b'6American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(CHARGEcontinued fromMilton, was forced to resign(JOLTcontinued from page 2) as executive chairman in latepage 2)of the most advanced testingSeptember.Thisfollowedato a gallon of diesel. But cur-programs of any electric-pow- damningreportbyashortrently,themedianpriceof ered semi in the US. Daimlerseller, which alleged fraud andhydrogen in the US is about customers are now evaluatingdeception.GMrenegotiated$11.50/kg,accordingtoa a total of 20 eCascadias. Yetterms of the partnership and,recentstudybytheInter-its anything but a sprint to theinlateNovember,thetwonationalCouncilonClean finishline.Commercialpro- companiesannouncedGMTransportation, with a mini-ductionontheeCascadiaiswould no longer make Niko- mumpriceof$8.80/kg.In now scheduled to begin in thelas pickup trucks nor wouldEurope, it runs even higher, first quarter of 2022.it take a piece of the upstartwith a median price at about Volvo Trucks North Amer- manufacturer.GMwould,$16/kg, but a minimum price ica just delivered some proto- however,makeitsfuel-cellof $7.49/kg.typestooperators,includingtechnology available.Using hydrogen as a fuel NFI.However,itwontevenNikola is now the subjectsource is today about twice as announceuntilbytheendofmultipleUSgovernmentefficient as diesel. At an aver-ofthisyear,itsaid,whenitdepartment investigations. Itsage cost of diesel these days expectscommercialproduc- stock price is now less than arunningabout$2.37,that tion to begin, or lay out detailsfourth its June high.meanshydrogenisatbest of cost, battery specs and range. almostfourtimesasexpen-RivalKenworthsaidinU phillB attle siveasafuelsourceandHyundai plans to deliver 50 hydrogen-powered trucks this year and October that it will launch com- Fromoldguardmanu- twiceasexpensiveintermspromised it will manufacture a total of 1,600 such trucks by 2025.mercial production of its firstfacturinggiantstowell-well- of miles traveled.indirectlyisdependentonAmericathatwouldsupport offering sometime next year. heeledstartups,EVvehicleThatassumeshydro- fossilfuelandcontributesits semis, which have yet to be InOctober,aswell,makersarefacinganuphillgenfuelisavailablewhereto carbon dioxide emissions.produced.Toyota Motor North Americabattle.Whilecommittedtoneeded, which is by no meansThe hope is that long-term,Afteritwentpublic announced that it would tie updevelopingazero-emissionsasafeassumption.Accord- renewables such as solar andinJune,Nikolawasworth with Hino Trucks to develop asemi, they are years away fromingtotheUSDepartmentwind will provide the energymorethan$28billion.It Class 8 vehicle specifically forproducing and selling in massof Energy and the Californianeeded to create the hydro- announcedapartnership theNorthAmericanmarket.quantities. The current state ofAirResourcesBoard,theregengasthroughaprocesswithGMinearlySeptem-No production timetable wasplayfortheindustry:Proto- are now 43 public hydrogencalledelectrolysisandthatber, under which GM would given.HinowilluseToyo- types and pre-production.fuelingstationsnationwide,fuelstockcostswilldropprovide the fuel cell technol-tas hydrogen-based fuel cellThisisgoingtobeaofwhich42arelocatedindramatically. ogy as well as manufacture technology, a more expensivelong and winding road untilCalifornia, with ConnecticutHydrogen-fueledvehi- Nikolas light trucks.alternative that provides betterwe scale up this technologyhavingoneaswell.(Plug- clesarentnew.GMhadNikolasfortunesplum-range than batteries. (See side- tomakeitthemainstreamin battery recharge stations,introduceditsfuel-cellmetedsoonafter.Itshigh-bar, page 2). intheindustry,warnedbycontrast,totaled78,300enabledElectrovanin1966.poweredfounder,Trevor MichaelScheib,whoheadslastyear,accordingtotheTwentyyearslater,ToyotaMilton, was forced to resign F irstD eliveries DaimlerNorthAmericasDepartment of Energy.) Newand Mazda launched cars thatas executive chairman in late ChinesemanufacturereMobilityprogram,atthathydrogenstationsarentranonhydrogen;DaimlerSeptember.Thisfolloweda BYD, which claims to be the2019ceremonyoutsideacheaptobuild,either,withintroduced a hydrogen-fueleddamningreportbyashort worlds largest electric vehi- California winery. costsofatleast$2millionbus the same year. seller,whichallegedfraud clesmanufacturer,marketsThosemonitoringtheeach, according to the Cali- Butforobviousrea- anddeception.Nikolais thecommercialavailabilityindustry agree that it is wish- fornia Fuel Cell Partnership. sonsofbothinfrastructurenowthesubjectofmultiple of semis, but numbers remainful thinking to expect thou- Thecurrenthydrogenandcost,hydrogenvehiclesUSgovernmentdepartment extremelysmall.Earlythissandsofelectrictruckstorefuelingstationsaresup- lagged.Thatwasespeciallyinvestigations. Its stock price year, BYD announced it hadply American highways any- portingHyundai,Toyotatrueofheavydutytrucks,plungedanditstie-upwith delivered in the US its 100thtimesoonorthattheywilland Honda cars, with BMWwhichbytheirverynature,GM remains iffy. truck, across all classes. Thebecomeaguidingforceinset to launch its own hydro- need an established chain ofMeanwhile,Hyundai, recipientwasAnheuser- the marketplace, even by thegen-fueledcarin2022.filling stations. farmorequietly,continues Busch,whichnowoperatesend of this decade.Forobviousreasons,theseAfive-year-oldstartuptodeliverhydrogen-pow-21 BYD electric semis. Iview2040asthevehiclesareavailableonlycalled Nikola Corp. has beeneredtruckstocustomersin Meanwhile,Teslakeepstimewherethedefaulthasin California. blowing the loudest horn forSwitzerland.Atotalof50 movingbackthecommer- gone from gas and diesel toThen,therestheissuefuelcelltrucks.Phoenix- arescheduledthisyearand cialproductiontimelineelectric,saidMikeRoeth,ofthehydrogenfuelitself.based Nikola boasted an ambi- theSouthKoreancompany ofitselectricsemi,whichexecutivedirectorofNorthIn the US, almost all hydro- tious, multi-billion-dollar planpromiseditwouldmanu-itunveiledin2017.Tesla(CHARGEcontinued ongennowisproducedfromto develop and construct 700facture a total of 1,600 such hasbeentakingdepositsonpage 14) natural gas, which means itrefueling stations across Northtrucks by 2025. orderssincethen,butwhile it has delivered 15 prototype semis to PepsiCos Frito-Lay manufacturing plant in Cali-fornia, other customers keep waitingforproductionto begin. That includes Walmart Canada,whichhasordered 130Teslaelectricsemis.Single Source Solutions S3Teslas latest quarterly report, released the end of October,Learn how our S3 can empower your intermodal againtermeditssemiproj- transportation program. Its the Single Source ect under development andSolution that will pay dividends for you from warned investors of possibleports and rails to warehouse and distribution production delays. solutions nationwide.Add to all this some buzz- LETS CONNECT. 855-4ROADONE heavy upstarts. That includesOne Kellaway Drive(855-476-2366)theindustrysmostcontro- Randolph, MA 02368www.roadone.comversial player, Nicola Motor, which also will rely on fuel celltechnology.NikolahasSolutions That ConnectdisplayedadizzyingarrayCorporate Headquartersofhighsandlows.ItjustDomestic Intermodal Trucking Solutions Regional Officesannounced a tie-up with GMInternational Intermodal Trucking Solutions Service CenterswhileitsfounderresignedContainer Terminal Solutions Northeast RegionamidstaccusationsoffraudMidwest RegionRegional Dedicated Truckload Solutions South Regionand sexual abuse. West RegionThat deal was short-livedNational Transloading, Warehousing and Distribution SolutionsandNikolasfortunesplum-metedsoonafter.Itshigh- ReliabilityTenacitySafetyIntegrityLoyaltypoweredfounder,Trevor'