Nikola, a cash-strapped maker of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks, said it’s received grant funding from California to build some of the first U.S. fueling stations for hydrogen-powered semis, an alternative to carbon-spewing diesel models. Some may open as soon as late this year.
The Phoenix-based company said the California Transportation Commission awarded it $41.9 million to build six heavy-duty hydrogen stations in Southern California. They’ll operate under the HYLA brand Nikola launched this year with its partner Voltera and be located along high-volume freight corridors near Los Angeles, San Diego and in the Mojave Desert region.
The grant “will allow us to accelerate the deployment of zero-emissions hydrogen refueling infrastructure, which is vital for the successful launch of our hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks in July,” Carey Mendes, president of Nikola Energy, said in an emailed statement.
The announcement is much-needed good news for a company that needs to raise substantially more capital to create a viable business selling zero-emission trucks. Nikola last month said it was cutting about 270 jobs across its operations to help reduce expenses, and it’s also seeking to raise more money by issuing new shares. It’s overhauled operations dramatically in the past two years, focusing solely on building battery and fuel cell trucks and making hydrogen to power the latter, trying to overcome damage to its brand done by founder Trevor Milton. He was convicted of securities and wire fraud last year and is awaiting sentencing.
The California funds will cover about half of the cost of building the six stations, said company spokesman Dan Passe. Nikola and Voltera will cover the remaining portion. They’ll be designed to refuel up to 100 trucks a day, with the first ones opening late this year and in early 2024. Nikola said in May it aimed to open 50 HYLA stations with Voltera by 2028.
Nikola’s battery-powered Tre trucks, which went into production last year, go about 300 miles per charge, while the hydrogen fuel cell version will go about 500 miles per fueling. Truck builders including Daimler, Volvo, Toyota and Hyundai, like Nikola, see hydrogen as a better option for electric trucks than batteries as they aren’t as heavy and can be refueled more rapidly.
Currently, there are virtually no public hydrogen fuel stations in the U.S. designed to handle semi-trucks, though California has more than 50 hydrogen stations for passenger vehicles like the Toyota Mirai sedan and Hyundai NEXO crossover.
Separately, Nikola said it delivered 45 battery trucks in the second quarter of 2023.
Shares of Nikola gained 4.4% to close at $1.43 in Nasdaq trading on Wednesday.
