Nikola One Hydrogen Fuel Cell Class 8 Truck Revealed In Salt Lake City

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Nikola Motor Company founder and CEO Trevor Milton pulled the wraps off his company’s much-discussed baby, the Nikola One semi truck. Large and imposing, the Nikola One promises to be a game changer if the company is able to keep its production, infrastructure, and pricing claims.

Powered by a hydrogen fuel cell powerplant that provides energy to six in-wheel electric motors, the Nikola One reputedly has a 1,200-mile driving range with 1,000 hp and 2,000 lb-ft of torque. The company has plans to open 364 hydrogen refueling stations across the country to provide coast-to-coast, border-to-border range for its trucks, and lessees of the Nikola One will have access to 1 million miles’ worth of free hydrogen. That could mean around 10 years of free fuel for most trucks, which will outlast the truck’s seven-year lease.

In addition to revealing the Nikola One, the company also announced plans for the Nikola Two, a day-cab alternative to its bigger, sleeper-cab sister. Using a similar propulsion system, the Nikola Two will be ideal for local and regional deliveries, and it opens the door for vocational trucks in the future. The company is now taking reservations on Nikolas One and Two for $1,500, and to date, Nikola has raised nearly $3 billion in preorders.

The company also announced a new logistics program called Nikola Shipments. Milton explained the system as a sort of long-haul cargo Uber, with potential customers registering their shipments and Nikola drivers accepting cargo as desired. Nikola says drivers can set their starting point and destination, and Nikola Shipments will build a route based on cargo need, weather conditions, and other factors. Shipments will be controlled via a massive 21-inch touchscreen display in the cab.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/nikola-one-hydrogen-fuel-cell-class-8-truck-revealed-in-salt-lake-city/ar-AAl46h1?li=BBnb4R5&ocid=edgsp

[longship]

1. Where will they get the hydrogen?

A semi-tractor is a cross country vehicle. The problems with this are two fold.

1. The lack of a hydrogen infrastructure. Where does this rig refuel?

2. Hydrogen is not an energy source. There are no natural molecular hydrogen sources on this planet. One has to generate hydrogen through some chemical/electrical process, which must take more energy than is generated by burning the hydrogen. (Thank you laws of thermodynamics.)

Therefore, there is no hydrogen economy separate from a substantial supportive clean energy infrastructure. Hydrogen fuel makes zero sense when the power to generate it comes from fossil fuels.

Zero sense!

[citood]

3. Answers

1. They will refuel at planned fueling stations along the interstate network. This is a limiting factor, shared by natural gas vehicles and even electric trying to go cross country.

2. Mostly they get it from natural gas (which always makes me wonder - why not just directly burn the natural gas for energy).

I do think hydrogen makes sense - for space probes and moon landers.

[longship]

4. Yup.

1. Where are these refilling stations? I see none on the interstates.

2. You are right here. It makes no fucking sense whatsoever to generate hydrogen from electricity generated by burning natural gas. Might as well fuel the semi tractor with natural gas in the first place.

Rockets and space probes! Yup! That's the ticket. It works well, too. I especially like ion drives once one is beyond low Earth orbit, fueled by xenon or argon. (Best when one is not in a hurry, nevertheless, very efficient.)

[citood]

6. More answers

A local (Topeka, KS) Arbys converted a portion of its parking lot to a Tesla charging station. So the station isn't directly on the interstate...its near a fast food joint so people have something to do while they're charging. I once even found a website that listed the best places to find a restroom at each charging station. It sounds like this hydrogen company plans to use a similar business model, with the network of free fueling stations.

But a giant hydrogen tank might be too...umm...industrial to be placed next to an Arbys. We also have (in an industrial park next to a highway) a natural gas refueling station. Its self serve, like a cardlock station for truckers and unavailable to the general public. I suspect the hydrogen could be put next to the natural gas...heck, they could even make it on-site. I suspect that hydrogen can't be piped around, and would have to be trucked to each fueling station otherwise - yet another reason why I don't understand the appeal.

Quick note: while hydrogen can be produced by electricity, there is a steam conversion process (which I don't claim to fully understand) that actually converts NG to hydrogen...or rips away the H atoms and leaves something else, etc.

[longship]

7. The steam process generates H2 and CO.

Of course, CO is poisonous, but that isn't the big problem.

Like all molecular hydrogen generation schemes, it takes more energy to generate molecular hydrogen than is usable in burning it.

A hydrogen economy is a thermodynamic nightmare. The only way it makes any sense whatsoever is if the power comes from non-fossil fuel renewable sources (wind, solar, etc.). At least one could then argue that hydrogen could offer an energy storage medium as well as a fuel (depending on surpluses). Otherwise, hydrogen offers no benefit (other than spacecraft).

Thanks for your responses.

[citood]

2. I've never quite understood the appeal of hydrogen power

Every car has an energy storage device...essentially a battery that stores potential energy. This 'battery' could be a tank of gas, a lithium ion battery, a canister of natural gas, etc. Each of these has pros and cons...but what exactly sets hydrogen above the rest?

[OnlinePoker]

5. Why no actual videos of this truck in action?

All I've ever seen is a static model and computer-generated video, but I'd like to actually see one on the road (or test track) pulling full loads for their stated range.