Anheuser-Busch orders 800 hydrogen-electric trucks from company that just sued Tesla
Budweiser's parent company is going electric -- and it's not with the company most synonymous with electric vehicles.
Anheuser-Busch, the beverage company that owns the popular beer, announced Thursday it's ordering 800 hydrogen-electric, zero-emission semi-trucks from the Nikola Motor Company.
Yes, that's the same company that just sued Tesla for $2 billion over what it claims are patent infringements for its semi-truck design. The Tesla Semi is an electric truck with a 300-mile range and a $150,000 price tag. Nikola says its competing hydrogen-electric truck dubbed the One has a 500- to 1,000-mile range. It's price is unclear, but it has a monthly leasing program reportedly starting at around $5,000 a month.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the design copying allegation a "laughable lawsuit." In Tesla's earnings call this week, Musk also called the suit "absurd."
Anheuser-Busch will use the Nikola trucks to travel between 500 and 1,200 miles, and integrate the renewable energy-powered trucks into its fleet starting in 2020. By 2025, the alcohol company plans to switch its entire long-haul fleet to hydrogen and electric power.
If Musk is a beer drinker, looks like Bud Light is off the shopping list.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
