Nikola teases ‘breakthrough’ battery to be unveiled next fall

Nikola Corp. promises to unveil a new prototype battery that it says has four times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries and should cost 50% less.

Phoenix-based hydrogen-fuel truck maker Nikola Corp. says in a news release that it plans to present the new battery to the public at Nikola World 2020 technology summit in Phoenix in fall 2020.

This month, Nikola entered into a letter of intent to acquire a world-class battery engineering team to help bring the new battery to pre-production. Further details of the acquisition will not be disclosed until Nikola World 2020, according to a news release. Nikola also has not released specifics on how the new battery cells work.

Claims that Nikola makes for the new “breakthrough” battery:

• Nikola’s battery electric trucks could drive 800 miles fully loaded between charges
• Nikola trucks could weigh 5,000 pounds less than competing batteries if similarly sized batteries are compared.
• The new Nikola battery would weigh 40% less than lithium-ion cells.
• The material cost per kilowatt would be half the cost of lithium-ion batteries.
• The new battery will use smaller amounts of expensive and toxic elements, such as cobalt and nickel, than lithium-ion batteries.
• With the new battery, Nikola’s hydrogen-electric fuel cell trucks could surpass 1,000 miles between stops and top off in 15 minutes.

This battery technology could increase the range of current electric vehicle passenger cars from 300 miles up to 600 miles with little or no increase to battery size and weight, Nikola claims. The technology is also designed to operate in existing vehicle conditions.

The battery also is expected to pass nail-penetration standards and reduce potential vehicle fires.

“This is the biggest advancement we have seen in the battery world,” Trevor Milton, CEO of Nikola Motor Co., a subsidiary of Nikola Corp., said in the news release.  “We are not talking about small improvements. We are talking about doubling your cellphone battery capacity. We are talking about doubling the range of (battery electric vehicles) and hydrogen-electric vehicles around the world.”
Nikola says it plans to share the intellectual property related to the battery with other original equipment manufacturers via licensing agreements.

Nikola Corp. designs and manufactures hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen stations. The company is privately held. It was founded in 2014 in Salt Lake City.

Previous Land Line Media coverage of Nikola Motors

• Nikola Motors accuses Tesla of stealing truck design in $2B lawsuit
• Department of Energy to research alt fuels, electric trucks