Phoenix firm Nikola claims major electric-battery breakthrough
Nikola Corp., the upstart manufacturer of zero-emission heavy trucks and other vehicles, claims to have achieved “game-changing” advancements in battery-cell technology that will enable its hydrogen-electric trucks to drive farther between charges for lower cost and with reduced environmental impact.
The Phoenix-based company, which plans to begin commercial truck production at a plant in central Arizona in 2022, said it has created the world’s first free-standing electrode automotive battery, with heightened “energy density” or storage capacity.
The factory, in Coolidge, could employ more than 3,000 people. It is scheduled to break ground near the middle of next year.
After 800 cycles or charges, a conventional lithium-ion battery will be degraded, Trevor Milton, Nikola’s CEO and founder, said in an interview Tuesday. But the company’s newly developed battery can hit 2,000 cycles, which translates to about 1 million truck miles driven over seven to eight years of typical use, he said.
Large, fully loaded electric trucks powered by Nikola’s prototype battery could drive 800 miles between charges, while trucks powered by its new hydrogen-electric fuel cells could travel 1,000 miles between stops and can be refueled with hydrogen in 15 minutes.
The privately held company claims to have $14 billion of hydrogen-electric truck reservations from customers including Anheuser-Busch and US Xpress. “It will take us 10 years to get caught up” fulfilling those orders, Milton said.
The company plans to unveil the new
eral public and one for Prime customers, who typically will pay less.
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Also, the store will allow customers to return any products purchased on Amazon.com.
The outlet, at 15059 N. Scottsdale Rd. in the Scottsdale Quarter, will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Roughly 20 employees work there.