back to lngplants.com

Hydrogen FCEV Trucks
Fuel Cell Truck_Fueling Standards
iPhone of Trucks
Group to develop test hydrogen fueling hardware for HD vehicles

Hydrogen FCEV Trucks nikolamotor.com/ The energy source is hydrogen fuel cells

In late November 2018, it announced plans for a Nikola World event for April 16-17, 2019 in nearby Scottsdale, Arizona.
The two-day midweek event included a Public Demo Day to show off the Nikola Two truck and the Nikola NZT UTV.

In March 2019, Nikola acquired a 389-acre parcel in Coolidge, Arizona for $23 million, with future state and local tax breaks.
Nikola expects the truck factory to start construction in 2020, start building trucks in 2021, and be able to build 35-50,000 trucks per year by 2023.

Nikola One
The company designed an electric Class 8 truck called the Nikola One, with a 320 kWh EV battery supplying 6 traction electric motors with a combined software-limited 1,000 hp (750 kW) and 2,000 lb⋅ft (2,700 N⋅m) of torque – nearly 86,000 lb⋅ft (117,000 N⋅m) after gear reduction – inspired by electric locomotives.  This is sufficient for keeping a speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) with a full load of 80,000 pounds (36 tonnes) on a 6% grade. The energy source is 300 kW hydrogen fuel cells consuming 4.6 kg (10 lb) H2 per 100 km (62 mi) from tanks with 100 kg (220 lb) of hydrogen, giving a range of 1,200 mi (1,900 km). Consumption is equivalent to 15.4 mpg of diesel. The truck has regenerative brakes to supplement the traditional disc brakes, decreasing stopping distance and fuel usage. The hydrogen version was unveiled in December 2016 and is expected to be available by 2019. In some markets, compressed natural gas to power an on-board gas turbine generator may be used instead.

The first 5,000 trucks are to be built by Fitzgerald in Byrdstown, Tennessee; the company is known for its "glider trucks", which are built without engines.
On May 3, 2018, Anheuser-Busch ordered up to 800 of the hydrogen-powered truck versions and Nikola claims the trucks will start being delivered in 2020.

Nikola Two
The company has announced plans to build a hydrogen-powered day cab called the Nikola Two, with power and range estimates similar to those of the Nikola One.

Nikola Tre
In November 2018 the company announced the Nikola Tre, a truck designed for the European market. The Tre will also be targeted for the Australian and Asian markets. Nikola Motor Company says the Tre will have 500 to 1,000 horsepower and a range of 500 to 1,200 kilometers (310 to 745 miles).  CEO Trevor Milton stated that production is set to begin at the same time as the USA truck versions, which is 2022-2023.

Nikola Zero
The prototype model, the Nikola Zero, is a Utility Task Vehicle with 72 or 107 kWh battery. It has 555 hp combined from a motor at each wheel, weighs 3,500 lb (1,600 kg), and uses the same 14.5 in (370 mm) clearance suspension as the Ford Raptor. It has been spun-off into a powersports product, in the Nikola Powersports division, and a spin-off military vehicle called "Reckless".

Nikola Reckless
The Nikola Reckless is a military all-terrain optionally-manned optionally-remotely-piloted optionally-driven optionally-autonomous full-immersion-fordable utility general-purpose vehicle.

Horsepower 590 Torque 775 FT/LBS. Acceleration 0-60MPH 4.0 SECONDS
Mile Range up to 150 miles range**
Ground Clearance 12 in./305 mm Circuit 400 V
https://nikolamotor.com/reckless
QUANTICO, VA (September 26, 2018) -- Nikola Powersports has joined Planck Aerosystems and AimLock Inc. at the Modern Day Marine military expo to showcase the Nikola Reckless as the ideal platform for energy independence and advanced reconnaissance in the field.

The Reckless OHV (off highway vehicle) is a totally electric vehicle that can go from 0 to 100 kilometers-per-hour in just over three seconds. The vehicle has a modular capability that can plug and play with a remote weapons station and military drones. The near-silent Nikola Reckless UTV recently conducted off road testing with the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Planck Aerosystems builds intelligent systems for next-generation unmanned aerial autonomy and leads the industry in mobile truck-based and vessel-based UAS technologies.
Their software enables fully-autonomous UAS landings on moving vessels and vehicles such as the Reckless OHV.

The AimLock R-M1 is the first and only remotely operated weapon station with automatic target detection, active stabilization and continuous target tracking.
The RM-1 can be mounted to virtually any platform— including tripods, buildings, ATVs/UTVs, ground vehicles, boats, and helicopters— providing an ultra-portable system with maximum versatility.

Toyota Nikola and Shell Seek Fuel Cell Truck_Fueling Standards
February 21, 2019 by Alan Adler
Toyota, Shell and a group of automotive and industrial companies are working together to standardize hydrogen-fueling components that could get fuel-cell electric trucks on the road faster.
The group wants the fueling nozzle, vehicle receptacle, dispenser hose and other components to be useable in all fuel cell vehicles.

The companies include Hyundai, startup Nikola Motor, Norwegian hydrogen station builder NEL Hydrogen Fueling and French industrial gas maker Air Liquide. They signed a memorandum of understanding to test components for Class 8 heavy-duty trucks.

“This is big – the first step towards standardizing the fueling system,” said Antti Lindstrom, a trucking analyst with IHS Markit. “This is exactly what the technology needs to get mainstream acceptance.”

Nationwide network
Nikola plans a nationwide network of 16 hydrogen-fueling stations to support the launch of its Nikola One heavy-duty fuel-cell truck in 2021. It plans to operate 700 hydrogen fueling stations by 2028. Its first major truck customer is beer giant Anheuser-Busch, which has ordered up to 800 of Nikola’s trucks in the largest single deal on record for heavy-duty delivery trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

“The goal is to enable interoperability so that any (fuel-cell vehicles) can fuel at our hydrogen stations and we can fill at any of theirs, just like diesel today,” said Jesse Schneider, Nikola executive vice president.

Fuel-cell vehicles can be filled with hydrogen gas in 10 minutes, the same time required to fill a diesel-powered truck, Schneider said.

Toyota is partnering with Kenworth Truck Co., a unit of Paccar Inc., to build a demonstration fleet of 10 fuel-cell trucks for testing in Southern California.
Both Toyota and Hyundai are marketing hydrogen fuel-cell passenger cars in the U.S. and are looking for ways to expand fueling infrastructure.

“This sector is growing quickly as fuel cells offer scalability, range, quick refueling and both environmental and economic benefits to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles,” said Morry Markowitz, president of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association.

Standards a key
Nel, which is building the Nikola station network, said fueling hardware standards are key to commercial success.  “It can’t be just Nikola alone doing it,” Lindstrom said. “We need other chemical suppliers to be part of that chain. The network of filling stations needs to be built up as soon as possible.”

Air Liquide said in December it would build a hydrogen-production plant in the Western U.S. capable of making nearly 30 tons of hydrogen a day, enough for 35,000 fuel-cell electric vehicles.

Most of those vehicles are in California, which counts on zero-tailpipe emission fuel-cell vehicles to help meet its 2050 goal of reducing smog-trapping greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent.

“It improves the potential to further support California’s efforts to expand transportation electrification in heavy-duty applications,” Tony Brasil, chief of the Transportation and Clean Technology Branch of the California Air Resources Board, told Trucks.com. “Successful deployment of fuel cell electric trucks would help meet goals established by CARB.”

Suppliers are being asked to sign up to participate in a test program to meet industry standards from SAE International, the Industry Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Organization.

Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Wants to Build iPhone of Trucks
May 28, 2019 by Ryan ZumMallen,

Trevor Milton, founder and chief executive of hydrogen fuel cell truck developer Nikola Motor, wants to make his heavy-duty Class 8 semi-truck the “iPhone of trucking.”

As Nikola develops and tests the truck at its Phoenix, Ariz., headquarters in advance of a 2022 rollout, Milton is quick to point out advantages that he says hydrogen technology has over diesel trucks.

And, although Nikola also plans to have a battery-electric truck option, Milton questions the cost and sustainability of battery-electric trucks like the Tesla Semi.  Trucks.com caught up with Milton at the recent Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, Calif. Here is an edited version of the conversation and his remarks to a panel at the conference.

How’s business?
We stopped taking preorders after $14 billion of orders, and I’m sold out for eight years right now. Customers wanted to place more orders, and we couldn’t do it. We refunded all of our deposits because we didn’t want people to think we were using their money to fund our company.
We have no debt. That was an important thing to me.
Is Nikola the underdog compared with Daimler and Volvo?

Most of the greatest innovations don’t come from the biggest companies. There’s a lot of things we’re incredibly good at that the biggest companies are not. We’re able to fix the whole supply chain. Apple would not be Apple if the iPhone was just a phone. It was about building the best back end a phone has ever had. And that’s what we do with Nikola. I might beat Volvo and Daimler to market by 2-3 years, but if I don’t have a backbone that can’t be duplicated, I’m going to be squashed. That was an important thing for me – I had to build the iPhone of trucking. When you can fix the whole supply chain, then you can build a product that people are excited to follow.

What’s an “iPhone of trucking?”
We don’t just provide you with the truck. We provide you with all the fuel for the first million miles. When you sign on for Nikola we put in a hydrogen station with all your fuel covered, without any cost variation, for seven years. No one else will do that. You can’t control the cost of the electric grid. You can control the cost of hydrogen if you bring it in – that’s one of the advantages.
You can build solar farms and guarantee there’s zero emissions going in. I’ll be honest: Fuel cells are not as efficient as electric.
But if you produce your own power and your own hydrogen you can actually get it cheaper than diesel.

Why should buyers lease a Nikola for $900,000 and 1 million miles?
The Nikola Two will beat a diesel truck in every single category. It’s lighter than a diesel at 15,000 to 18,000 pounds and goes as far as a diesel at 500 to 750 miles in the real world.
It has a 15- to 20-minute refuel time, 1,000 horsepower, air disc brakes on all six wheels and electric motors on all four rear wheels.
 If the power steering goes out we can still steer the truck – there’s not another truck in the world that can do that. We built this truck from the ground up to make sure that nothing was limited. Everything’s included: wheels, tires, wiper blades, white-glove service with maintenance and warranty – all of it. The idea was to bring the total cost cheaper than a diesel.

How did Nikola come up with the million-mile lease?
When you buy a diesel truck you pay $150,000 and you give Chevron $750,000 over a million miles. We knew all the money was going to the oil companies, and I wanted to stop the flow of it. When you think about how much money you have to set aside to pay for hydrogen infrastructure, it’s minimal compared to what Chevron and Shell get. We decided to bring all that in-house.

Why should fleets choose hydrogen over battery-electric trucks?
Around long-haul, you have more advantage on the hydrogen side because it’s lighter. It’s all about freight weight, or how much it costs to move a freight-ton per mile. There’s an advantage to both infrastructures, but we’re mainly focused on the hydrogen side. We just offer battery-electric so we can tell people we’ll shoot you straight. There are areas where hydrogen does not make sense.

What is the future of battery-electric trucks?
The battery alone in an electric truck is going to cost $200,000. We’re shooting for an internal cost of $150,000 for our entire Nikola truck. Our truck also weighs less than the batteries in an electric truck. Now, electric is going to kick our butt in short-haul because it’s a really good solution, but electric trucks are not one size fits all. Right now, they’re digging up mines with child labor to pull lithium out to make batteries, and I’m tired of it. The only things that you can use and reuse indefinitely are water and hydrogen. It is the only resource that will not go away. That’s why we picked the hydrogen route.
Our hydrogen trucks also take a big battery, so I can’t point the finger at anyone else. I have the same problem everybody else has, and I’m trying to get rid of it. The electric powertrain is the powertrain of the future. How we store the energy for it has got to change. We’ve got to figure out a way, whether it’s through ultra-capacitors or whatever it may be, where you can store all that energy without disrupting these scarce resources. Then the price will come down low enough that we can finally win.

Why is Nikola developing electric utility terrain vehicles and personal watercraft?
That division is a lot of fun. It’s mainly there to develop technology for our trucks. Advanced safety, stability controls and over-the-air updating are easier to test on a small vehicle than it is to take trucks to a track. We use the small power-sport industry almost like motor sports in the car industry. They develop Formula One engines and bring them into cars. It’s the same philosophy for us. We just took a different approach. Almost all of it translates over to trucks.

Will U.S. cities eventually adopt a ban on diesel emissions?
Europe just passed reductions for 30 percent on some of the emissions. That essentially obliterates diesel altogether. What happens is the California Air Resources Board and other groups say, “If it’s possible, why are we not doing it here?” It’s coming. They were just waiting for vehicles that prove it works. There’s no more ability to say it’s not real.
They’ve reached out to Nikola multiple times saying, “Show us it works and we’ll mandate it.” We finally did. Now it’s up to them.

Group to develop test hydrogen fueling hardware for HD vehicles
Hydrogen suppliers and fuel cell electric vehicle automakers Air Liquide, Hyundai, NEL, Nikola Motor, Shell and Toyota recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for hydrogen fueling components to test state-of-the-art heavy-duty hydrogen fueling hardware to assist in standardization and speed to market for fuel cell electric trucks.

This cross-industry group of both vehicle and infrastructure companies signed the MOU with the purpose to test pre-commercial 70MPa hydrogen heavy-duty vehicle high flow (H70HF) fueling hardware for future Class 8 (40-ton) trucks.
The industry group has created specifications for the fueling nozzle, vehicle receptacle, dispenser hose, and breakaway device components for this HD application for the purpose of developing Request for Proposals to suppliers.

This industry group is requesting notification of suppliers’ intent to participate in a pre-commercial development and test program designed specifically for this fueling hardware.
 The fueling hardware samples will undergo performance tests in accordance with the appropriate SAE/ISO/CSA industry standards along with additional aspects for this emerging market.

Heavy duty fuel cell trucks offer the same range as their conventional diesel counterparts and fueling hardware is being developed to fill in 10 minutes,” said Jesse Schneider, executive vice-president, Nikola Motor, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technologies. “Key members of the industry have joined forces to evaluate H-D fueling hardware to make this a reality. The goal is to enable interoperability so that any H-D FCEVs can fuel at our hydrogen stations and we can fill at any of theirs, just like diesel today. This is a big first step."

Jørn Rosenlund, senior vice-president of Nel Hydrogen Fueling, added: “Hydrogen as fuel for the heavy-duty transport sector is showing great promise and traction, and we are now in the process of developing the next generation, high capacity stations for this segment.
In order to enable commercial success for this segment, standardization of fueling hardware is a key.”
 Properties of Hydrogen, Natural Gas,       Gasoline,              and Propane
                                                                              Hydrogen (gas)    Natural Gas (gas)    Gasoline (liquid)    Propane (liquid)
Lower heating value (Btu/lb)                                              51,532            21,300                  18,000–19,000    19,800
Density at standard conditions (pounds per gallon)              0.0007a          0.005a                  6.0–6.5a                 4.22
Autoignition temperature in air (°F)                                1,050–1,080        1,004                       495                  850–950
Volume concentrations for flammability in air (%)                 4.1–74                 5.3–15                 1.4–7.6                  2.2–9.5
Diffusion coefficient in air (inches squared per second)    0.0946b                 0.0248b                  0.008b                  0.017c
Toxicity to humans                                       Non-toxic, simple asphyxiant    NTS       Poisonous, irritant to lungs,    NTS
Non-toxic, simple asphyxiant NTS                                                                                stomach, and skin  
Sources: All values are from DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center, except as follows:
             a Clean Air Program: Design Guidelines for Bus Transit Systems Using Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel.
             U.S. Department of Transportation. DOT-VNTSC-FTA-98-6, 1998. Table 2.1.
             b Hydrogen Energy System: A Permanent Solution to Global Problems. T. Nejat Veziroglu. University of Miami. Coral Gables, FL.
             c Guidelines on Remediation of Contaminated Sites. Appendix 5.5, "Physical and Chemical Data."
1.    Hydrogen Technologies Safety Guide - NREL
www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/60948.pdf
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) have published safety standards that address the storage, use, and handling of hydrogen in industrial applications that date back to the first edition of NFPA 567 (later renumbered as NFPA 50A) (National Fire Protection Association 1963) circa 1960.
1.    NFPA 50A: Standard for Gaseous Hydrogen Systems at Consumer Sites
catalog.nfpa.org/NFPA-50A-Standard-for-Gaseous...
o    Cached
NFPA 50A: Standard for Gaseous Hydrogen Systems at Consumer Sites presents requirements for designing systems including container location, safety devices, marking, piping, venting, and other components.
1.    Hydrogen Codes and Standards - US Department of Energy
www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/...
Code Council (ICC), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Underwriters Laboratory (UL), and the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) to conduct national activities in hydrogen codes and standards. Federal agencies such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), the National Aeronautics
With Renault Kangoo ZE REH2 powered by Symbio, commercial vehicle professionals travel zero-emission and with complete ease. Thanks to its integrated hydrogen system and Symbio’s digital services, this electric powered commercial vehicle indeed offers:

The most capable and authentic range of its category for both summer and winter
•+ 400 km in urban and suburban duty cycles
•+ 360 km in winter, even when the heating is turned on.

Refuelling freedom
•3 minutes only to refuel at a hydrogen station
•The Hybrid Plug-In hydrogen powered vehicle also connects to electrical terminals. This multiplies refuel opportunities and decreases the overall cost of the energy used (the price of electricity being particularly low).

Access to usage data in real time, via MySymbioFleet.com
•Information such as remaining range, the vehicle load level and hydrogen gauge, the kilometres travelled each day or number of visits to hydrogen charging stations are accessible from any computer or smartphone, connected to the internet via personalised and secure access.
Hydrogen trains on the right track
The Coradia iLint is a version of the Coradia Lint 54 powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Announced at InnoTrans 2016, the new model will be the world's first production hydrogen-powered trainset. The Coradia iLint is able to reach 140 kilometres per hour (87 mph) and travel 600–800 kilometres (370–500 mi) on a full tank of hydrogen. It is assembled at Alstom's Salzgitter plant.  It began rolling tests at 80 km/h (50 mph) in March 2017.  On 16 September 2018, the first Coradia iLint entered service on the Buxtehude-Bremervörde-Bremerhaven-Cuxhaven line in Lower Saxony, Germany.  A mobile hydrogen filling station refuels these trains, however, a stationary station is set to be built by 2021 along with 14 more of these trains.
Together with Linde, the federal state of Lower Saxony is taking important steps to spread hydrogen mobility on railroad tracks.  In its blue varnish, the Coradia iLint glides along Germany’s northern coastline like a fish in deep waters, passing idyllic meadows as it travels from Buxtehude to Bremerhaven and on to Cuxhaven. If it wasn’t for the metal wheels swooshing along the iron tracks, Alstom’s new railcar would be moving silently, now that its growling diesel engine has been replaced with a fuel cell and two tanks holding 260 kilograms of hydrogen.
Ahead of the regular service, Alstom and the local transport authority Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) began operating two iLints in spring 2018 for a two-year testing period to acquaint both passengers and personnel with the new emission-free technology.
 “As of 2021, Germany’s first hydrogen powered train is scheduled to operate on the route between Buxtehude and Cuxhaven,” says Thomas Tork, an engineer by training and a member of Linde’s business development team. While hydrogen is ideally positioned to replace emission-rich fossil fuels and provide a clean energy carrier for modern mobility, it is still under-used in Germany and many other countries.
Together with Linde and Alstom, the French rail mobility group, the federal state of Lower Saxony is now taking important steps towards hydrogen mobility. By April 2021, all trains on the 123-kilometre-long route will be powered by the most abundant element in the universe. Linde’s specialised unit Hydrogen FuelTech provides the technology and expertise for the fuelling station that is to be built over the coming two years while another Linde team provides the hydrogen supply of up to 1,800 kilograms per day.