Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/835233
commercial carrier journal | june 2017 21 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. to fully recharge. At that rate, it would take about 30 hours to drive Interstate 10 across Texas – about 14 hours of driving, plus 16 hours of charging. At just under 900 miles, you'd need another almost nine-hour charge as soon as you crossed into New Mexico. Electric motors put out mas- sive amounts of torque, which is a huge drain on batteries. e level of battery-exclu- sive power needed for a viable electric Class 8 is both unprec- edented and mind-boggling considering that one gallon of diesel represents about 38 kilo- watt-hours. Torque in an electric motor can be soware-limited, so maybe a toggle switch will allow the driver to adjust torque on the fly, dialing it up and down as the route demands to save battery life. Every little bit helps, but a range under 300 miles – less than 150 miles one way on a charge that can take more than one-third of an entire day – isn't going to turn a lot of trucking heads. e use of a range extender is almost a certainly on the Tesla Semi, most likely through a bank of batteries located in a connected trailer, heavy use of solar panels or both. Additional batteries will have a negative impact on payload, but anything under a 600-mile range isn't going to cut it, and Musk is adamant those extra miles won't come from an integrated hydrogen fuel cell. Around the Tesla complex, there's a race to see which happens first: Does Musk, through his SpaceX program, send a shipment of people into orbit before he hauls a load of Texas cattle to Santa Fe with the Tesla Semi? We may find out in three months. WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. Nikola Motor details options for hydrogen truck's leasing, design I n a letter sent in late April to reservation holders of its Nikola One tractor, Nikola Motor Co. detailed possible changes to lease options and the truck's chassis design. e letter, signed by Nikola founder Trevor Mil- ton, says the company is "evaluating several pricing options for a lease or purchase of the Nikola trucks." One such option is a mile- age-based system that charges drivers a fixed cost per mile to operate a Nikola truck, with a minimum annual mileage. "We anticipate this price-per-mile option could reduce the overall cost of ownership, compared to a diesel, by as much as 30 per- cent," Milton writes. "is price-per-mile op- tion will also help drivers better control their cost of ownership by billing them for each mile driven – rather than a set lease price whether a truck is on the road and making money." Nikola expects pricing specifics to be available for review by early 2019. Between now and October 2018, Milton writes, an updated version of the Nikola One tractor will feature chassis changes that will reduce weight and size, provide better visibili- ty, increase storage and lower the fih wheel. "We also plan to announce where our first hydrogen station will be built and begin development of that station," he writes. Road testing is expected to take place from October 2018 to October 2021. "We will also conduct three years of winter (extreme cold) and summer (extreme heat) tests, which exceed tests required under U.S. regulations," Milton writes. "We will also be working to certify our truck's compliance under all appli- cable regulations." – Jason Cannon The battery-powered big rig first must overcome some 'power'-ful hurdles. Nikola Motor Co. will work with Fitzgerald Gliders for initial truck assembly and anticipates its first 5,000 trucks will be assembled by Fitzgerald.