Nikola’s Landmark Launch of it’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trucks North America

The company celebrated the milestone by way of its HYLA brand in Coolidge, Arizona.

Through its HYLA brand, Nikola Corporation recently achieved a notable milestone when it launched its commercial hydrogen fuel cell truck at its Coolidge, Arizona manufacturing facility.

The company held a celebration with its fleet customers and dealers in attendance.

At the ceremony, fleet customers and Nikola sales and service network dealers were present, as were prominent community and business leaders from nearby Phoenix, in addition to government officials. Naturally, the dedicated Nikola team was also there, each of whom played a critical role in bringing the hydrogen fuel cell truck to this point.

Part of the celebration event involved words from Nikola executives as well as Arizona Commerce Authority President and CEO Sandra Watson. Other components of the event included demonstrations of the truck and of H2, overviews of the sustainability impact, tours of the production line, as well as informal tech Q&As with Nikola engineers regarding the HYLA ecosystem, H2 safety, and the Nikola human machine interface system.

The event marked the beginning of Nikola’s hydrogen fuel cell trucks entering the North American market.

“Today, we mark the official commercial launch of our advanced technology hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks into the North American marketplace. It’s a testament to the relentless `can do’ attitude of our team and is a step closer to realizing our vision of sustainable and efficient transportation,” said Nikola President and CEO Steve Girsky.

“As we head into the fourth quarter, we are focused on delivering our trucks at scale and securing our position as pioneers in the hydrogen refueling ecosystem to support our customers.”

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The vehicle boasts a 500-mile (approximately 800 kilometers) range on a full tank and an estimated refueling time as short as 20 minutes. According to Nikola, the vehicle is expected to have one of the longest ranges among all zero-emission Class 8 trucks commercially available.

Many applications

The company says that the new hydrogen fuel cell truck is highly versatile, with applications including everything from metro-regional truckloads to intermodal truckload and drayage, or even less-than-truckload in some cases of specialized hauling.

This Year for Nikola HYLA Stations

In July, Nikola Corporation, in partnership with Voltera, received a $41.9 million grant from the California Transportation Commission. This funding is to build six heavy-duty HYLA-branded hydrogen fueling stations in Southern California. These stations, part of a larger initiative towards zero-emission transport, will be positioned along busy freight corridors near Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Mojave Desert region.

The California funds will cover roughly half the construction costs for these six stations. Nikola and Voltera will finance the rest. Designed to refuel up to 100 trucks daily, the first stations are set to open late this year and into early 2024. Nikola’s broader aim, announced in May, is to open 50 HYLA stations with Voltera by 2028.

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