Hindenburg Research also published a report earlier this year on Lordstown Motors, alleging that the EV startup was lying about the number and veracity of the preorders it took for its pickup truck. The report led to SEC and Department of Justice investigations, and just last month, NikolaвЂ™s founder and former CEO, Trevor Milton, was charged by both agencies with committing fraud. Perhaps most famously to date, Hindenburg Research published a report last year about potential fraud at Nikola, including that the startup filmed one of its trucks rolling down a hill but tried to make it look like it was being driven. There has been a massive increase in potential targets, too, as dozens of startups - including many in the automotive space - have gone public in the last year, despite not yet running revenue-generating businesses. Workhorse is the latest EV startup to become a target of short-sellers who bet that the stock price of a company will go down and often try to uncover information to support that bet. The investigation comes as Workhorse is still fighting over losing the USPS contract Workhorse didnвЂ™t respond to requests for comment or answer questions about the claims made in the report. Workhorse was one of two companies that lost to Oshkosh when the award was announced in February.

The report also comes as Workhorse is in the middle of a legal battle in Federal Claims Court, where it is trying to overturn the United States Postal ServiceвЂ™s decision to tap defense contractor Oshkosh to build its next-generation mail truck. The company also named a new CEO at the time, Rick Dauch, who came from automotive supplier Delphi, while its general counsel and vice president of finance announced they were leaving. Workhorse announced just last month that it already needs to redesign the new C-1000 van based on early feedback, though the company said it was because customers wanted more payload capacity.

The report also contains allegations that WorkhorseвЂ™s new electric vans are already breaking down for customers like Ikea. EV startup Workhorse has been accused of touting fake preorders, accounting fraud, and hiding a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation from its investors in a new report published by short-selling research firm Fuzzy Panda.

Workhorse lawsuit