Electric start-up Nikola Motor has filed a lawsuit against Tesla Motors, claiming patent infringement and accusing the latter of copying some of the design elements of its truck.
Before taking legal action, Nikola informed Tesla, via a letter, that the Semi’s wraparound windshield, aerodynamic fuselage, front fender and mid-entry door resemble the ones of the One.
They also demanded that the public presentation of the Semi should be delayed until settling these issues, MarketWatch reports, quoting the official court filling. However, Elon Musk’s company chose not to respond to the accusations and went on to unveil the big rig on November 16, more than a year after the debut of the Nikola One.
The firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is seeking damages of more than $2 billion, which is nearly identical to Tesla’s jump in market cap after the presentation of the Semi.
The legal action taken by Nikola was commented by a Tesla spokesperson last night, who said: “It’s patently obvious there is no merit to this lawsuit.”
At the beginning of the year, Tesla had scored more some 1,500 pre-orders for the Semi. Since then, prototypes were spotted testing across the United States, making their first cargo deliveries, too.
If everything goes as planned, then the first production units should be shipped in 2020, subsequently to the assembly kick-off scheduled for next year.
Among the companies that placed pre-orders for the electric trucks are PepsiCo, FedEx, Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt, Sysco and Anheuser-Busch.
![](https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/themes/carscoops/assets/images/icons/arrow.png"){kind=icon}