebrated on this website for 'epic demo hacks' that are fraudulent"? Genuinely asking. Be sure that the fraud is obvious at the time of the post (and not in retrospect), is actively celebrated at the time.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    You mean anyone that uses growth hacks? There have been many growth hack posts here. Pretty much every single start up has used some to attract investors.
  - fransje26 2y ago
    > Can you point me to one single example of "a founder being celebrated on this website for 'epic demo hacks' that are fraudulent"? Something, something [..] bulletproof Cybertruck [..]

dismalaf 2y ago

How do you even make an electric car that can't drive? Electric drivetrains are way, way simpler than ICE ones...

SoftTalker 2y ago
No they aren't. We've been making ICE vehicles for 100 years. The drivetrains are well understood and don't present any technical hurdles. Especially in trucks. EV heavy trucks are still pretty uncharted territory.
- dismalaf 2y ago
  There were literally electric cars 140 years ago. Getting enough energy density in a battery is a definite technological problem that's difficult, but making a car move with an electric motor isn't.
cheema33 2y ago
> How do you even make an electric car that can't drive? The "pusher" truck was not supposed to be EV. It was supposed to be a Hydrogen truck. In reality it was neither.
immibis 2y ago
Reality has a surprising amount of detail: http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-... I have no doubt it's entirely possible to make an electric truck, but you still have to spend a year in the trenches actually doing it and solving all the little design problems before you have something to show off. Especially if you weren't previously making ICE trucks. Then you have to learn how to make a truck from scratch, instead of just the new electric parts. You can of course buy an ICE truck and convert it for your prototype, which I think is what Edison Motors did, but then you'll be showing off a rusty old truck that won't get any venture capital or journalist attention because it's nowhere near shiny enough.