Nikola Motor gets $2.3B worth of preorders for 2000hp electric semi-truck

[ScienceRocks]

Nikola Motor gets $2.3B worth of preorders for 2000hp electric semi-truck

After announcing last month it is building a 2,000 horsepower, hybrid semitrailer truck, the Nikola Motor Co. revealed this week it has more than 7,000 paid reservations that would translate into $2.3 billion in truck sales when it ships.
Nikola Motor founder and CEO Trevor Milton also announced that the electric class 8 semi-truck, dubbed "Nikola One" will be unveiled Dec. 2 in Salt Lake City. The truck will retail for $375,000, which is nearly double the price for a standard diesel semi-trailer. The company said it will offer a leasing plan that will run from $4,000 to $5,000 per month, depending on the configuration and options a customer chooses.
The Nikola One semi-trailer will be capable of pulling a gross weight of 80,000 pounds and will have more than a 1,200-mile range between stops, the company said.
"The reason for the horsepower increase is that with electric motors you only use what you need unlike a diesel engine, so most of the time, you will only need 400 to 500 horsepower out of the 2,000 HP," a spokesperson for Nikola Motor Co. said in an email reply to Computerworld. "You don't waste any energy that you don't use with electric motors. But when going up a hill... with the extra horsepower, the electric allows you to climb to full speed limit."

The semi-trailer will sport a 320 kilowatt hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery pack, along with a 150-gallon fuel-agnostic turbine, which can be configured to run on various kinds of fuel, including diesel or petroleum. The standard model will have a natural gas tank.

Way cool!

 

[Crick]

Looks good

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Nikola Motor gets $2.3B worth of preorders for 2000hp electric semi-truck







Way cool!

In other words, it is a hybrid! The article you referenced also gets the terminology wrong. The word ":trailer" should be nowhere in the article, unless you are referring to a tractor-trailer. The only part that is powered is the tractor, which is where the term "semi" comes in, as it is the only part that is powered and does not haul cargo.

 

[Old Rocks]

And interesting vehicle. However, as the Tesla semi comes online, at about 1/2 that price, it will eat Nikola's lunch if they cannot bring that price down. At the speed the battery tech is moving, Tesla will by 2025 be able to match that range.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Nikola Motor gets $2.3B worth of preorders for 2000hp electric semi-truck







Way cool!

Why would you need a 2000 hp electric semitruck when most ICE truck are less than 500 hp?

 

[Old Rocks]

Why would you need a 2000 hp electric semitruck when most ICE truck are less than 500 hp?

For steep mountain passes and short freeway onramps.