Nikola Motors drops its $2 billion lawsuit against Tesla

Nikola Tesla may have been pleased that both of his names were employed by electric car companies, but perhaps less so that Nikola sued Tesla, and vice-versa. Now, Nikola Corp. is reportedly dropping its $2 billion patent infringement lawsuit against Tesla Inc. as Nikola company founder Trevor Milton faces a criminal indictment on fraud charges, Bloomberg has reported. 

According to a filing in a San Francisco court, both companies have agreed to withdraw all claims and counter-claims against each other. Nikola accused Tesla of copying several patented designs for a windshield design, fuselage and side door. Tesla denied all the claims and countersued. 

Nikola unveiled the hydrogen-powered Nikola One semi-truck in 2016 with the promise of an 800-1,200 mile range with no pollution. However, it was accused by the SEC of deceiving investors, in one instance via a video that appeared to show the truck moving under power when it was simply rolling down a hill. CEO Trevor Milton was subsequently charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud by a federal grand jury. He has denied the claims.