Automakers around the globe have successfully cracked the intricate code of self-driving technology. But their proceeding isn’t limited only to the passenger car segment but is also slowly transforming itself in the commercial heavy trucks. The season has turned out as fruitful in terms of innovation linked to trucking. Otto declared its plan to build an autonomous truck; as well as on the other side, Nikola Motor Company also unveiled its electric truck concept.
The truck designed by the company will be powered by 800 volt AC motors and comes with the regenerative braking system installed at every wheel. The power will be distributed to all the wheels uniformly, which makes the vehicle 6 x 6–all wheel drive compatible. The truck can generate about 2000 horsepower, which is too high if compared to the other trucks that produce 400-500 horsepower.
The truck will also have gas tank of 150 gallons to store the compressed natural gas. This gas will be used to power a turbine to charge the lithium-ion battery pack of 320kWh. The ideology behind this method was to provide undisturbed transportation. This means the driver doesn’t have to charge the vehicle, the regenerative braking and CNG would do all the magic. This mechanism will keep the truck running up to 1200 miles. Its concept of generating power is similar to that of Chevy Volt.
The company hinted that it would be bringing more vehicles onboard; but for now, Nikol One will be on the roads first, and later the passenger-centric vehicles. The booking for $350,000 priced electric tractor trailer has been initiated with $1,500. For those who don’t have that budget can also prefer NMC’s dune-buggy-esque 4 x 4 off-road vehicle named as Nikola Zero. Moreover, by paying a booking amount of $750 the company also gives out a line of 520 hp fully electric waterproof driving vehicle worth $42,000. The Nikola Zero doesn’t work on the concept of CNG and turbine-based energy generation for charging lithium ion batteries.
The full detailed specifications of both the vehicles are available on the NMC’s website. However, the only thing that is missing on the website is its delivery date. The reason is that both the vehicles are yet to come in the practical world.
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