Yahoo Autos Nikola Wants to Give Hydrogen a Go Since Battery-Electric Trucks Worked Out So Well
Nikola has had a real tough go of it over the past few years. Right now the supposed-to-be truck maker is losing over $150 million per quarter, and that’s a lot of money when you consider the fact it only has about $150 million in cash and receivables on hand, according to a report from Automotive News.
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Being in that sort of money situation can change how you view things, what your priorities are, and what you’ll do going forward. That’s apparently what happened with our dear Nikola. The company is completely revamping its strategy. Executives are telling AutoNews that it is going to focus on hydrogen trucks and its relatively new hydrogen refueling business called Hyla.
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Part of the reason for this switch in focus is because the hydrogen fuel cell version of Nikola’s Tre truck has a claimed 500-mile range. It drummed up a lot of interest at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, and where there’s interest, there’s money – something Nikola desperately needs.
The outlet reports that Nikola dealers currently have 140 fuel cell trucks on order, and it has halted production at its Coolidge, Arizona factory to retool it. But, trucks won’t be the only component of Nikola’s hydrogen game plan. It’s apparently also going to have a nationwide network of up to 50 Hyla refueling stations. An average of one per state doesn’t seem like enough, but what do I know? It’s reportedly teaming up with Voltera, a Virginia-based energy infrastructure company to build EV charging and hydrogen fueling stations to make Nikola’s plans come to fruition.
