Nikola Motor Company Event Recap

By Jackson Enright and Sophia Zhou

Elizabeth Fretheim and David Keatley of Nikola Motor Company discussed the present and future of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in a Q&A webinar with HUCEG, Thursday, March 11.

Nikola is a start-up focused on the design and manufacturing of heavy-duty commercial battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel-cell electric vehicles, (FCEVs), and transportation infrastructure. Fretheim is Head of Business Development and Keatley is an intern at the company. Keatley is also an MBA Student at the Harvard Business School.

The trucking industry is broad, with a diverse set of needs across distance, payloads, trailer types, and more. In order to meet these needs with cleaner energy and technology, “we believe in the poly-fuel future,” said Fretheim. “A lot of times there is the question, is it battery-electric vehicles or is it fuel-cell? We believe it’s both.”

The complementary nature of these technologies is due to the specialized characteristics in touch with trip length, load size, turnaround time, and more. Hydrogen fuel-cells, according to Keatley, are particularly well-suited for long distance travel and heavier loads. For short distance applications, hydrogen fuel-cells can also be useful in situations with fast turnaround time.

Fast turnarounds can be seen in the example of “slip-seating,” where drivers share a truck. When slip-seating, Fretheim notes that time is money for trucking companies, as any extensive time lost to charging can induce costs. Once one driver is done, the next driver immediately takes their place and continues on. With current technology, refueling with hydrogen is significantly more efficient than electric battery charging.

Recognizing the potential of hydrogen, governments and markets all across the world, including in Japan and the Middle East, have set goals to accelerate the use of hydrogen fuel. In the United States, however, ”when we talk about zero-emission vehicles, the conversation is generally focused on battery electric vehicles,” said Fretheim.

“Raising the profile, raising the understanding and education that hydrogen is here is one the challenges that we’re working on directly. That’s one of the biggest issues,” she added.

Part of raising the profile of hydrogen means trying to build out infrastructure at a federal level. Trucking, by its nature, frequently requires movement across state borders. Separate regulations by state makes a wider rollout of technology much more difficult, according to Fretheim.

For Nikola, the difference in weight regulations for trucks is of particular concern. Zero-emission vehicles weigh more than traditional vehicles, meaning that under current restrictions, they are able to carry less payload and are less economically efficient.

“Diesel vehicles have had a hundred years to become efficient, so we need a little bit of time to catch up to them,” said Fretheim.

Hydrogen has the potential to be green, but according to Keatley, ninety-five percent of hydrogen is produced from non-renewable sources currently. In future, Nikola is looking to use technologies such as electrolysis to produce hydrogen. The company will split water using electricity from renewable sources and “capture the hydrogen at 99.99 percent purity,” he stated. “From the well to wheel, this energy source has the potential to be very green and very good for the environment.”

Part of increasing the efficiency of the fueling process can also be done in infrastructure improvements. In some cases, this may mean producing hydrogen onsite. In others, fuel resources can be transported in trucks or even made to commingle with natural gas resources in existing infrastructure. Additionally, efficiency improvements can be made through implementing driver assist technologies that predict terrain and routes. Even shifting many existing trucks from manual to automatic transmissions can have large efficiency improvements.

Even still, Fretheim reminded the audience that “the greenest mile is the one you don’t drive.”

She added, “No matter what energy you’re using, you want to be conscious of the amount of energy you’re using, because somewhere you’re expending resources to do that. Whether it’s clean energy or traditional fossil fuels, we want to make sure we’re as efficient as possible.”