NICOLAAA!!!
In this instance the Nikola semi trucks are electric, they have electric hub motors on all six sets of wheels.
Hydrogen is not “renewable energy”. It must be manufactured using other energy sources, i.e. non-renewable ones. All it does is put on a show of being “green” for those who don’t know any better.
“Renewable energy.” Hydrogen? Do those little hydrogen molecules just jump out of the air or out of the methane and hop into a 4,500 psi tank with zero energy input?
Surprised it’s not powered by Budweiser’s crappy beer.
WTF? How big are the hydrogen tanks on these trucks? The size of the moon? How can you possibly go any long distance on hydrogen?
Takes a lot of electricity to make hydrogen. You can do it yourself.
Get a short glass of water. Toss a 9 volt battery into it. See the bubbles ? On one side is Oxygen and the other is Hydrogen.
But not a lot of it.
NICOLAAA!!!
Made in Utah.
https://nikolamotor.com/two#motor-specs-bottom
But the hydrogen thing will kill it. I’m sure AB has a clause about that.
Nikola has privately funded a small network covering only 2,000 miles with 16 stations.
https://nikolamotor.com/stations
And who wants to see a wreck with 1,000 pounds of H2 involved? Didn’t the Hindenburg have one of those?
Virtually all hydrogen is manufactured via steam-methane reforming. In other words, it’s made from natural gas.
2 H20 + CH4 —> 4 H2 + CO2
I like the Clydesdales better.
The Fork Lift Industry has tried many times to use mass produced Hydrogen Fuel cells. Most of the start up companies have gone out of business. The Hydrogen Fuel cells require too much/ costly maintenance.
Most Fork Lift Manufacturers like Toyota are turning to Lithium Ion Batteries. Way more efficient than Hydrogen Fuel Cells. Cleaner and cheaper to operate.
My undergrad thesis is 92 was on hydrogen fuel cell buses
I was too early
His Model 3 Cars are way behind schedule and the promised 35K variant will probably be made in very limited quantity (loss leader) Odds are he is making little if anything on the high end 55K Model 3 which is all that is coming off his production line currently. Turnover at the Fremont factory is huge both in White and Blue Collar employees.
Elon’s melt down after Analyst put the screws to him on the Tesla Quarterly Report Conference call yesterday isn't going to help.
Error in the choice of fuel if one’s desire is to get away from diesel fuel. Methane CH4 has a slightly higher carbon footprint than Hydrogen. Its carbon footprint is very small compared to Diesel. Hydrogen fueling will be complex and expensive, about 3 times the cost of methane which is natural gas.
It should be noted that when hydrogen is burned it has a zero carbon footprint. However, it has a large footprint in its production as a lot of heat is required which mean carbon fuels are used to do this.
Natural gas actually makes sense for large commercial truck operations, particularly if the operation is large enought to afford its own high pressure compressors to avail themselves of the abundance of cheap natural gas we have now and will have for many many years.
Imagine global warming if you replaced co2 with water vapor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUg_ukBwsyo
With todays technology one would think they could get steam back into production.
THere’s some confusion here between electric and hydrogen-powered. Nikola abandoned electric trucks in favor of hydropgen-powered; they are NOT renewable-energy-based trucks.
HOWEVER, hydrogen can be generated using wind and solar. This is significant because one of the drawbacks of wind and solar is that you can’t control when they are generated, so you end up with high amounts of waste. The creation of hydrogen can use this otherwise wasted energy production.