BUSINESS COMBINATION - Schedule of Shares Issued (Details) - shares	Jul. 22, 2020	Jun. 03, 2020	Jun. 02, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)		360,904,478	151,831,441	384,083,110	270,826,092
Shares issued in PIPE (in shares)	22,877,806
Business Combination and PIPE financing (in shares)		72,272,942
Legacy Nikola shares (in shares)		288,631,536
Private Placement
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Shares issued in PIPE (in shares)		52,500,000
Common Shareholders
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock of VectoIQ and VectoIQ Founder Shares (in shares)		22,983,872
VectoIQ Founders
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock of VectoIQ and VectoIQ Founder Shares (in shares)		6,640,000
M&M Residual, LLC
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Stock repurchased during the period (in shares)		(7,000,000)
Nimbus Holdings, LLC
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Stock repurchased during the period (in shares)		(2,850,930)	(2,850,930)
VectoIQ
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)			22,986,574
Stock repurchased during the period (in shares)			(2,702)