Nikola Corporation has revealed 35 of its 42 Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) produced in 2023 were wholesaled to US and Canadian customers.
Three of the seven trucks produced but not wholesaled are being used in an extended field test with a fleet partner, whilst two are in continued validation and engineering and another two are being used for service training and customer demonstrations.
Last August (2023), Nikola announced it had surpassed 200 sales orders for its Class 8 FCEVs, representing 18 end customers, with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) supporting the sales.
Read more:Nikola surpasses 200 sales for its hydrogen-powered FCEVs
The vehicles feature a range of up to 500 miles and an estimated fuelling time of 20 minutes. The trucks are also expected to have among the longest ranges of all commercially available zero tailpipe emission Class 8 trucks.
Nikola’s CEO, Steve Girsky, said, “Our goal is to introduce a better, cleaner way to deliver goods to the North American market in a reliable package. Our FCEV customer pilot programmes have shown strong results, with uptime at 98% – crucial for efficient fleet usage.
“What an effort by our dedicated and passionate team, to create – and deliver – what we believe is the only US designed and assembled Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck on the road today.”
The vehicles have been assembled at Nikola’s US base in Coolidge, Arizona, commencing serial production on July 31, 2023, and commercially launched on September 28, 2023.
J.B. Hunt Transport secured an order for 13 of Nikola’s Class 8 trucks last July (2023) and expected the delivery of the vehicles in August (2023). J.B. Hunt Transport has plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity by 32% by 2034 and therefore utilised Nikola in decarbonising its fleet operations.
Read more:Nikola receives order for 13 of its zero-emission trucks from J.B. Hunt
It comes after a rocky 2023 for the US OEM, in which it announced a cash reduction programme, following net losses of $784.2m and $690.4m for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021 respectively, accumulating a deficit of around $2bn from the inception of the company, revealed in March 2023.
Read more: Nikola announces job cuts as part of plans to reduce cash spending
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