Nikola unveils European fuel cell trucks & ‘Reckless’ EV
Nikola Motor presented its fuel cell trucks Nikola Two for the USA and Nikola Tre for Europe at a customer event. Besides, a jet-ski and an off-road vehicle went on display, but Nikola relies on rechargeable batteries instead of fuel cells for these EVs.
It is not that the fuel cell trucks are entirely new. The Nikola One is slated for market entry next year. The Nikola Tre however, is an adaptation for Europe’s size and length restrictions and the first market Norway. The Tre (three in Norwegian) comes in various configurations with output running from 368 kW to 736 kW. At the event, Nikola announced new details for the range and now claims ranges between 1,280 and 1,930 kilometres on a single hydrogen fill. More so, the US startup has been busy writing orders and says it received more than 13,000 reservations for its first two fuel cell trucks by now.
While we expected to see the company unveil battery-electric versions of the trucks as the Nikola World event in Phoenix as announced, no heavy-duty BEVs were on display. Nikola has however been looking into battery-electric models and represented the NZT in a new a military variant called Reckless. The all-terrain quad formerly known as Nikola Zero combines buggy looks with comfort features such as a fully sealed driver’s cab with air conditioning and high-tech controls. Production is due to start in 2021, and the starting price is a steep 80,000 dollars. In terms of performance, the NZT (net zero toll) is expected to deliver 434 kW and accelerate to 100 kph in 4 seconds. Allegedly, a 125 kWh battery is installed, which enables a range of 240 km.
A wider stretch is the second product unveiled at Nikola’s event. The Nikola Water Adventure Vehicle (WAV) is an all-electric jet-ski styled watercraft. In comparison to recent advances in electric vehicle ‘skateboard’ architectures, Nikola says its WAV sits on a ‘wakeboard’ architecture from which to develop other watercraft in an unspecified future.
Also making use of the waves the event made, Bosch was riding along and released a press statement detailing its technical involvement. The supplier considers the works a true development partnership with Bosch locations in the United States and Germany contributing more than 220,000 hours over 2.5 years. Among other things, Bosch has developed the fuel cell drive and the vehicle chassis of the Nikola fuel cell truck.
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