Late last year, Nikola and Iveco put their new electric truck through its paces during a testing session at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, USA. Footage of the test has now been revealed as part of a YouTube series dedicated to the development of the Nikola Tre semi-truck.
The lorry itself is equipped with a 720 kWh battery and features KERS-style technology to recharge under breaking.
Nikola claims the truck’s modular design gives owners the means to customize the number of battery packs to meet their particular range needs. The manufacturer adds that multiple packs also provide for resiliency in case of a problem in one of the packs, as one pack can be isolated without interfering with the continued operation of the vehicle.
During the video, engineers are seen repairing some glitches before the truck cautiously makes its way around the speedway. Nikola will hope the film answers the critics who doubted the company following the news that one of their videos showed its truck merely using gravity to roll down a slope.
The truck safely cruised around at 35kph, which seemed to please those who have been working hard on the project for some time.
Spectators at Phoenix Raceway are nonetheless used to seeing Indycar and Nascar drivers flying round the oval at much higher speeds.
Photo credit: Nikola / YouTube