[월간수소경제 성재경 기자] Nikola recently unveiled the launch schedule of two hydrogen trucks. The hydrogen trucks’Tre Cabover’ and’Two Sleeper’ have the maximum mileage of 805 km and 1,450 km, respectively. Looking at the release schedule, Tre is scheduled for the second half of 2023 and the two is scheduled for 2024.
Nikola is currently developing a Tre electric truck. The prototype electric truck made by Nicolas in collaboration with Iveco’s factory in Ulm, Germany, is said to contain 720 kWh of battery. Nikola plans to launch a Tre electric truck next year that runs 300 miles (483 km) on a single charge.
The battery capacity of Tesla Model 3 is 75kWh. Even simple calculations are ten times as many. Will Nicolas bring electric trucks to the market at an affordable price?
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, unveiled its production plan for the electric truck Semi in 2017, but has not confirmed mass production this year. There is something Elon Musk has to say whenever he gets a question about a semi-truck.
“It is very difficult to increase production. The main reason we are not accelerating the production of new products, such as Tesla Semi, is because we do not have enough battery cells.”
If the fuel cell system accounts for 40% of the value of parts for hydrogen vehicles, 40% of the parts for electric vehicles are accounted for by batteries. Global automakers this year are eager to launch electric vehicles. There is a possibility of a shortage of batteries following vehicle semiconductors. This is the case, and Tesla may have to build a battery factory before launching a semi-truck.
Let’s go back to Nicola. Looking at the specifications of the Tre and Too, it is very likely that liquid hydrogen will be used as fuel. The hydrogen truck concept car GenH2, proposed by Daimler Trucks last year, is also aiming to drive 1,000 km using liquid hydrogen as fuel. The truck is expected to be released only after 2025.
The movement of companies seeking to enter the commercial vehicle market based on the hydrogen fuel cell technology of Chinese and other latecomers should also be observed. The pursuit of China, which gained confidence with electric cars, is also scary. Even aside from this old-fashioned feeling, hydrogen is the dominant player in commercial vehicles. Regardless of the long charging time and weight, the battery cells themselves are insufficient. This is why many automakers are struggling to develop hydrogen trucks.