The electric vehicle startup Nikola is about to begin trading under the ticker NKLA after receiving approval for its SPAC merger.

VectoIQ Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company focused on the intelligent transportation industry led by former GM executives, revealed on Tuesday that nearly all shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to acquire hydrogen-powered electric truck startup Nikola Corp. The company was then listed on Nasdaq under the ticker VTIQ and was expected to trade under the new ticker NKLA on Thursday, June 4.

The approval of the shareholders is not surprising, as VTIQ's trading price has remained between $20 and $30 over the past three weeks, which is 100% to 200% higher than the $10 IPO price and redemption price. Investors seem to be betting that Nikola will become the next Tesla, as Tesla's stock closed at around $882 that day, up 104% year-to-date and up 5,088% since its IPO in 2010.

Investors have previously shown high enthusiasm for large-scale SPAC mergers that are ambitious in market aspirations but commercially unproven, and this is not the first time. For example, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic (SPCE) went public in October after merging with Social Capital Hedosophia; similarly, the sports betting platform DraftKings (DKNG) has also achieved comparable success, showing significant potential despite not being profitable in the context of the long-term shift towards legal online gambling in the U.S.

VectoIQ raised $200 million through an IPO in May 2018. By March 2020, the SPAC agreed to merge with Nikola Corp at an enterprise value of approximately $3.3 billion, supported by a $525 million private placement led by Fidelity. Nikola's founder and CEO, Trevor Milton, would continue to lead the company, while the SPAC's CEO Steve Girsky also joined the board, having previously served as vice chairman at GM.

Nikola planned to start generating revenue through the distribution of its BEV trucks in 2021, with expectations to begin sales of FCEV trucks in 2023, and to establish hydrogen fueling stations to service customer fleets, including Anheuser-Busch. The company stated that it has over 14,000 reservations and anticipates potential revenue of over $10 billion during a production cycle of two and a half years.

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