Move over, clydesdales. Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch has announced that it will be ordering up to 800 hydrogen trucks to start hauling beer across the continent.
Anheuser-Busch will be getting the zero-emission hydrogen-electric trucks from startup Nikola Motor Company. The Nikola Two trucks are able to travel between 800 and nearly 2,000 km on a tank of hydrogen fuel. They will also be able to refill that tank in 20 minutes. That makes the trucks more long-haul ready than electric trucks like the Tesla Semi or Nikola's own Nikola One EV, and the company says will even reduce fuelling times compared with conventional diesel trucks. The trucks offer more than 1,000 hp and 2,000 lb-ft of torque.
The move is part of Anheuser-Busch's plan to convert its entire dedicated fleet to renewable energy-fuelled trucks by 2025. "The transport industry is one that is ripe for innovative solutions and Nikola is leading the way with hydrogen-electric, zero-emission capabilities," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris. The company has also placed a reservation for 40 Tesla electric trucks.
While hydrogen filling stations are still not that common around the continent, Nikola CEO Trevor Milton said that the company anticipates having more than 700 filling stations across the US and Canada by 2028. He added that the company currently has more than US $9 billion in pre-order reservations for their trucks.
When all 800 trucks are in the fleet, Nikola says that it will reduce the brewer's carbon emissions from logistics by more than 18 percent. That's the equivalent of 13,000 passenger cars annually. The zero-emission trucks are expected to be integrated into the Anheuser-Busch truck fleet starting in 2020.
