This is the hydrogen-powered semi truck by Nikola

MANILA: Nikola announced in June that it will be introducing an electric semi-trailer truck by the end of this year and on last Thursday, the company presented the One, electric semi-trailer Class 8 truck whose key highlight is the hydrogen fuel cell. Yes, the company has extended its range of electric vehicles and this time Nikola has chosen hydrogen fuel cell as the range-extender.

A 320-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery is designed which is charged by the fuel cell. The drive is controlled by an array of six electric motors. Though the details revealed by Nikola are limited but, it is expected that the truck will be able to cover a distance of 1300 to 2000 kilometers on a single charge, depending on the hydrogen tank and battery specification.

The maximum power delivered by the truck is more than 1000 horsepowers and peak torque is around 2712 Nm. According to officials, the truck is expected to deliver a mileage of 7 kmpl. Accelerating One from 0-100 kmph will take around 32 seconds, which is quite quick in the segment.

For now, the fuel cell is targeted only at the North American market but for the markets where hydrogen fueling stations are lacking, they will be offered with a natural gas turbine variant. Nikola is also planning to build its own network of 354 fueling stations starting in 2018. It is not clear if the company will introduce its One in the Asian market but, if it is introduced then the trucking industry will be revolutionized to a great extent.

In an era where alternate fuel has become the most important aspect for every automaker, the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell is a great step and after Nikola, we can expect more manufacturers to come up with this technology to fuel their vehicles.