Nikola Corporation has announced the expansion of its presence in Alberta, Canada, with the sale of a Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and a Nikola Tre hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) to the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA).
AMTA will incorporate the new heavy-duty vehicles into its Hydrogen Commercial Vehicle Demonstrations Project, which offers Alberta truck operators the opportunity to test Class 8 vehicles that operate with hydrogen fuel.
The project will explore the performance of hydrogen-fueled vehicles on Alberta roads, payloads, and weather conditions, while addressing challenges around fuel cell reliability, infrastructure, and vehicle cost and maintenance. The anticipated delivery of the Nikola Tre BEV this week, and the expected delivery of the Nikola Tre FCEV by the end of 2023, are critical first steps in selling hundreds of trucks in Alberta, a major new market for Nikola, the company says.
“Canada is moving fast to decarbonise the transportation sector by removing diesel trucks from the road to help the environment,” says Michael Lohscheller, President and CEO, Nikola Corporation. “We want Nikola to be in lockstep with leaders like AMTA to accelerate these important market adoption and regulatory policies.”
The Nikola Tre BEV has a range of up to 530km, one of the longest of the battery-electric zero-emission Class 8 tractors. With a range of up to 800km and an estimated fueling time of 20 minutes, the Nikola Tre FCEV is expected to have among the longest range of all commercially available zero tailpipe emission Class 8 trucks while realising weight savings when compared to BEV Class 8 trucks with similar range.
“Canada is a global climate leader with bold targets for emission reductions,” says Carey Mendes, President, Nikola Energy. “Nikola’s zero-emissions trucks and its plans for building hydrogen infrastructure are aligned with Canada’s goals and underpins our publicly announced plans for 300 tonnes of hydrogen supply, with 60 hydrogen stations planned for across North America by 2026. This partnership is just the beginning of bringing hundreds of FCEVs to Alberta and Canada.”
Nikola’s HYLA hydrogen mobile fueler is an innovative, heavy-duty, 700bar (10,000 psi) hydrogen mobile fueller capable of directly fuelling FCEVs. AMTA’s order will be used to help promote further adoption of Nikola’s zero-emissions trucks for a wide variety of trucking companies in Canada. Nikola will support the promotion of these trucks with a Nikola hydrogen mobile fueller to enable early adoption as well as geographic expansion across Canada by providing the support needed to get on the road quickly and seamlessly.
