Nikola Corporation highlighted its ongoing hydrogen and fuel-cell efforts in celebration of National Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Day 2020. National Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Day was established to recognize the progress made in fuel-cell and hydrogen technologies as well as their potential role in a green future. The day falls on October 8th each year in reference to the atomic weight of hydrogen, 1.008.
“We are excited to celebrate National Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Day 2020 by sharing our progress on our hydrogen fuel-cell technology,” said Mark Russell, Chief Executive Officer of Nikola. “Nikola is creating an ecosystem that integrates next-generation truck technology, hydrogen fueling infrastructure and maintenance. By removing commercial trucks from the carbon equation, Nikola is fulfilling our mission of leaving the world a better place.”
Nikola, along with its strategic business partners and suppliers, initially built Nikola Two Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) alpha prototypes for testing and demonstration in 2019. Nikola Two FCEVs have been test-driven under extreme climate conditions in Arizona, and have completed a zero-emission beer delivery for Anheuser-Busch on public roads while operating on hydrogen.
Nikola has developed core IP related to, among other things, vehicle integration and hydrogen storage and fueling, and continues to work with its world-class partners to develop next-generation standard fueling hardware and advance hydrogen fuel-cell based transportation. As previously stated, Nikola remains committed to announcing a hydrogen station collaboration by the end of 2020, and expects to begin testing of its FCEV beta prototypes in the first half of 2022.
Meanwhile General Motors has taken a $2 billion equity stake in Nikola in exchange for certain in-kind contributions
- General Motors to engineer, validate, homologate and build the Nikola Badger for both the battery electric vehicle and fuel cell electric vehicle variants as part of the in-kind services
- General Motors expects to receive in excess of $4 billion of benefits between the equity value of the shares, contract manufacturing of the Badger, supply contracts for batteries and fuel cells, and EV credits retained over the life of the contract
- General Motors to be exclusive supplier of fuel cells globally (outside of Europe) to Nikola for Class 7/8 trucks, providing validation and scale in a multi-billion dollar total addressable market
- Badger is anticipated to enter production by year-end 2022
General Motors’ battery development work is ongoing. Its Ultium battery technology roadmap includes silicon anodes and lithium metal anodes, which will improve vehicle range, affordability, and reduced dependence on rare and costly metals. It is already demonstrating automotive-grade durability and significantly higher energy density.
