Nikola Motor Company will be powering its emissions-free Class 8 trucks with hydrogen fuel cells in the U.S. and Canada, the company has announced.

The vehicles will make use of a custom-built, hydrogen-electric 800-volt fuel cell that Nikola said will be able to achieve nearly 20 mpg with zero emissions under fuel load and a range of over 1,200 miles between fill-ups. The company also said the trucks will surpass all government mandates, including the  recently announced Phase 2 GHG standards. 

Nikola plans to produce hydrogen with zero-emissions solar farms that it is building and  to have a nationwide network of over 50 hydrogen stations for customers by 2020.

“The desire to be 100% emission free in the U.S. and Canada is a critical piece of our long-term engineering and environmental efforts, not just in vehicle energy consumption, but also in how energy is produced,” said Trevor Milton, CEO of Nikola Motor Company. “These solar farms will produce over 100 megawatts each and will use electrolysis to create hydrogen from water.

Nikola announced the Nikola One zero-emissions Class 8 tractor earlier this year, offering reservations for the as-yet-unreleased vehicle for $1,500. The company received more than 7000 reservations for the vehicle as of August and will offer the vehicle through a truck leasing program.

More information will be announced about Nikola’s nationwide sales, service and warranty network in the coming weeks, the company said. The vehicle is set to be unveiled on Dec. 1 in Salt Lake City. A CNG -turbine version of the Nikola One is planned for countries where hydrogen is not readily available.

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