Nikola released third quarter earnings today, disclosing it has set aside US$125 million for a potential settlement with the SEC related to fraud allegations against company founder Trevor Milton.

“During the third quarter, we continued to execute on our business plan,” said Mark Russell, Nikola’s chief executive officer. “Validation of the Nikola Tre BEV is progressing, with trucks now being test-driven and tested on public roads. We also formally inaugurated our joint venture manufacturing facility in Ulm, Germany, and entered into additional strategic partnerships to advance our hydrogen refueling ecosystem with TC Energy and OPAL Fuels.”

Russell added, “with prospects of an SEC settlement, we’re looking forward to resolving the outstanding issues relating to our founder and bringing that chapter to a close and maintaining our focus on delivering trucks to our customers, and building the energy, service, and support infrastructure our customers need.”

Nikola says it progressed in validating its Tre BEV for a public road release in December. It has produced eight gamma trucks and has started building pre-series trucks in Coolidge, Ariz. The company says it will deliver up to 25 trucks to dealers and customers by December.

It has also built seven Nikola Tre fuel-cell-electric trucks – two in Germany and five in the U.S. Track testing of those units is underway, with an anticipated release date before the end of the year. The company says it has capacity to build 2,400 trucks per year in its Coolidge factory, expanding to 20,000 units per year by 2023.

Nikola said it will seek reimbursement for its SEC settlement from company founder Milton.

Nikola posted a Q3 net loss of about US$268 million.