Look ma, no hands- The Nikola Motors hydrogen truck saga

[GregLocock]

Here's the short report/hit piece. A great read.

https://hindenburgresearch.com/nikola/

OK it isn't an engineering disaster.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[IRstuff]

For some perspective, other than that of a company specializing in short-selling:

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/nikola-hits-back-at-hindenburg-fraud-report-eyes-sec-action

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/0...5-as-the-company-faces-new-fraud-allegations/

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[GregLocock]

At the December 2016 event, Nikola Chairman Trevor Milton repeatedly described the truck as fully functional. But that wasn't quite true, as Milton admitted to Bloomberg earlier this year. The supposedly hydrogen-powered truck didn't have a hydrogen fuel cell, nor did it have the motors and gears required to drive the wheels.

Milton tweeted on Thursday morning. "It will take the rest of the day to address the one sided false claims, but I will put out a detail report to address it."

Around dinner time, Milton tweeted that "t's taken longer to respond to the bull crap" and vowed to "work through the night" on a rebuttal. A few hours later he repeated his vow to work through the night and promised that an in-depth response "will be out before market opens."

But as the new day dawned, Milton announced he wouldn't be releasing a rebuttal after all.

Short sellers are an interesting crew.



Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[human909]

This is a company that specialised in FINACIAL engineering and not to mention social engineering.

It is all coming to roost this morning.... I'm not sure it is a failure because it was working as designed for quite some time. It will however be a disaster for some.

 

[dgallup]

Nikola founder Trevor Milton has announced he will step down as executive chairman amid fraud accusations.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[SnTMan]

One account

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[dik]

Does snakeoil have a carbon footprint? Great article...

Dik

 

[dik]

There's currently work being done on hydrogen cell powered trains.

Dik

 

[SnTMan]

Yeh, if only we had some hydrogen

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[Lou Scannon]

If I'm not mistaken, using electricity for railway propulsion was figured out over a century ago. I guess when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

"Schiefgehen wird, was schiefgehen kann" - das Murphygesetz

 

[TenPenny]

Bring back the Milwaukee Road!

 

[waross]

Bring back the Milwaukee Road!

We can follow the Swiss and install electric immersion heaters in the boilers.
There may be problems keeping the pantagraphs in contact with the catenaries at over 100 MPH, but think of engineering as a field of solutions, not problems.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[JohnRBaker]

Then how does the TGV and the Japanese bullet trains manage? I've ridden on both, as well as the ICE in Germany. They all regularly run at well over 100 MPH.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[davidbeach]

A Milwaukee Road pantograph might well have failed to maintain contact at 100mph, particularly given the design of the Milwaukee's catenary. But modern designs of both allow it to work. The constant tension of modern catenary design allows the pantograph to apply a stronger upward force against the catenary than what the Milwaukee could ever have withstood, even at its best. By the end it was far from its best.

 

[waross]

Is that a problem or a solution, John.
Third rails work well underground and elevated.
For pantagraphs, the first step is a catenary support rather than a parabolic as is used for trolley busses.
A second step may be tighter tolerances on the catenary as opposed to a system designed for 40 MPH.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[JohnRBaker]

I was simply asking since it seemed as if you were implying that there was some sort of technical limitation when trying to use catenaries at speeds over 100 MPH. I was just pointing out that it has been done for years.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[itsmoked]

But as the new day dawned, Milton announced he wouldn't be releasing a rebuttal after all.

Well this isn't completely correct as I've read most of a multipage detailed rebuttal to the scumbags.

Nicola Rebuttal

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[SwinnyGG]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/investing/nikola-trevor-milton/index.html

 

[GregLocock]

Keith- he said he'd reply within a day on the 10th. He didn't, he resigned. The new management team have, days later, on the 14th.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[JayMaechtlen]

So. based on the rebuttals and GM's involvement, it seems that the vehicles are 1-2 years away at minimum - a far cry from mr. snakeoil's claims.
Given money, certainly big trucks can be built on electric or fuel cell/electric platforms.
They claim a contract for rubbish trucks - that is probably the best application of electric technology with maybe a fuel cell boost. Those vehicles are all start-stop, where electric should shine.
Still need appropriately-sized drives and power handling, but I'm sure that's do-able.

we shall see...

Jay Maechtlen

http://www.laserpubs.com/techcomm