Nikola Motor, the Phoenix-based startup that wants to disrupt trucking with futuristic electric semis powered by hydrogen, says it has developed a new type of battery cell with double the energy density, only 40% of the weight and half the cost of current lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas and other consumer-market electric vehicles.
That’s equivalent to driving a vehicle several hundred thousand miles, says Nikola CEO and Founder Trevor Milton, who isn’t holding back in how he characterizes the new cell’s potential. “This is the biggest advancement we have seen in the battery world,” he tellsFor now, however, he won’t provide specifics of how the cells work and which university researchers Nikola has been working with to develop them .
Since the late 1990s, automakers have searched for viable battery technology that could deliver range and performance equivalent to gasoline but still be affordable. Many years of undelivered promises created considerable skepticism among auto engineers and executives, some of whom grouse about “liars, damn liars and battery suppliers.”
Nikola has raised about $500 million to get its hydrogen fuel cell trucks into production, gaining a $3 billion valuation, and needs to raise considerably more to also build its own network of hydrogen fuel stations to power them.