Today’s truck manufacturers may face a fate similar to US photo firm Kodak, Nikola Motor Company founder and chief executive officer Trevor Milton warns.
Milton told the 66th annual meeting of the Quebec Trucking Association that traditional truck makers are risking a similar mistake to Kodak which saw its film business collapse during the advent of digital cameras, truckinginfo.com reports.
“They [Kodak] were so powerful that they never expected to change anything,” Milton says. “Why change something that already works?”
His Utah-based company is looking to reinvent the idea of a Class 8 truck, as it considers producing a hydrogen-powered electric model, the Nikola One.
Milton compares the truck’s concept to the arrival of the first smartphones, which also took the marketplace by surprise.
Nikola One’s monthly payments will include the price of the truck as well as fuel, maintenance, insurance, and even the windshield wipers. The company plans to develop a related network of hydrogen fuelling stations too.
The Nikola One is expected to travel up to 1900 kilometres on a single filling of the hydrogen fuel cell system, while delivering 1000 horsepower.
“Other manufacturers are trying to meet the new emissions standards by sacrificing torque and power, but drivers do not want to drive a truck that does not have power,” Milton says.
“By 2021 the truck will be on the road, it’s not a dream.”
