It’s been a decidedly weird month in the heavy truck world, and it just keeps getting weirder. Hydrogen shipping startup Hyroad Energy has acquired Nikola Motor’s hydrogen assets and IP, including 113 HFCEV semis, spare parts, and refueling infrastructure.
Hyroad Energy calls itself a leader in hydrogen-powered Class-8 trucks and trucking-as-a-service solutions, and aims to deliver, “reliability, safety, and cost-efficiency for superior results,” according to the company’s website. “We help fleets embrace hydrogen power without the complexities of going it alone. We manage the risks, finance the assets, and leverage economies of scale to drive down costs.”
Those claims became a lot more credible last week, when the company grew its hydrogen semi fleet from (apparently) 0 to 113 Class 8 semi trucks following the acquisition of Nikola’s orphaned hydrogen assets, which include the trucks, a number of spares, and the operational infrastructure needed to keep them on the road.
Hyroad CEO Dmitry Serov says that this acquisition, “significantly advances Hyroad’s mission to provide turnkey hydrogen trucking solutions that reduce the complexity and risk typically associated with adopting zero-emission technologies,” adding, “these trucks and the corresponding equipment and systems represent immediate capacity to put proven hydrogen fuel cell technology on the road to meet demand for zero-emission trucks.”
The company plans to deploy its newly-acquired fleet assets in California, initially, where some hydrogen refueling infrastructure already exists. More importantly, though, the company says it fully intends to support any Nikola hydrogen trucks already in service, in a bid to promote continuity and market growth for hydrogen-fueled commercial vehicles.
Electrek’s Take
The great Tymme Switzer once told me that you could judge a person based on whether or not they would do the right thing when they could get away with doing the wrong thing. In this case, Hyroad seems like it’s going to help – or, at least, try to help existing Nikola customers who have been struggling with their trucks to keep their hydrogen trucks on the road.
Say whatever you want about hydrogen (you know where I stand), but compare Hyroad’s verbal commitment to the hydrogen community to Lion Electric’s calculated abandonment of its customers and callous indifference towards the school districts it fleeced, and continue to judge accordingly.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Hyroad, via ACT News.
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