Nikola has delivered 75 hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks to customers. It has an order bank that ought to begin to provide meaningful revenue. Now it’s producing statistical evidence that hydrogen-powered trucking is just not only for show.
At two industry conferences this week and in data shared first with Truck Tech, Nikola revealed it has:
- Accomplished 1,666 hydrogen fill-ups at three mobile refuelers in Coolidge, Arizona, in addition to Ontario and Long Beach, California.
- Distributed 60.54 tons of hydrogen.
- Averaged a fill time of twenty-two.2 minutes in Long Beach and 23.5 minutes in Ontario. That’s barely longer than the 10-Quarter-hour for a diesel fill-up but much faster than recharging a battery-electric truck.
- Averaged overall uptime of 95.4% including hydrogen station downtime. The trucks themselves operated 92.9% of the time.
Higher fuel economy performance than expected
Nikola’s Class 8 Tre fuel cell electric vehicles averaged 8.13 miles per kilogram of hydrogen on demonstration runs. That’s markedly higher than the expected 7.1 or 7.2 miles per kg. A Nikola Tre with five 14-kg hydrogen tanks — a complete of 70 kg — can cover about 500 miles. They don’t go that far because some hydrogen at all times stays within the tank.
Customer trucks used on regular routes average about 7.4 miles per kilogram, Christian Appel, Nikola’s chief engineer, told me.
“In specific applications, we even see 8 or 8 ½ miles per kilogram,” he said. “That translates to higher economics on the TCO [total cost of ownership] but in addition to the next [driving] range.”
The correlation between the energy in a gallon of diesel fuel, and a kilo of hydrogen is close. A gallon of diesel has about 37 kilowatt hours of energy. A kilogram of hydrogen has about 33 kWh. Traveling 8.1 miles per kilogram of hydrogen is the diesel gallon equivalent of 9.1 mpg. The everyday diesel truck averages 6.3 mpg, in keeping with the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.
Driver training and behavior helping reduce total cost of ownership
Driver training about differences between diesel and electric trucks impacts the better-than-expected results, Appel said. That’s very true for regenerative braking that returns friction energy to the battery.
“We’ve got different levers of regen. Essentially the most efficient strategy for drivers is [keeping it] at the best level after which do one-pedal driving. But that’s not how numerous drivers drive,” he said.
The common length of haul during demos was 187 miles. The Tre on a full tank of hydrogen can cover 400-450 miles.
Out-of-control hydrogen cost out of Nikola control
One thing Nikola cannot control is the value of hydrogen, most recently selling at north of $32 a kilo. That’s excess of what it costs to make. Appel wouldn’t say if Nikola is discounting hydrogen for its customers.
“For us it’s really about working with the fleets and making this work,” he said. “It’s about scaling this ecosystem, getting the trucks on the market [and] creating the demand, which is able to drive the value of hydrogen down.”
Nikola gets one other likelihood to remain afloat
The persistent issue for Nikola is the corporate’s survival.
Shareholders tossed a lifeline earlier this week by voting to permit the board of directors to conduct a reverse stock split and authorize recent shares that may further dilute their stake. In each of the past two years, it took multiple adjournments of the corporate’s virtual annual meeting to round up enough votes to authorize recent shares. This 12 months’s proposals passed on the primary try. Roughly 548 million shares were voted in favor to 202 million against. The exchange of existing shares for brand spanking new shares is anticipated to be within the 1:20 to 1:30 range.
Board expected to act quickly
The board has a 12 months to choose whether to do the reverse split. However it is unlikely to attend long. A reverse split would artificially raise the share price above $1 a share. That might stave off a threatened delisting from the Nasdaq. Nikola shares hit a 52-week low earlier this week leading as much as Wednesday’s vote. They closed Thursday at 51 cents.
Facing its second delisting threat in a 12 months, Nikola is unlikely to hunt a six-month extension from the Nasdaq when its current six-month grace period expires July 17. For the reason that authorization of the split clears the best way for brand spanking new authorized shares, the board is prone to move quickly.
Nikola has sold or committed just about all of its existing 1.6 billion shares, which shareholders agreed to double from 800 million last August. Following a reverse split, the full variety of outstanding shares would reset at 1 billion.
Drama absent from most up-to-date annual meeting
The corporate warned that without the approval of the reverse split, it could be limited in raising capital for ongoing operations.
Following criticism and the submission of another slate of directors a number of months ago by Trevor Milton, the corporate’s founder convicted of fraud, Wednesday’s vote lacked drama. Milton pulled his slate after Nikola sued him.
Nikola remains to be attempting to get Milton to pay a $165 million arbitration award, a few of which could be used to pay the rest of a $125 million Securities and Exchange Commission penalty the agency levied against Nikola in 2021.
“We must eliminate the distraction of delisting and position ourselves to lift capital more efficiently and effectively,” Nikola Chairman Steve Shindler said before the vote.
“We consider that if we are able to achieve a share price at a more consistent level with the Russell 3000 firms, it should encourage investor interest and improve the marketability of our common stock to an excellent broader range of investors.”
Nikola was dropped from the Russell 3000 in its most up-to-date rebalancing of firms that make up the index.
Mississippi-based battery cell three way partnership takes shape
Three major engine manufacturers pouring $1.9 billion right into a battery cell-making three way partnership leave little doubt that they’re on board for the long-term transition to battery-electric trucks.Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) and Paccar Inc. selected a reputation — Amplify Cell Technologies — and the previous plant manager of Ford’s Blue Oval City in Memphis, Tennessee, as CEO. Kel Kearns will lead the greenfield facility in Mississippi that may generate 21 gigawatt hours of electricity and create 2,000 jobs by 2027 when operations get underway.
The investment was too high for anyone company to tackle, especially when drop-in fuels, hydrogen fuel cells and other propulsion technologies are attempting to get their share of accessible investment.
“No person has enough money to put bets on all of those technologies,” DTNA CEO John O’Leary told me during a recent Truck Tech podcast. “What you’re seeing is an increasing number of sharing.”
Amplify’s geopolitical statement
The move by the three firms is as much a geopolitical statement because it is a producing move. Selecting lithium iron phosphate because the chemical composition for the battery cells reduces reliance on rare earth minerals like cobalt, magnesium and nickel.
Amplify Cell Technologies also becomes a component of a nascent U.S. energy policy that seeks to cut back reliance on China. Tensions suggest escalating tariffs on Chinese goods no matter who’s elected U.S. president this November. Despite a recent flattening of electrical truck orders, demand will resume, and batteries to power them will likely be available within the U.S.
“This partnership enables economies of scale beyond Daimler Truck,” O’Leary said in a news release Tuesday. “It’s a key puzzle piece of our battery industrialization strategy, ensuring access to the best battery cell technology at the best cost and right time for our customers.”
Accelera by Cummins’ branding
As Cummins shifts more investment to its former Latest Power division, the Accelera by Cummins name is becoming a branding statement to tell apart diesel technology, which still has an extended run ahead, from Cummins’ efforts in battery-electric, fuel cell and hydrogen-producing electrolyzers. With the acquisition of Meritor, Accelera offers a completely integrated electric platform.
“It is a significant step forward as we proceed leading our industry into the following era of smarter, cleaner power,” Cummins Chair and CEO Jennifer Rumsey said in the discharge.
Cummins doesn’t expect Accelera to interrupt even before 2027.
Accelera’s revenues are rising at the same time as it reports negative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The parent company is patient because at the same time as the diesel business pays for Accelera’s growth, Cummins’ Destination Zero goal to be carbon-neutral by 2050 requires pursuing advanced technologies.
Paccar: ‘Cost-effective, premium-quality’ battery-electric powertrains
Just like the others, Paccar is juggling multiple programs to cut back emissions, It recently sold 150 of its next-generation Peterbilt electric trucks to Einride, amongst the most important orders of Class 8 electric trucks so far.
Amplify gives Paccar a stable source of batteries for future scaling of electrical trucks when orders move into the hundreds from the kids and a whole bunch today.
“Amplify Cell Technologies will enable Paccar to supply customers cost-effective premium-quality battery-electric powertrains that meet their operational and sustainability needs,” Preston Feight, Paccar CEO, said in the discharge.
Paccar begins taking orders for low-NOx-emission engine
Meanwhile, Peterbilt will begin delivering a diesel engine within the fourth quarter that complies with nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions rules set by the California Air Resources Board. The revamped MX13 engine meets CARB regulations that aim for a 90% reduction in smog-forming NOx emissions compared with current medium- and heavy-duty diesel engines.
The revamped MX13, available in Model 579, Model 567 and Model 589 trucks, is an element of a deal several OEMs and the Engine Manufacturers Association made with CARB to stretch out implementation dates for brand spanking new lower-emission engines.
Paccar redesigned the pistons, crankshaft and fuel injectors and added a 70% larger aftertreatment system. A compact twin assembly encompasses a 48-volt generator within the flywheel housing and an electrical heater within the inlet to cut back NOx. It also includes upgraded internal hardware, an extended selective catalytic converter and upgraded NOx sensor design.
The technology improvements usually are not low cost. Peterbilt declined to debate how rather more the brand new MX13 will cost in comparison with today’s version. ACT Research estimates for CARB-compliant engines range from $25,000 to $40,000 higher than today’s prices.
Peterbilt and sibling Kenworth also offer Cummins’ recent X15N natural gas engine with potentially net-zero NOx emissions and power and torque comparable to diesel. But that variant carries a forty five% premium to the legacy 12-liter natural gas engine Cummins offers today.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. Your feedback and suggestions are at all times welcome. Write to aadler@freightwaves.com.
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