Nikola Badger: fuel-cell and electric pick-up available to order
US firm opens pre-order books for its Tesla-baiting pick-up, available with hydrogen or pure-electric powertrains
Nikola Motors, the American hydrogen-fuel-cell truck maker that's just made a dramatic debut on the stock market, will today begin taking pre-orders for its Badger pick-up.
The start-up, described as the Tesla of the truck world, went public earlier this month and has since surged in value. Around a week after the flotation, the Arizona-based firm was trading with a value of more $28.8 billion (£22.6bn) - higher than Ford and more than double the market cap of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The company, based in Arizona, recently revealed that its fuel-cell pick-up truck will be called the Badger. Pre-orders for the model open today (29 June), and it will be officially unveiled at the company's annual Nikola World event on 4 December, to which customers pre-ordering a Badger will be invited.
Nikola founder Trevor Milton claims showgoers will "get to see a real operating truck, not a fake show truck" that will have "stamped metal panels" and a "functioning interior". It's assumed that these declarations are an oblique reference to the Tesla Cybertruck, which was unveiled last year.
Like Nikola's heavy goods trucks, which are yet to enter production, the Badger offers a choice of powertrains. It can be supplied as a conventional battery EV with a claimed range of 300 miles or it can be powered by a 120kW hydrogen fuel cell for a range said to be double that of the BEV.
Nikola claims the 5.89m-long Badger can put out 894bhp peak (or 449bhp continuously) and 980lb ft of torque. That translates to a quoted 0-60mph time of 2.9sec and a promised towing capacity of more than 3600kg.
The bad news is that the Badger is currently not expected to be offered outside of North America. No delivery date has been set for the model.
*READ MORE:*
*New Tesla Cybertruck: firm claims 200,000 orders for radical EV pick-up*
*New GMC Hummer EV: reveal of reborn SUV postponed*
*Analysis: do hydrogen-powered cars have a future? *
