Hybrid electric semi truck company receives 7000 preorders even before prototype
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029898
IEEE Spectrum : In May, startup company Nikola Motors began taking pre-orders on a $375 000 hybrid electric tractor trailer called the Nikola One. On 13 June the company issued a press release claiming $2.3 billion in pre-sales in the first month for the truck, even though the company has yet to share a prototype. What is known about the proposed truck is that it will use a 400 kW compressed natural gas turbine to feed electricity into a 320-kW-hr battery pack that then powers electric motors. Nikola Motors says that the resulting fuel efficiency will be between 8 mpg and 12 mpg, with a fuel tank storing 100 gallons of fuel. The Spectrum article translates the $2.3 billion in pre-sales to just over $10 million in fully refundable deposits.