Nikola Celebrates The Customer Launch Of Serial Production In Arizona

In 2023, the all-electric Nikola Tre Class 8 semi-truck is expected to be joined by a hydrogen fuel cell version.

By: Mark Kane

Apr 28, 2022 at 9:52am ET

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Nikola Corporation marked the beginning of its commercial series electric truck production with a special ceremony in Coolidge, Arizona.

The Nikola Tre BEV Class 8 semi-truck entered series production on March 21, after a pilot phase, during which the first two units were delivered to customers on December 17, 2021. Now, customers are receiving series-produced vehicles.

Mark Russell, Nikola’s Chief Executive Officer said:

“We began production of the Tre BEV on March 21 here in Coolidge and today we’re celebrating this milestone and the initial shipments of trucks to our customers,”.

According to the company, the all-new plant (Phase 1) in Coolidge, Arizona has a production capacity of up to 2,500 annually. The Phase 2 expansion (currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in 2023) is expected to increase the capacity to 20,000 vehicles annually (assuming two-shift operations).

Nikola’s Ulm, Germany manufacturing facility on IVECO’s industrial complex, which was completed earlier, is capable of producing up to 2,000 vehicles annually "and is expandable up to 10,000 trucks per year."

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In 2023, Nikola would like to introduce on the market the hydrogen fuel cell version of the vehicle, called Nikola Tre FCEV.

On January 24, two Nikola Tre FCEV began pilot operations with Anheuser-Busch and are used in daily service within the brewer’s Southern California distribution network.

It will be very interesting to see which version will make a bigger splash or maybe they will be similarly successful, each in its own optimum application?

For all those interested in the Nikola Factory, an interesting video presentation was shared by Bear's Workshop:

Nikola Tre 6x2 specs:

up to 350 miles (563 km) of range in an undisclosed test cycle
753 kWh battery capacity
top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h)
gradeability of 36 mph (58 km/h) at 6%
system output of 480 kW (645 hp)
DC fast charging: 10-80% SOC in 120 minutes at up to 240 kW
(CCS1 or CCS2 standard)
GCWR: 82,000 lbs. (37,195 kg)
vehicle weight: undisclosed