Two years after the announcement of the joint venture between IVECO (CNH Industrial) and Nikola Corporation, at Ulm the manufacturing plant of Nikola Tre electric heavy trucks is ready. By the end of 2021, then in the 50,000 square metres of the factory, the production will start and in 2022 the first vehicles will be delivered to selected customers in the United States.
It seems that in the first phase the production will be focused on the Battery Electric Vehicle, BEV, model but the evolution reserved to the modular heavy platform of IVECO and Nikola is already ready. It is a prototype of Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle, FCEV, intended for leaving German assembling lines by the end of 2023.
A platform, expressly designed for an electric native project, will be used. The two companies’ target is taking jointly the leadership in the ambit of the short and long haul electric heavy transport, to be neutral from the point of view of the climatic impact.
Among the first applications of the joint-venture, it is worth highlighting the agreement with Hamburg port authorities, which provides for the start of tests in the port of BEV vehicles by Nikola Tre for transport and logistic operations, together with high-performance recharge solutions.