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The crazy part is how a hacked-together prototype wouldn't even be that hard for a company the size of Nikola. Trucks already exist. So too do hydrogen fuel cel
by CydeWeys 6y ago
The crazy part is how a hacked-together prototype wouldn't even be that hard for a company the size of Nikola. Trucks already exist. So too do hydrogen fuel cells, electric motors, batteries, and high pressure gas tanks. Just take all those components and hack them together into a working first generation prototype truck, and get some on the road.
Tesla did a great job of this in its earliest years on far less funding than Nikola has now. They took existing cars (Lotus Elises) and all they had to do was put in batteries and electric engines. You have to walk before you can run, which Tesla did and Nikola seems to be failing to do. Jumping straight to building an entire truck is lunacy.
- ashleyn 6y agoCounterpoint: Elon, in retrospect, called the Lotus Elise strategy "super dumb." [1] 1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/09/18/elon-musk-converting-lotus-elise-to-build-the-tesla-roadster-was-a-super-dumb-strategy/#b39b12d540fe https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/09/18/elon-mu...
- syspec 6y agoThat may be true, for practical reasons, but it gave Tesla that "sexy" car image right off the bat. That was probably invaluable, because their next cars kind of looked like boring sedans yet the image persisted
- yongjik 6y agoI think you're right from the company's point of view, but I'm still glad that they didn't manage to hack together high-pressure hydrogen tanks into a truck and release it into public roads. Now that's a literal "move fast and break things" stuff.
- tenpies 6y agoI would take a handful of "hacked together" hydrogen tanks on trucks - especially given how safe they are now - over hundreds of thousands of idiots allowing their "full self driving" vehicle to "drive" itself.