Nikola fuel cell byproduct will be water you can drink: CEO
Buyers can put deposits on electric pickup, stocks surged 7% Monday
The fuel cell byproduct of the Nikola Badger truck will create ice water that is clean enough to drink, Trevor Milton, founder and CEO of electric truck maker Nikola, said Tuesday.
Nikola became a public company earlier in June, and its stock surged 7 percent Monday after the company opened reservations for the electric pickup truck that can be secured with a $5,000 deposit.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKLA | NIKOLA CORP. | 0.63 | -0.01 | -2.08% |
"The Badger is really unique because it's the only electric pickup truck that comes both a battery-electric version and a hydrogen fuel-cell version," Milton said on FOX Business' "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday.
NIKOLA TAKING $5,000 DEPOSITS ON ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCKS THAT DON'T EXIST YET
He added that drivers can drink access water from the hydrogen fuel-cell version of the truck.
"You can literally drink the water right out of it. ...From all the hydrogen that comes out of the vehicle, the byproduct is just water. We take that water, we clean it, we put it into the windshield washer fluid if your windshield washer fluid is low. All the access water is cleaned and sent to a chiller so you can have ice-cold, clean water as you're driving down the road. I mean, this thing is so fun," he said.
While a lot of people "don't need a fuel cell," people who travel long distances, such as construction workers, the fuel-cell version of the Badger can travel "600 miles" and will continually give drivers "power onboard so you don't have to stop and charge," he said.
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It only takes five minutes to fill the Badger with hydrogen to travel 600 miles, Milton said, and it has "906 horsepower."
"It's the only truck like it in the world, and that's why we're going after the Ford F-150 market," he said.
While the automaker does have Badger prototypes, Nikola is expected to unveil the electric truck in about four-and-a-half months.