Nikola Builds Its Own Hydrogen Ecosystem

It might be worthwhile to examine the progress and challenges of the hydrogen economy, and its heavy duty side, in a separate article. For now, the advancement in this field is quite slow, and hydrogen truck manufacturers are facing significant obstacles when it comes to introducing their products to potential customers. However, Nikola Corporation is taking a unique approach to address these challenges by focusing on the hydrogen infrastructure and the supply of hydrogen itself. They not only offer trucks but also aim to build hydrogen stations and potentially provide their own hydrogen supply. To gain insight into these developments, I had the opportunity to speak with Carey Mendes, the President of Energy at Nikola. Mr. Mendes oversees all aspects of the company’s energy business, including infrastructure, supply and trading, technology and development, and finance. With a distinguished career that includes seventeen years of leadership at British Petroleum, he now leads a team of 53 professionals who are paving the way for Nikola’s deployment.

After years of financial challenges and leadership changes, Nikola is now confident in its fuel cell truck. Leveraging its partnership with Iveco, they have designed the Tre cab over truck, which can be adopted as either a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) for heavy-duty applications. For long-haul operations, Nikola envisions equipping their trucks with dual fuel cell plants from Bosch (combined 200 kW, generation I), carrying 70 kg of hydrogen at 700 bar, and providing an impressive range of 500 miles. Some first-generation trucks are already undergoing testing and lessons learned at the Port of Long Beach. Truck manufacturing will take place in Coolidge, AZ, with a production capacity of up to 20,000 vehicles per year. In early 2023, Nikola secured contracts for the delivery of 100 trucks to Anheuser-Busch distributors. Anheuser-Busch has been a steadfast supporter of Nikola trucks since the beginning. Plug Power has also ordered 5 trucks for their own deployments, and Nikola hopes to receive 50 to 100 additional orders this year. The truck design is a result of collaboration with Iveco, an experienced Italian truck manufacturer. In parallel, Iveco will produce FCEVs for the European market at their plant in Ulm, Germany. The Coolidge site will also house the production of Bosch fuel cell systems.

Unfortunately, the reality is that in order to sell hydrogen trucks, Nikola must also assist customers in obtaining hydrogen infrastructure. Nikola has set a goal of establishing 60 stations within four years. Currently, they are constructing several stations, including those in Sacramento, Ontario, Colton, and others, with the assistance of British Petroleum. The station construction process takes around two years, with one year dedicated to the permitting process. Additionally, Nikola has announced a partnership with the HYLA brand, under Voltera, a leading provider of critical infrastructure for the hydrogen economy, to build 50 of these stations. In the meantime, Nikola has developed mobile fueling solutions, with their own first unit launched in December and 16 more on the way from suppliers and partners. Each of these mobile refuelers can support 20 to 25 trucks per day, according to Carey Mendes. Furthermore, Taylor-Wharton will provide a few liquid trailers. Nikola’s near-term goal, within 4 to 5 years, is to support 7,500 trucks on the road. As larger stations deliver hydrogen in liquid form, Nikola is also considering the option of switching to liquid hydrogen on-board of their trucks to eliminate the need for compression.

Nikola is also interested in exploring hydrogen production and is considering partnerships in this area as well. One such partner is Hyve 1, a major hydrogen production developer based in Arizona. Thus, fuel cell truck manufacturers like Nikola find themselves not only producing trucks but evolving into full-spectrum hydrogen energy companies, as Carey Mendes mentioned when introducing the company’s vision.