Nikola founder and chairman Trevor Milton has resigned. The announcement comes 10 days after Hindenburg Research, a Nikola short seller, published a report accusing Milton of making false statements about the company’s technology and future prospects.

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• The news was first reported by FreightWaves on Sunday night, later confirmed by Nikola and Milton.
• Milton's departure represents a fall from grace for the once promising hydrogen fuel cell and electric truck startup that at one time during the summer had a market cap higher than Ford. 
• Replacing Milton as chairman will be Stephen Girsky, a former GM executive, member of Nikola’s board and the managing partner of VectoIQ, who was largely responsible for taking Nikola public.
• Nikola is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the claims made by the Hindenburg report. Both Nikola and Milton have denied claims of fraud.
• In a statement posted on his social media channels last night, Milton said he intends to defend himself against the “false allegations levied against me [Milton] by outside detractors” and would “cheering [Nikola] from the sidelines.”
• Milton holds a 24.1% stake in Nikola. He will stay as anunpaid consultant, will fully cooperate with any investigations levied against Nikola and will relinquish the 4.85 million performance-based stock options he had been granted on August 2.  
• Milton has been ordered to revise his employment status on social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Twitter. Currently, his Twitter and Instagram accounts have gone private.
• Shares of $NKLA were down 17% as of press time, trading at $28.16. – down from a peak $93.99 on June 9.
• Your take: Please let me know what you think about Trevor Milton’s departure from Nikola by replying to this email. Your comments may be published in a future edition of this newsletter.

A federal judge has thrown out a defamation case against Tesla and Elon Musk by former Nevada Gigafactory employee Martin Tripp. After Tesla sued Tripp for $167m in damages for illegally exporting data and leaking it out to reporters in June 2018, Tripp filed a defamation lawsuit against the automaker. However, Judge Miranda Du found that Tripp failed to prove that Tesla acted out of malice.

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• Du dismissed a claim from Tesla that Tripp’s leak caused a $167m decline in the company’s market value.
• But he said that Tesla's claim that Tripp violated Nevada's computer crimes law can proceed.
• Tripp maintains that in his case against Tesla, he acted as a “whistleblower.” 
• Tesla claims that Tripp wrote software that hacked into the automaker’s manufacturing OS and shared stolen data with news reporters, specifically Linette Lopez of Business Insider.
• Tripp is representing himself. He fired his lawyers after it was revealed that his legal team was being paid by a short seller.

Elon Musk said Tesla may reach record deliveries in Q3 2020. In an internal email, Musk has encouraged employees to “rally hard” to achieve the record, saying "this is the most number of vehicles per day that we've ever had to deliver.”

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• Musk specifically said that the California market is “vital” to keep factory output high. Tesla currently operates vehicle production facilities in Shanghai and Fremont, California, and battery plants in Nevada and Shanghai.
• In Q2 Tesla posted a profit for the fourth quarter in a row, which impressed investors and led for the company’s summertime stock price rally. Record deliveries will likely increase the automaker’s streak of profitability.
• Tesla’s U.S. production facility was halted from late March to early May, because of COVID-19 shutdowns in California, which impacted Q2 production numbers.
• However, Tesla’s expansion will come at a cost for the automaker, as it is building new production facilities in Europe and Texas, as well as an expansion in Shanghai, to keep up with demand. The company recently raised up to $5b in a share sale.

Buyers and lessees of Volkswagen’s upcoming ID.4 electric SUV will receive three years of free, unlimited charging at Electrify America EV charging stations. The option will be available to buyers of the 2021 model year vehicle, which will be imported from Germany and will go on sale in the U.S. next year.

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• Tesla currently offers 1,000 miles of free Supercharging to buyers who use a referral link.
• Electrify America is a fast-charging network backed by Volkswagen, created as a part of a settlement for the automaker’s involvement in the “Dieselgate” scandal.
• The news comes ahead of Volkswagen’s official unveil of the ID.4, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
• Volkswagen plans to build the ID.4 at its production facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, starting in 2022.
• VW expects to sell 500K ID.4s annually by 2025. 

Chinese transportation companies Didi and BYD are collaborating on an electric vehicle optimized for ride-hailing purposes. This comes after BYD received approval from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIT) to sell an electric sedan called the D1 in August.

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• People close to the situation told Reuters that the D1 will exclusively be used for ride-hailing purposes.
• The companies plan to roll out the D1 to their fleet partners in China by the end of the year.
• In June 2019, Didi announced a strategic partnership with China Southern Power Grid to develop EV charging solutions and, in February, it rolled out a shared EV fleet in Mexico.

Ford CEO Jim Farley called Tesla out when showing off the automaker’s electric F-150, saying “Simply put, this isn’t a gimmick.” Farley added that the truck was not a “show horse” destined for a garage with four other luxury vehicles, likely a reference to Tesla’s model lineup (S, X, 3 and Y).

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• Ford said its electric F-150 will generate more than 450 horsepower and 510-pound feet of torque, with the vehicle doubling as a mobile power generator.
• Comparable specifications have not been released for the Cybertruck, although some estimates expect the “Plaid” version of the Cybertruck to offer more than 800 hp and 1,000-pound feet of torque.
• Ford has yet to release pricing for the F-150 EV, but is geared to fleet and enterprise customers seeking lower lifetime operational costs and a more environmentally-friendly transportation option.

China is rolling out new policies to support the development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. To support the industry, the government will offer incentives to developers of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles who can reach milestones, like lowering the cost of hydrogen fuel-cell cars, building more hydrogen fuel-cell stations, and manufacturing more vehicles.

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• China was a pioneer of mass-market EVs thanks in part to economic incentives for both developers and buyers.
• There are about 7,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in China, versus 4m battery electric vehicles and gasoline-hybrid cars.

QUICK HITS

• FINALLY - Tomorrow is Tesla’s “Battery Day," an event that many expect to radically change the future of the company. We’ll have highlights of the event on Wednesday’s edition of Inside Electric Vehicles…
• Tesla is reportedly close to launching its “Full Self-Driving” subscription.
• India may be the future site of a research and development center for Tesla.
• A bill proposed in Michigan’s House of Representatives is set to block new EV makers from entering the state and doing business.
• Mercedes-Benz is delaying the launch of its EQA EV to 2021.
• Brands see 18.5% of e-commerce revenue from SMS marketing. See 6 top SMS campaigns here.* 

*This is sponsored content.