Assault Industries was one of only a couple of non-media entities from our industry to be invited to the official reveal from Nikola Motors. We are greatly appreciative of the invite and opportunity to attend and now have more information on these cool vehicles than most. We have been posting a lot of content on our social media in the last couple of days with largely negative comments/feedback as per usual with pretty much anything always, but we will address some of these concerns / comments anyway.
1. Weight - Yes, It is heavy. So are all electric vehicles - regardless of weight, motors and batteries are mounted at the lowest point in the vehicle and thus it enjoys a very low center of gravity which makes it feel more planted through turns and almost impossible to roll.
2. Price - Yes, It is expensive. When Tesla came out with the original roadster it was what most considered impractical and expensive. The purpose of creating such a vehicle was to launch the brand and demonstrate their technologies to generate interest and funding for bigger and better projects. Over 10 years later there are more than 500,000 Tesla EVs on the road worldwide and growing every day. The price point on this vehicle is high because the initial units are limited. Possibly in the low 1000's. Future vehicles that come from this technology will be less expensive, but it has to start somewhere.
3. The concept was initially thought to be a UTV. The final is not. The open and closed cabin variants are considered OHV's, not UTV's. They will be road legal in the 17 states where UTV's and OHV's are allowed on public roads. Turn signals are already integrated into the head and tail lights as standard.
4. Range Anxiety - Yea, if you're use to just fueling up and going out, this will be an adjustment for you. There is good news though! They will have Nikola charging stations installed at popular riding spots similar to what Tesla does with their super charging stations.
Regardless of your opinion, the offroad enthusiast industry is huge right now and companies like Nikola taking interest will only be beneficial in the long term. Also this vehicle will not be available until around 2021 so there is plenty of time to improve and refine every aspect of the vehicle line up.
To learn more visit Nikola Motors website. Click here
