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Tesla Semi rival Nikola dubs future fleet as US’ ‘largest air purifiers’ amid hiring ramp
As the Tesla Semi continues to undergo real-world testing in preparation for its initial production in 2019, rival startup company Nikola Motor has claimed that its future fleet will be the United States’ “largest air purifiers,” thanks to their hydrogen fuel cell systems. Nikola’s announcement comes amidst the company’s current initiatives to ramp its hiring activities for its facilities in Arizona.
No stranger to bold declarations on Twitter, Nikola noted that due to its vehicles’ hydrogen fuel cell system, its fleet of trucks would be able to clean the air as they drive across America. In a later tweet, the trucking startup also assured its social media followers that it does not use methane to produce hydrogen. Rather, it utilizes a combination of solar, wind, and hydropower to make the hydrogen needed to power its upcoming fleet.
Why do we like hydrogen so much? The Nikola fleet will be one of the largest air purifiers in America one day. Imagine 500,000 Nikola trucks driving in cities across America sucking in dirty air and emitting nothing but clean water. #emissionsgameover #dieselisdead
— Nikola Corporation (@nikolamotor) October 24, 2018
A following tweet from the company also gave a first look at the fuel cell that would be used for the Nikola One sleeper semi-trailer, as well as the Nikola Two daycab. The trucking startup and budding Tesla Semi rival further noted that a Nikola truck would have two 120 kW systems, which should provide its trucks with a considerable degree of power.
What an awesome Nikola fuel cell. This is the 120kW running through tests. Each truck has 2 X 120 KW systems. Get ready for some big news coming in the following days as promised. This thing rocks and we can't wait for the world to see it in action. pic.twitter.com/rLKx8oF8pM
— Nikola Corporation (@nikolamotor) October 29, 2018
Recent reports have further revealed that Nikola is starting to ramp its hiring as it prepares to start producing its highly-anticipated hydrogen-electric truck. Since moving to the Phoenix area from Utah in July, the company has employed about 70 people in Chandler as it constructs its new headquarters in Phoenix. By the end of the year, Nikola aims to have 100 employees, and by the end of 2019, the trucking startup is seeking to employ about 200 workers.
Nikola Motor chief legal officer Britton Worthen noted in a statement to AZ Central that it expects to break ground on its planned 1 million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Coolidge, AZ, in about two years. At a talk on Friday, the Nikola executive pointed out to Pinal County economic development officials that the upcoming facility would be complete in about five years. Over this time, Nikola also plans to start the expansion of its hydrogen fueling stations, which the company expects will be the ‘largest energy consumer’ in the US within the next ten years.
Nikola Motors is no stranger to bold statements. Earlier this year, the company announced that it would be refunding all the reservations it received for the Nikola One and Nikola Two. Seemingly throwing shade at Tesla, the trucking startup further noted that it does not “use (customers’) money to operate (its) business.” Nikola has declared that it currently has $11 billion in pre-production orders as well.
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- The Nikola One
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- The Nikola One.
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- Credit: Nikola Motor
The Nikola One hydrogen-electric truck.
Over the past few months, though, Nikola started to adopt a more aggressive stance against Tesla. Earlier this year, the company filed a $2 billion lawsuit against the electric car maker, claiming that the Tesla Semi violated its design patents for the Nikola One. In its lawsuit, the trucking startup alleged that the Tesla Semi copied the Nikola One’s wraparound windshield, mid-entry door, front fenders, and the electric truck’s aerodynamic body. Furthermore, the trucking startup claimed that the similar designs of the Semi and the One puts its reputation at risk, since Tesla has had “problems with its batteries starting fires and its autonomous features causing fatal accidents.”
Nikola’s patent lawsuit met a notable roadblock in August, though, as the US Patent Office granted Tesla its own design patents for the Tesla Semi, with the US patent examiner even using the Nikola One as a comparison point for the all-electric long-hauler. Thus, if Nikola chooses to pursue its case against Tesla, it would have to prove that the US patent examiner made a mistake. Such a feat is very challenging to accomplish.
Its legal moves against Tesla aside, Nikola is nonetheless setting the stage of a grand, three-day event in April 2019, which would feature the unveiling of the pre-production models of its hydrogen-electric trucks. A 2.3-megawatt hydrogen fueling station, which would serve as a model for the company’s upcoming network of H2 refilling stations, is also expected to be unveiled.
Tesla has added the 15th automaker to the growing list of companies whose EVs can utilize the Supercharger Network this year, as BMW is the latest company to gain access to the largest charging infrastructure in the world.
BMW became the 15th company in 2025 to gain Tesla Supercharger access, after the company confirmed to its EV owners that they could use any of the more than 25,000 Supercharging stalls in North America.
Welcome @BMW owners.
Download the Tesla app to charge → https://t.co/vnu0NHA7Ab
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 10, 2025
Newer BMW all-electric cars, like the i4, i5, i7, and iX, are able to utilize Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. These are the exact model years, via the BMW Blog:
- i4: 2022-2026 model years
- i5: 2024-2025 model years
- 2026 i5 (eDrive40 and xDrive40) after software update in Spring 2026
- i7: 2023-2026 model years
- iX: 2022-2025 model years
- 2026 iX (all versions) after software update in Spring 2026
With the expansion of the companies that gained access in 2025 to the Tesla Supercharger Network, a vast majority of non-Tesla EVs are able to use the charging stalls to gain range in their cars.
So far in 2025, Tesla has enabled Supercharger access to:
- Audi
- BMW
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Polestar
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Drivers with BMW EVs who wish to charge at Tesla Superchargers must use an NACS-to-CCS1 adapter. In Q2 2026, BMW plans to release its official adapter, but there are third-party options available in the meantime.
They will also have to use the Tesla App to enable Supercharging access to determine rates and availability. It is a relatively seamless process.
News
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
Tesla has added a new feature that will be great for crowded parking lots, congested parking garages, or other confusing times when you cannot seem to pinpoint where your car went.
Tesla has added a new Vehicle Locator feature to the Tesla App with App Update v4.51.5.
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
While there are several new features, which we will reveal later in this article, perhaps one of the coolest is that of the Vehicle Locator, which will now point you in the direction of your car using a directional arrow on the home screen. This is similar to what Apple uses to find devices:
Interesting. The location arrow in the Tesla app now points to your car when you’re nearby. pic.twitter.com/b0yjmwwzxN
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) December 7, 2025
In real time, the arrow gives an accurate depiction of which direction you should walk in to find your car. This seems extremely helpful in large parking lots or unfamiliar shopping centers.
Getting to your car after a sporting event is an event all in itself; this feature will undoubtedly help with it:
The nice little touch that Tesla have put in the app – continuous tracking of your vehicle location relative to you.
There’s people reporting dizziness testing this.
To those I say… try spinning your phone instead. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BAYmJ3mzzD
— Some UK Tesla Guy (UnSupervised…) (@SomeUKTeslaGuy) December 8, 2025
Tesla’s previous app versions revealed the address at which you could locate your car, which was great if you parked on the street in a city setting. It was also possible to use the map within the app to locate your car.
However, this new feature gives a more definitive location for your car and helps with the navigation to it, instead of potentially walking randomly.
It also reveals the distance you are from your car, which is a big plus.
Along with this new addition, Tesla added Photobooth features, Dog Mode Live Activity, Custom Wraps and Tints for Colorizer, and Dashcam Clip details.
🚨 Tesla App v4.51.5 looks to be preparing for the Holiday Update pic.twitter.com/ztts8poV82
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 8, 2025
All in all, this App update was pretty robust.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shaded Waymo in a post on X on Wednesday, stating the company “never really had a chance” and that it “will be obvious in hindsight.”
Tesla and Waymo are the two primary contributors to the self-driving efforts in the United States, with both operating driverless ride-hailing services in the country. Tesla does have a Safety Monitor present in its vehicles in Austin, Texas, and someone in the driver’s seat in its Bay Area operation.
Musk says the Austin operation will be completely void of any Safety Monitors by the end of the year.
🚨 Tesla vs. Waymo Geofence in Austin https://t.co/A6ffPtp5xv pic.twitter.com/mrnL0YNSn4
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 10, 2025
With the two companies being the main members of the driverless movement in the U.S., there is certainly a rivalry. The two have sparred back and forth with their geofences, or service areas, in both Austin and the Bay Area.
While that is a metric for comparison now, ultimately, it will not matter in the coming years, as the two companies will likely operate in a similar fashion.
Waymo has geared its business toward larger cities, and Tesla has said that its self-driving efforts will expand to every single one of its vehicles in any location globally. This is where the true difference between the two lies, along with the fact that Tesla uses its own vehicles, while Waymo has several models in its lineup from different manufacturers.
The two also have different ideas on how to solve self-driving, as Tesla uses a vision-only approach. Waymo relies on several things, including LiDAR, which Musk once called “a fool’s errand.”
This is where Tesla sets itself apart from the competition, and Musk highlighted the company’s position against Waymo.
Jeff Dean, the Chief Scientist for Google DeepMind, said on X:
“I don’t think Tesla has anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has (96M for Waymo, as of today). The safety data is quite compelling for Waymo, as well.”
Musk replied:
“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”
Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Tesla stands to have a much larger fleet of vehicles in the coming years if it chooses to activate Robotaxi services with all passenger vehicles. A simple Over-the-Air update will activate this capability, while Waymo would likely be confined to the vehicles it commissions as Robotaxis.
Tesla adds 15th automaker to Supercharger access in 2025
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
