Electric Vehicle Suits Test Liability Shield for Nikola, Others

Electric vehicle industry executives made big claims about their products last year as their companies were targeted for acquisition during a boom of “blank check” IPO deals.

Nikola Corp was one of the first EV industry players taken public by a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to get caught up in securities litigation over its CEO’s statements. An internal probe ultimately found its former chairman, Trevor Milton, who left the company in 2020, made multiple inaccurate statements, according to regulatory filings.

Now, Milton along with executives at six other EV-related companies, or at the SPACs that acquired them, are facing ...