Nikola will unveil electric semi-truck on December 1

Salt Lake City-based Nikola Motor Co. is still on track to unveil its highly anticipated electric semi-truck at a launch event on Dec. 1, according to the company. The Nikola One prototype is expected to be rolled out for customers who have already signed purchase agreements as well as potential buyers and the press.

“The prototype Nikola One is expected to be the most fuel efficient Class 8 truck ever built,” a Nikola company release said. “Never before has a heavy-duty truck achieved record-setting fuel efficiency while also dramatically improving performance over its diesel competition.”

Nikola’s hydrogen-powered electric semi-truck will have a range of 800-1,200 miles between fill-ups and achieve approximately 15-20 miles per gallon with zero emissions under full load. This performance surpasses all government mandates in place for the next 10 years, including the EPA’s recently announced stringent Phase 2 greenhouse gas standards.

Purchase reservations for the Nikola One totaled nearly $3 billion in the first 30 days of availability, the company reported.

At the unveiling, Nikola will also show its 107 kilowatt-hour (kWh) upgradeable battery pack for its electric UTV, the Nikola Zero.  “Our battery engineers have made major advances in storage and cooling,” said Trevor Milton, Nikola’s CEO. “We believe our lithium battery packs, which should be available next year, are more energy-dense and weigh less than any vehicle production pack in the world.  To give you an idea, we believe our pack could propel a BMW i3 over 400 miles on a single charge and still fit within the i3 chassis.  Our new design should also allow us to fit approximately 125 kWh or more in the Tesla Model S battery envelope.”

“This new battery pack will be offered for sale to other OEMs in 2017, as well as an upgrade option for the Nikola Zero UTV,” added Milton.

Nikola will also reveal its lineup of hydrogen filling stations located throughout the U.S.  “Over 300 planned stations are going to be announced at the Dec. 1 event. Nikola will have the largest hydrogen network in the world. We are proud to be on the forefront of this clean energy revolution,” said Milton.

“As each station comes online, Nikola will begin selling hydrogen to non-Nikola customers for around $3.50 per kilogram, nearly half the current market price. We believe that hydrogen power generation is a better deal per mile than plugging in for electricity,” added Milton.

Nikola Motor Co. designs and manufactures electric vehicles, vehicle components, energy storage systems and electric vehicle drivetrains at its Salt Lake City facility. The company is privately held.