Trevor Milton, the convicted fraudster who founded Nikola Motors, took to LinkedIn to attack Tesla Semi’s economics with a point-by-point takedown. Despite his near-total lack of credibility, a couple of his arguments actually hold up.
Milton, who was convicted of securities fraud for lying to investors about Nikola’s electric truck technology, posted a lengthy comment on a LinkedIn post about Tesla ramping Semi production, claiming he “knows EV trucking probably better than anyone.”
Milton’s attack on Tesla Semi
In his comment, Milton made five specific claims against Tesla Semi’s economics:
He argued that insurance costs will be “almost 2x” higher for electric trucks versus diesel because insurance is based on vehicle value. He claimed EVs destroy tires faster due to higher torque. He attacked electricity pricing, saying rates won’t be $0.15 per kWh and that California fleets will face $0.50 per kWh with heavy charging demand. He suggested Tesla might subsidize charging with investor cash, which would make the comparison unfair. And he claimed EV charging infrastructure costs will run “in the millions per fleet.”
Milton opened his comment by boasting: “We built the first production EV semi truck and beat Tesla by 5 years. We built hundreds of production trucks.”
The credibility problem
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Milton’s credibility is essentially zero.
He was found guilty in October 2022 of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud for lying to investors about Nikola’s truck technology. Among the most infamous incidents: Nikola produced a video of its hydrogen truck appearing to drive on its own power when in reality it was simply rolling down a hill. Engineers had snaked a power cord through the stage floor to make the truck appear operational during a demonstration when the hydrogen fuel cell had never been installed.
He was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2023 and ordered to pay $168 million in restitution. He never served meaningful time. After he and his wife donated $1.8 million to a pro-Trump PAC, he was pardoned by President Trump in March 2025, wiping out the restitution he owed to defrauded investors.
His claim that “we built hundreds of production trucks” deserves special scrutiny. Milton was ousted from Nikola in September 2020 after Hindenburg Research exposed the company’s deceptions. Nikola’s Tre BEV didn’t enter production until March 2022 — a year and a half after he was gone. The company went on to deliver a few hundred trucks before filing for bankruptcy in February 2025. By December 2025, Nikola was down to a single employee.
So when Milton says “we built hundreds of production trucks,” those trucks were built by the company that existed specifically because he was removed from it for lying to investors.
Where Milton actually has a point
That said, a broken clock is right twice a day, and Milton raises a couple of legitimate concerns about Tesla Semi’s economics.
On pricing, he’s directionally correct that the cost gap increases insurance and total ownership costs. Tesla is now quoting $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range Semi — roughly $100,000 more than the $180,000 originally promised in 2017. A new diesel Class 8 truck typically runs $150,000 to $220,000. That price premium does translate to higher insurance costs, and it extends the payback period for fleet operators.
On charging costs, Milton is right that Tesla has been overpromising. Back in 2017, Tesla claimed it could guarantee $0.07 per kWh for Megacharger charging. The latest data tells a different story: Tesla’s Megacharger network fee alone is $0.08 per kWh — and that’s before actual electricity rates. The total cost to charge will be significantly higher than what Tesla originally pitched.
Top comment by Preston
Issues or not, these are not secrets kept from potential buyers. These are not being sold to consumers making emotional decisions; they're being sold to businesses that are serious about calculating the total costs over time. There's clearly a market for these, the question is at what level will production exceed demand. Some factors will change over time, as more charging infrastructure is added. Also, insurance will likely be higher on a new truck without lots of crash data. Will the design prove to be safer? Will the costs of accidents be higher? Time will tell.
His other points are less convincing. The tire wear argument is overstated — fleet operators already manage torque-related wear on diesel trucks and electric powertrains offer more precise torque control. The charging infrastructure cost argument ignores that Tesla has just launched its Semi Charging for Business program with Megacharger hardware starting at $188,000 for two posts, which is expensive but not the “millions per fleet” Milton suggests for basic deployments.
Electrek’s Take
Milton doesn’t have much credibility to attack anyone’s electric truck claims, given that his entire career in the space was built on defrauding investors. It’s almost comical to watch a man who faked a truck rolling down a hill lecture Tesla about overpromising.
That said, if we’re being fair about holding EV executives accountable for misleading investors, the standard should be applied consistently. Elon Musk has made plenty of his own wildly inaccurate promises to investors over the years –r from claiming a million robotaxis on the road by 2020 to the Semi’s own price and delivery timeline. The difference between Milton and Musk is that Musk’s investors seem to enjoy being lied to.
Setting the credibility question aside, the substance of Milton’s stronger points — that the Semi costs $100,000 more than originally announced, and that charging costs are already higher than Tesla claimed — are real concerns. But none of these mean Tesla Semi can’t beat the total cost of ownership of diesel trucks. At roughly $0.17 per mile on energy versus $0.50-$0.70 per mile for diesel, the math still works even with the higher upfront cost. The first trucks are now rolling off Tesla’s high-volume production line, and real-world fleet data will settle this debate far more effectively than LinkedIn comments from a convicted fraudster.
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