The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has purchased a Nikola battery-electric vehicle and a Nikola hydrogen truck for its Hydrogen Commercial Vehicle Demonstration Project, which aims to test hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Alberta’s unique operations and weather conditions. The project, a first in Canada, also includes access to Nikola’s HYLA hydrogen mobile fueler.
Nikola expands its presence in Canada with the help of Alberta Motor Transport Association.
According to a recent announcement from Nikola Corporation (Nasdaq: NKLA), the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has purchased a Nikola battery-electric vehicle (Tre BEV) and a Nikola hydrogen truck (Tre FCEV), and is combining this purchase with refueling support via access to Nikola’s HYLA hydrogen mobile fueler.
The Nikola vehicles will be incorporated into a first-of-its-kind project in Canada.
AMTA plans to incorporate the heavy-duty Nikola battery-electric truck and Nikola hydrogen truck into its Hydrogen Commercial Vehicle Demonstration Project. This project, which is a first in Canada, launched in February 2023. It provides Alberta carriers the opportunity to use and test Class 8 vehicles that are powered by hydrogen fuel, within their unique operations.
The purpose of the trials is to view the performance of hydrogen vehicles on the province’s roads, with different payloads and in different weather conditions, while addressing challenges related to fuel cell infrastructure, and reliability, as well as vehicle costs and maintenance.
The Nikola hydrogen truck is expected to be delivered to AMTA by the end of 2023.
“We are excited to put these Nikola trucks to work in Alberta and begin collecting performance data, raising awareness to this advanced technology, promoting early adoption, and creating industry confidence in such an innovative technology,” said Doug Paisley, board chair, AMTA, in a recent Nikola news release.
The delivery of the Nikola Tre BEV to AMTA was slated for last week, while the Nikola Tre FCEV is expected to be delivered by the end of this year. Both the Nikola hydrogen truck and its BEV “are critical first steps in selling hundreds of trucks in Alberta,” Paisley said, adding that Alberta is a major new market for Nikola.
AMTA will help to promote further adoption of Nikola vehicles in Canada.
AMTA supports the widespread adoption of clean commercial vehicles and is a leader in aiding Canada in achieving its 2050 net-zero goals.
The Nikola hydrogen truck and BEV truck order that AMTA made will help to promote further adoptions of Nikola’s zero-emissions vehicles for many trucking companies in Canada. The Nikola HYLA hydrogen mobile fueler will help to support the promotion of Nikola’s trucks. It will not only help to allow for early adoption of the vehicle, but also geographical expansion across the country by delivering the necessary support for these trucks to quickly and seamlessly get on the road.
“Canada is moving fast to decarbonize the transportation sector by removing diesel trucks from the road to help the environment,” said President and CEO, Nikola Corporation, Michael Lohscheller. “We want Nikola to be in lockstep with leaders like AMTA to accelerate these important market adoption and regulatory policies.”