On 2 May 2018 at 22:11, Marco Gaxiola via EV wrote: > Nikola plans to build a 1 billion dollar manufacturing facility for its > fuel cell trucks near Phoenix, Arizona next year.
I can't speak to their infringment claims, but I will say that I wish I had $100 for every EV startup in the last 40 years that talked up big glitzy plans to build an expensive factory in some out of the way place. I've seen it happen over and over again, largely thanks to Bruce's diligent pursuit of these stories. Here's the way it usually goes. The company gets a bargain-priced option on a chunk of land. They make glowing promises of skilled high-wage jobs Real Soon Now. The state and county governments offer them tax abatements, and sometimes even build expensive taxpayer-financed infrastructure for them. The target date for groundbreaking comes, but ... oops, there's a little hitch. The financing isn't all lined up, or something. Whatever. The date gets pushed out a few months, then a year, then two, then three. The land the company optioned sits empty. More years go by. The slick website hasn't been updated and they've long since quit posting on social media. Nobody answers the phone. The newspaper sends a reporter to knock on their office door, but it's silent, abandoned, dark and dusty. The reporter writes a "whatever happened to" story anyway. And then it's all forgotten, even the incentives paid for by taxpayers, and the city and county and state move on to some other entrepreneur's vague promise to spend his investors' money hiring a few locals. Will these guys be an exception? I hope so. We could use more competition in the EV business. I'm not thrilled with the fuel cell idea, I don't have much respect for companies whose main product is lawsuits, and the name "Nikola" strikes me as a dumb idea. But I wish them success in building and sellng EVs. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)