SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the balance sheet date, as well as reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. The Company’s most significant estimates and judgments involve the useful lives of long-lived assets, the recoverability of long-lived assets, the incremental borrowing rate (“IBR”) applied in lease accounting, the capitalization of software development costs, the valuation of the Company’s stock-based compensation, including the valuation of warrants to purchase the Company’s stock and the valuation allowance for income taxes. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company had $191.0 million and $264.6 million of cash and cash equivalents, respectively. The Company maintains letters of credit to secure leases of the Company’s offices and facilities. A portion of the Company’s cash is collateralized in conjunction with the letter of credit and is classified as restricted cash on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company had $0.9 million and $0.4 million in restricted cash, respectively. At the end of each year of the lease, the face amount of the letter of credit is reduced by a fixed amount of approximately $0.1 million and reclassified into cash and cash equivalents on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company determines short-term or long-term classification based on the expected duration of the restriction. The reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash equivalents to amounts presented in the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows are as follows (in thousands): As of September 30, As of December 31, 2022 2021 2021 Cash and cash equivalents $ 191,040 $ 47,886 $ 264,615 Restricted cash, short-term 65 65 130 Restricted cash, long-term 812 340 275 Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 191,917 $ 48,291 $ 265,020 Fair Value of Financial Instruments The Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses, short-term and long-term notes payable and other current liabilities. The assets and liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis are cash equivalents and warrant liabilities. The Company believes that the carrying values of the remaining financial instruments approximate their fair values. The Company applies fair value accounting in accordance with ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements for valuation of financial instruments . ASC 820 provides a framework for measuring fair value under GAAP that expands disclosures about fair value measurements, establishes a fair value hierarchy, and requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are summarized as follows: Level 1 — Fair value is based on observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets. Level 2 — Fair value is determined using quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active or are directly or indirectly observable. Level 3 — Fair value is determined using one or more significant inputs that are unobservable in active markets at the measurement date, such as an option pricing model, discounted cash flow, or similar technique. Public and Private Warrants As part of NGA’s initial public offering on October 13, 2020, NGA issued to third party investors 41.4 million units, consisting of one share of Class A common stock of NGA and one-third of one warrant, at a price of $10.00 per unit. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share (the “Public Warrants”). Further, NGA completed the private sale of 6.7 million warrants to NGA's sponsor at a purchase price of $1.50 per warrant (the “Private Placement Warrants” or “Private Warrants”). Following the reverse stock split, each warrant allows the holder to purchase 1/20th of one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Subsequent to the Business Combination, 13.8 million Public Warrants and 6.7 million Private Warrants remained outstanding as of September 30, 2022. Following the Reverse Stock Split effectiveness on August 16, 2022, warrants will be impacted by the same ratio upon exercise. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the number of warrants issued and outstanding or the exercise price of the warrants. Each whole warrant exercisable is now for 1/20th share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants did not become transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants are exercisable on a cashless basis and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants are redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants. The Company evaluated the Public and Private Warrants under ASC 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity's Own Equity , and concluded that they do not meet the criteria to be classified in stockholders' equity. Since the Public and Private Warrants meet the definition of a derivative under ASC 815, the Company recorded these warrants as liabilities on the balance sheet at fair value upon the closing of the Business Combination, with subsequent changes in their respective fair values recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) at each reporting date. Property, Equipment and Software Property, equipment and software is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation and amortization are recorded on a straight-line basis over each asset’s estimated useful life. Property, Equipment and Software Useful life (years) Machinery and equipment 5 years Electronic equipment 3 years Vehicles and vehicle hardware 3 – 7 years Leasehold improvements Shorter of useful life or lease term Furniture and fixtures 7 years Developed software 2 – 4 years Leases The Company determines if a contract contains a lease at inception of the arrangement based on whether the Company has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of an identified asset and whether the Company has the right to direct the use of an identified asset in exchange for consideration, which relates to an asset which the Company does not own. Right of use (“ROU”) assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets are recognized as the lease liability, adjusted for lease incentives received. Lease liabilities are recognized at the present value of the future lease payments at the lease commencement date. The interest rate used to determine the present value of the future lease payments is the Company’s IBR, because the interest rate implicit in most of its leases is not readily determinable. The IBR is a hypothetical rate based on the Company’s understanding of what its credit rating would be to borrow and resulting interest we would pay to borrow an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment over the lease term on a collateralized basis. Lease payments may be fixed or variable; however, only fixed payments or in-substance fixed payments are included in the Company’s lease liability calculation. Variable lease payments may include costs such as common area maintenance, utilities, real estate taxes or other costs. Variable lease payments are recognized in operating expenses in the period in which the obligation for those payments are incurred. Operating leases are included in operating lease ROU assets, operating lease liabilities, current and operating lease liabilities, non-current on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. For operating leases, lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis in operations over the lease term. The Company elected the practical expedient not to separate non-lease components from lease components, therefore, the Company accounts for lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. The Company also elected the short-term lease recognition practical expedient for all leases that qualify. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment annually, or whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable. The Company assesses the recoverability of these assets by comparing the carrying amount of such assets or asset group to the future undiscounted cash flows it expects the assets or asset group to generate. The Company recognizes an impairment loss if the sum of the expected long-term undiscounted cash flows that the long-lived asset is expected to generate is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived asset being evaluated. Income Taxes The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. Due to the Company’s lack of earnings history, the net deferred tax assets have been fully offset by a valuation allowance as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021. Uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return are accounted for using the more likely than not threshold for financial statement recognition and measurement. Stock-based Compensation Stock-based compensation expense related to stock option awards, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and performance stock units (“PSUs”) granted to employees, directors and non-employees are accounted for based on estimated grant-date fair values. For stock option awards and RSUs with service conditions, the Company uses the straight-line method to recognize compensation expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period, and estimates the fair value of share-based awards using the Black-Scholes option- pricing model. The Black-Scholes model requires the input of subjective assumptions, including expected volatility, expected dividend yield, expected term, risk-free rate of return and the stock price of the underlying common shares on the date of grant. The fair value of each RSU is based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. Stock-based compensation for RSUs granted with a performance condition is recognized on a graded vesting basis. Stock-based compensation tor PSUs, is recognized on a graded vesting basis, as the PSUs are associated with market conditions over the holder’s derived service period. The fair value of the PSUs are estimated using the Monte Carlo simulation. The Company accounts for the effect of forfeitures as they occur. Internal Use Software The Company capitalizes certain costs associated with creating and enhancing internally developed software for the Company’s technology infrastructure and such costs are recorded within property, equipment and software, net. These costs include personnel and related employee benefit expenses for employees directly associated with and who devote time to software development projects. Software development costs that do not qualify for capitalization are expensed as incurred and recorded in research and development expense in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. Software development activities typically consist of three stages: (1) the planning phase; (2) the application and infrastructure development stage; and (3) the post implementation stage. Costs incurred in the planning and post implementation phases, including costs associated with training and repairs and maintenance of the developed technologies, are expensed as incurred. The Company capitalizes costs associated with software developed when the preliminary project stage is completed, management implicitly or explicitly authorizes and commits to funding the project and it is probable that the project will be completed and perform as intended. Costs incurred in the application and infrastructure development phases, including significant enhancements and upgrades, are capitalized. Capitalization ends once a project is substantially complete, and the software is ready for its intended purpose. Software development costs are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life, commencing when the software is ready for its intended use. The straight-line recognition method approximates the manner in which the expected benefit will be derived. Internal use software is tested for impairment in accordance with the Company’s long- lived assets impairment policy. Research and Development Expense Research and development expense consist of outsourced engineering services, allocated facilities costs, depreciation, internal engineering and development expenses, materials, labor, and stock-based compensation related to development of the Company’s products and services. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred except for amounts capitalized to internal-use software. General, and Administrative Expenses General, and administrative expense consist of personnel costs, allocated facilities expenses, depreciation and amortization, travel, and business development costs. Change in fair value of warrant liability Change in fair value of warrant liability represents the change in fair value of Public, Private, Working Capital and Forward Purchase Agreement (“FPA”) Warrants. For each reporting period, Embark will determine the fair value of the warrant liability, and record a corresponding non-cash benefit or non-cash charge, due to a decrease or increase in fair value, respectively, of the calculated warrant liability. Other Income As part of the Company’s research and development activities, we contract with shippers and freight carriers to transfer freight between the Company’s transfer hubs in return for cash consideration. Transferring freight with the Company’s research and development truck fleet are not and will not be considered an output of the Company’s anticipated ordinary revenue-generating activities. Consideration received from such arrangements is presented as other income in the Company’s condensed consolidated statement of operations. Interest Income Interest income primarily consists of investment and interest income from marketable securities, long- term investments and the Company’s cash and cash equivalents. Interest Expense Interest expense consisted primarily of interest on the Company’s various truck financing arrangements. Net Loss Per Share Prior to the Merger and prior to effecting the recapitalization, the Company had one class of common stock. Subsequent to the Merger, the Company has two classes of common stock: Class A common stock and Class B common stock. The rights of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical, including the liquidation and dividend rights, except with respect to electing members of the Board of Directors and voting rights. As the liquidation and dividend rights are identical, undistributed earnings and losses are allocated on a proportionate basis and the resulting net loss per share attributable to common stockholders are the same for both Class A common stock and Class B common stock on an individual and combined basis. Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is presented in conformity with the two-class method required for participating securities. Net loss is attributed to common stockholders and participating securities based on their participation rights. Net loss attributable to common stockholders is not allocated to the redeemable convertible preferred stock as the holders of the redeemable convertible preferred stock do not have a contractual obligation to share in any losses. No dividends were declared or paid for the three or nine months ended September 30, 2022. No preferred stock was outstanding as of September 30, 2022. Under the two-class method, basic net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share attributable to common stockholders adjusts basic earnings per share for the potentially dilutive impact of redeemable convertible preferred stock, stock options, and warrants. As the Company has reported losses for all periods presented, all potentially dilutive securities including preferred stock, stock options, and warrants, are antidilutive and accordingly, basic net loss per share equals diluted net loss per share. Comprehensive Loss Comprehensive loss is defined as the total change in stockholders’ equity during the period other than from transactions with stockholders. Comprehensive loss consists of net loss and other comprehensive loss. Other comprehensive loss is comprised of unrealized losses on investments classified as available-for-sale and losses on foreign currency revaluations. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to recognize leases on-balance sheet and disclose key information about leasing arrangements. The Company adopted “ASC 842” on January 1, 2022, using the modified retrospective transition method, specifically the "Comparatives under ASC 840 approach", and used the effective date as the date of initial application. The Company elected the “package of practical expedients,” which permits Embark not to reassess under ASC 842 its prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs. The Company also elected the use of hindsight in determining the lease term and in assessing impairment of the entity’s right-of-use assets. Upon adoption of the new leasing standard on January 1, 2022, the Company recognized right-of-use assets of $4.4 million and lease liabilities of $4.5 million, respectively, which are related to its various operating leases. The difference between the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities is primarily attributed to the elimination of deferred rent. There was no adjustment to the opening balance of accumulated deficit as a result of the adoption of ASC 842. In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes , which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes. The adoption of ASU 2019-12 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2022. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact to its financial statements. In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-04, Modification of equity-classified written call options . ASU 2021-04 provides clarification and reduces diversity in an issuer’s accounting for certain modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options, such as warrants, that remain equity classified after modification or exchange. The adoption of ASU 2021-04 was effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2022. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact to its financial statements. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements As an emerging growth company (“EGC”), the JOBS Act allows the Company to delay adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies until such pronouncements are applicable to private companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period under the JOBS Act until such time the Company is no longer considered to be an EGC. The adoption dates discussed below reflect this election. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses of Financial Instruments , which, together with subsequent amendments, amends the requirement on the measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets held. ASU 2016-13 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2023, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the effects of this pronouncement on the Company’s financial statements and does not expect it to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815- 40): Accounting for convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. The ASU simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing certain separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it revises the guidance in ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, to require entities to calculate diluted earnings per share for convertible instruments by using the if-converted method. The amendments are effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2024, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers.” This standard requires an acquirer to apply Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities in a business combination. ASU 2021-08 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03 to clarify the guidance on the fair value measurement of an equity security that is subject to a contractual sale restriction, and require specific disclosures for equity securities that are subject to such restrictions. The amendments are effective in periods beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements. In September 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-04, "Liabilities - Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50)." ASU 2022-04 is intended to establish disclosures that enhance the transparency of a supplier finance program used by an entity in connection with the purchase of goods and services. Supplier finance programs, which also may be referred to as |