Nikola Corporation announced a partnership with Total Transportation Services to speed up zero-emission transportation at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.
Vehicle trials and a Letter of Intent (LOI) to order 100 Nikola Class 8 battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) semi-trucks are part of the partnership. The collaboration is conditional on the parties agreeing to negotiate and execute conclusive documentation.
The Nikola Tre BEV is intended for deliveries within a 350-mile radius. The Nikola Tre FCEV truck is designed to travel up to 500 miles and is expected to serve the majority of the North American regional market, especially when fleet operators need additional freight hauling capacity and fast fueling.
“The Nikola Tre trucks are exactly the type of zero-emission solution we need to be using at the port, Our trucks operate for 18-20 hours a day making the benefits of the Nikola portfolio a perfect match for our needs. The expected availability of the BEV aligns with our desire to reach our sustainability goals quickly and the FCEV is ideal for longer-range applications. Nikola’s value proposition of the truck and hydrogen fuel bundled together made this partnership even more appealing to our leadership team.”
Vic LaRosa, president of TTSI
The letter of intent is for 100 zero-emission vehicles, starting with a four-truck pilot in the first half of 2022, with two BEVs and two FCEVs. Thirty BEVs are expected to arrive later in 2022, and 70 FCEVs are expected to arrive in 2023, assuming the vehicle trials are successful and TTSI receives some government funding.
According to TTSI, 13,000 to 14,000 trucks pass through the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach per month, releasing about 2,600 tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide each year. This position and transportation use case represent one of California’s most important opportunities to contribute to the transition to sustainable transportation. TTSI has been at the forefront of this transformation as an early adopter, and will work with Nikola Corporation on a trial basis to put both BEVs and FCEVs into practice.
“TTSI’s decision to utilize both Nikola BEV and FCEV vehicles speaks to their forward-looking and strategic mindset in covering a variety of hauling distances and loads, while still contributing to California’s clean-air initiatives, We applaud TTSI’s commitment to a zero-emission future and are eager to help fulfill that vision with Nikola zero-emission vehicles.”
Nikola’s Global Head of BEV business unit, Michael Erickson.
“The drayage and port operations present an excellent use case for BEV and FCEV trucks where operational efficiency cannot be compromised, We hope to jointly demonstrate with TTSI the advantages of both technologies during vehicle trials at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. The planned conversion of the TTSI fleet over the next several years will provide a roadmap to implement zero-emission trucking that we hope many in Southern California will follow.”
Nikola’s Global Head of FCEV business unit, Jason Roycht
