Covenant Logistics goes for 50 Nikola-Tre trucks
The Covenant Logistics Group, based in Chattanooga in the US state of Tennessee, wants to procure ten battery-electric examples as well as 40 vehicles of the fuel cell variant of the Nikola Tre truck model. So far, this is a letter of intent subject to successful test deployment.
According to Nikola Motor, the first purely battery-electric test vehicles are to go to Covenant from the second quarter of 2022, followed by the first fuel cell trucks from 2023.
“The Tre BEV and FCEV trucks are both uniquely equipped to offer zero-emissions service to Covenant’s wide range of customer applications,” said Pablo Koziner, president of Nikola’s Energy and Commercial division. “While the Tre BEV is ideally suited for short-haul, metro-regional applications, the Nikola Tre FCEV has an anticipated range of up to 500 miles and is expected to be a valuable addition to their highway regional operation. We are excited to partner with a strong national operation like Covenant supported by our dealer network.”
The two companies have not yet revealed how many demonstration vehicles will go to Covenant, how long this test phase is to last and by when the total of 50 vehicles are to be delivered.
“Nikola’s battery-electric and hydrogen roadmap fits perfectly with Covenant’s approach to sustainability as we increasingly work with customers to minimize their scope three emissions and meet their ESG initiatives,” said Matt McLelland, vice president of sustainability and innovation at Covenant. ESG stands for environment, social & governance, and compliance with these goals is an increasingly important criterion for many investors.
Nikola recently concluded similar agreements for a total of up to 300 BEV trucks with the companies Heniff Transportation Systems, USA Truck and Saia TL Freight. These are exclusively for the battery-electric version, while the majority of Covenant’s possible purchase is for the hydrogen version of the Nikola Tre.
Nikola’s fuel cell trucks have also recently garnered interest for large orders. In October just passed, Nikola Motor announced a collaboration with international multi-service flatbed transportation company PGT Trucking that includes a Letter of Intent to lease 100 fuel cell versions of the Nikola Tre.
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