Posted on 12/15/2016 1:14:14 AM PST by Aquila Vita
Nikola One Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Semi-Truck Debuts
Nikola Motor Co. finally debuted its Nikola One electric semi-truck Thursday night after months of curiosity and skepticism from the long-haul freight industry.
At the company’s headquarters in an industrial area on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, as suspenseful music throbbed, hundreds of guests watched chief executive Trevor Milton pull the veil off the hydrogen fuel cell big rig parked on stage.
“Oh, that thing is so awesome,” the 34-year-old entrepreneur said, emotionally, once the lights went up.
Guests included Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Reps. Greg Hughes (R.) and Sue Duckworth (D.) of Utah, government officials from states such as Tennessee and California, employees from Paccar and Navistar and visitors from Norway, Germany, Australia and South America.
Milton teased several other products: a day cab called the Nikola Two, an Uber-esque load-listing system called Nikola Shipments.
But the sleek white Nikola One was the main event.snip---
Solar Hydrogen Fueling Network
...On Thursday night, Nikola also detailed plans for a North American network of hydrogen fueling stations to support the Nikola One trucks. The web of stations —56 are planned initially — will eventually balloon to 364 stations. The first stations will start construction in January 2018 and begin opening in late 2019...snip
MORE: https://www.trucks.com/2016/12/01/nikola-one-hydrogen-fuel-cell-electric-semi-truck-debuts/
Related: Nikola Motor CEO Milton Explains Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck Strategy
As he unveiled the Nikola One hydrogen fuel cell semi-truck in a warehouse on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Nikola Motor Co. chief executive Trevor Milton became visibly emotional...snip More: https://www.trucks.com/2016/12/02/nikola-motor-ceo-hydrogen-fuel-cell-truck/
Nikola Motor Co. Home: https://nikolamotor.com/one
Nikola Motor on Reddit-videos and articles: https://www.reddit.com/r/NikolaMotor/
Related: Honda produces Hydrogen from sunlight in Swindon, UK
(Excerpt) Read more at trucks.com ...
BOOOOOM!!!!!!
What is this tractor’s coefficient of drag?
When driving in drag, truck stops are not co efficient...
Blind side backing that into a loading dock would really suck.
Visibility is your friend...
Looks like a stupid Star Wars trooper helmet with wheels.
The company seems to be for real. It appears that they are benefiting from government regulations on emissions.
Who would know that my dog does most of the drivin’?
From what I see in this, there is no less visibility from this and any other sleeper cab tractor. If you are looking for a day cab, they have that as well.
Then one thinks of all the new techie toys finding their way into all sorts of vehicles. I could easily see mirror controls on the steering wheel with memory. I can even go to the point of side profile embedded cameras that would detect the angular movement of the trailer so they would follow the trailer angle and not the cab.
There exist multiple camera systems connected to a racing data logger that allows the prototype cars to see up to four different cameras that the driver would page through. All of them paging on the same data display that normally shows the digital dash. Today’s drivers don’t need to be watching their gauges as the intelligence in these data dashes will alert the driver when something goes out of the customized configuration for a particular sensor. If an alarm condition is triggered, the dash automatically switched to the page programmed in that lets the driver know what is wrong and at what reading the system is detecting. They are also configurable to acknowledge the alarm condition and increasing the set point slightly up to three times.
Most would be amazed at what is achievable and I would believe as advanced as this truck appears to be that not considering something like the racing data dashes would not be starting to find their way into these.
LOL, you made my morning!
Potential game-changer, for Linehaul, if it is as economical as they say. Reliability would need to be there also.
I didn’t see how the hydrogen is stored - cryogenic or compressed gas?
I read the article and did not see anything as to how much per mile it costs to fuel it compared to a diesel truck.
What I did read was emissions standards (global warming) is the push behind their efforts.
The whole thing sounds impressive. My skepticism centers around it’s overall operating costs compared to a conventional diesel truck.
Then we have extreme cold climates. With this design be better or worse? It’s an electric hydrogen hybrid. I see the hydrogen part working OK in subzero temps, but typically anything electric is much less efficient in extreme cold.
Probably about 0.3. It seems to be a fair copy of the old EMD F7:
Hydrogen huh?
After the first one explodes it will get the nickname “Hindenburg”...
“Oh the humanity....”
The article mentioned being able to haul 65,000lb. That’s short of the 80,000lb GVW for non-permitted truck cargo. Does the tractor weigh 15,000lb? Meaning the weight of the trailer would still have to be subtracted to get the payload?
I’m also curious how the battery will function in cold weather.
The other issue is cabovers went out of favor long ago. First on the scene in an accident. It’s unfortunate that the design failed to take into account psychological issues related to perceived power. The long nosed trucks have that in spades. The Nikola looks like one of the Kenworth anteaters on steroids.
It does have EPA avoidance going for it. The current trucks have issues related to emissions equipment that keep them in the shop more than acceptable. The Nikola takes the EPA out of the equation.
Cameras
Peterbilt did turbine testbed rig a few years ago
A little below that the article says it 10% lighter and can take on an additional 2K pounds of cargo for additional revenue for full load. Weight reduction seems to be the big push to gain mpg now, especially as more and more emissions limitations get dumped on the trucks. If the fuel is comparable to diesel, I could see large fleets making the switch...gradually. I’d be interested more in the whole drivetrain, especially as it would potentially impact my current employment:-)
Initial look, probably due to the angle on the front, I didn’t see it as a cabover, but I can see how it could be considered that. I was thinking it was similar to the other OEM Supertruck concepts, but googled them and they are not as similar as I had remembered to the Nikola.
Nice colors. Looks to have European coupling hardware....
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