Electric truck maker Nikola made major news last week with an announcement that its hydrogen production business and fuel stations will operate under a new HYLA brand and will supply both its own tractors and those of other hydrogen truck manufacturers.
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Nikola, hydrogen fork truck maker Plug Power and others plan to sell hydrogen made mainly from renewable electricity and water rather than natural gas.
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“The strategic mission of HYLA at Nikola is to secure supplies of clean hydrogen and then to distribute it to our customers at very competitive prices,” said Carey Mendes, president of the company’s energy unit, said in a press release. “It will, of course, support not only our vehicles, but it's also going to support every other manufacturer of hydrogen-powered vehicles who are going to need this in the future.”
The company also unveiled a production version of the fuel-cell-electric Nikola Tre model, and claimed it has solved the “chicken and egg” problem of fueling infrastructure. That is, companies won’t buy hydrogen trucks without widespread charging locations, while other companies are unwilling to invest in charging infrastructure unless there are a lot of trucks on the road to use them.
To that end, Nikola has also developed mobile fueling units to support initial customers but plans to have 60 hydrogen stations up and running by 2026.
“We believe here at Nikola that the time for hydrogen is right now,” said Carey Mendes, president of energy. “It’s a game-changing energy source we know is going to be the cornerstone of helping decarbonize the transportation sector.”
Hydrogen-powered trucks use the fuel to charge batteries, emitting only water vapor.
Despite claims of a 500 mile range carrying a full load for the upper end model of Tesla, some observers doubt purely battery-powered trucks are ready to take on long haul operations.
Hydrogen fuel cell systems aren’t as heavy as the large battery packs required for long driving range in pure electrics. Nikola also says its new tractor can be fueled in about the same amount of time as diesels. The fuel cell Tre truck has 500 miles of driving range and needs only 20 minutes to refuel, Nikola says.
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 It also says that its truck features an advanced, multi-stage regenerative braking system to help charge its battery.
Under that HYLA brand, Nikola plans to break ground in 2023 on its first hydrogen plant west of Phoenix.
“We believe here at Nikola that the time for hydrogen is right now,” said Carey Mendes, president of energy. “It’s a game-changing energy source we know is going to be the cornerstone of helping decarbonize the transportation sector.”
What’s more, most hydrogen produced today is made from natural gas, a fossil fuel. But Nikola, hydrogen fork truck maker Plug Power and others plan to sell hydrogen made mainly from renewable electricity and water rather than natural gas.
The Nikola Tre is expected to have among the longest ranges of all commercially available zero-tailpipe-emission Class 8 tractors, according to the company, with the lower weight compared to battery-electric Class 8 trucks with similar range. This makes it suited for applications such as drayage, intermodal, metro-regional truckload, and less-than-truckload, Nikola claims.
The first three HYLA stations will be constructed in Long Beach, California, serving trucks operating at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and in Ontario and Colton, California, major trucking hubs.
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