[Newsbot]

Title: Nikola Motor claims it received over 7,000 pre-orders worth over $2.3 billion for its electric truck
Category: Business
Posted By: DrCaleb
Date: 2016-06-14 05:54:04

[Robair]

Very cool.

[herbie]

Can't figure out why no one's thinking of electric vans for outfits like UPS/Post Office.
Short overall range, lots of stop/starts, mainly downtown service. Seems like it would be one of the biggest markets.

Bigger platform fits bigger battery, 200 km range probably adequate, lower speeds, less HP needed....

[N_Fiddledog]

I'm skeptical.

But I'm prepared to believe it when I see it and give them 2 big thumbs up when I do.

Curious to hear more about why you can lease, but can't own. Reminds me of the EV-1. That scheme didn't work out too well as I recall. And who do they want to buck up all this money they say they need?

Too cool if they can do it with investor rather than taxpayer bucks. If it requires government money I get more skeptical.

Also, they seem to be suggesting they solved this problem.

Can electric vehicles self-charge?

If they did, don't bury the lede. That's the real story.

[DrCaleb]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Also, they seem to be suggesting they solved this problem.

Can electric vehicles self-charge?

If they did, don't bury the lede. That's the real story.

The problem of perpetual motion?

[N_Fiddledog]

Exactly.

Let's not be the victims of lazy reading here.

What's this all about?

$1:

1 million miles fuel free

If you can do that, screw the fact it's an electric truck. You just solved the energy crisis.

[DrCaleb]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Exactly.

Let's not be the victims of lazy reading here.

What's this all about?

$1:

1 million miles fuel free

If you can do that, screw the fact it's an electric truck. You just solved the energy crisis.

Speaking about being lazy, this is the second fail you've made in this thread. This truck doesn't rely on perpetual motion to recharge itself! It has a gas turbine to do that, just like a Chevy Volt.

And, that quote is reversed from the companies press release. What they actually wrote was "1 million miles FREE FUEL*".

(*Based on diesel cost of $2.50 per gallon, diesel MPG of 6, and free* fuel from Nikola as part of the Nikola Complete Leasing Program and/or the first 25,000 reservations promotion.)

[N_Fiddledog]

Hey, I just copied and pasted from your original article, Bud.

But yeah, it makes more sense at the new one you just Googled where they don't spell "regenerative" wrong.

So basically they claim the fuel costs are half what you'll pay for diesel and they'll pick that cost up off your five thousand dollar a month lease fee.

I'm still curious about this?

$1:

Never plug-in – Turbine charges batteries automatically while driving

I've seen claims like that for the future. I can't think of anybody who's actually doing it.

I don't understand why they need to give the range if you don't need a recharge.

$1:

1,200 MILES RANGE

If they're saying you fuel up and you drive 1200 miles, then yeah, that's pretty impressive.

But yeah, not having to recharge would be a big perk.

And here's one both your links seem to have forgotten to tell us. Do they actually have these trucks, or at a truck? Or is this all spec?

[OnTheIce]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

I've seen claims like that for the future. I can't think of anybody who's actually doing it.

Chevrolet would be a good start.

[DrCaleb]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Hey, I just copied and pasted from your original article, Bud.

But yeah, it makes more sense at the new one you just Googled where they don't spell "regenerative" wrong.

So basically they claim the fuel costs are half what you'll pay for diesel and they'll pick that cost up off your five thousand dollar a month lease fee.

No, you read something outrageous, and assumed it's true, Bud. I'm not lazy, when I read something outrageous, I assume it's another typo by a reporter, and check the source. The source led me to find the reversal of 'free' and 'fuel' by the reporter. QED.

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

I'm still curious about this?

$1:

Never plug-in – Turbine charges batteries automatically while driving

I've seen claims like that for the future. I can't think of anybody who's actually doing it.

You mean, nobody, except for every non-plug-in hybrid out there? Prius? Volt? Insight? These don't ring any bells? The only difference is using a turbine, rather than an IC engine.

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

I don't understand why they need to give the range if you need a recharge.

$1:

1,200 MILES RANGE

But yeah, not having to recharge would be a big perk.

So, you don't run out of energy on a lonely highway someplace?

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

And here's one both your links seem to have forgotten to tell us. Do they actually have these trucks, or at a truck? Or is this all spec?

If the pictures didn't convince you, then the website clearly states that they are undergoing US DOT testing. For that, they need a real world prototype.

[BRAH]

It's a start and better than the DPF crap that's almost crippled the trucking industry.

[N_Fiddledog]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

I've seen claims like that for the future. I can't think of anybody who's actually doing it.

Chevrolet would be a good start.

You mean this, right?

$1:

The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge. From there its internal combustion engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle's range as needed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

So in this case you're saying all that's happening is the truck is running off the natural gas as it recharges the electric motor, right?

I'm not sure that's what the promo is implying. It's not the impression I got.

So what's this 'range of 1,200 miles about, then? I still don't get that one.

[OnTheIce]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

You mean this, right?

$1:

The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge. From there its internal combustion engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle's range as needed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

So in this case you're saying all that's happening is the truck is running off the natural gas as it recharges the electric motor, right?

I'm not sure that's what the promo is implying. It's not the impression I got.

So what's this 'range of 1,200 miles about, then? I still don't get that one.

In the case of the Volt, the gas generator never drives the vehicle. The generator continually charges the vehicle while driving to extend the range.

You can also activate the generator on hills to generate more power and use regenerative braking too.

[N_Fiddledog]

Still, this is starting to sound a lot less amazing the more we get into it.

They don't actually have trucks. Doc says there's a prototype somewhere, and they claim it's doing something. They claim they'll show you their prototype in December.

They say they have an amazing amount of orders for trucks that don't actually exist yet, but as far as we know the only one who's seen them is Nikola.

(BTW, nice, sneaky rip-off of the Tesla brand guys.)

They want more money from somebody, but we don't know who. Or for that matter why they need it if they're already taking orders.

The truck doesn't actually do anything remarkable. It's the same old tech. They're just making a lot of remarkable claims that it somehow gets better results.

[N_Fiddledog]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

In the case of the Volt, the gas generator never drives the vehicle. The generator continually charges the vehicle while driving to extend the range.

You can also activate the generator on hills to generate more power and use regenerative braking too.

I didn't know about the hills. That's interesting. But basically the fuel charges the generator. The electricity drives the car.

As far as the electricity goes, it converts into this right?

$1:

The second generation Volt improved battery system and drivetrain increased the all-electric range to 53 miles

So where is this range of 1,200 miles coming from on the truck?