The beer company said it plans to buy as many as 800 trucks from Nikola Motor Co. Where Tesla uses batteries in its powertrain technology, Phoenix-based Nikola uses hydrogen fuel cells. In both cases, the vehicles generate no tailpipe pollutants.
Tesla and Nikola are vying for share in a market dominated by diesel-fueled trucks.
Ingrid De Ryck, Anheuser-Busch's vice president of procurement and sustainability, said the company plans to convert its entire 800-vehicle company-owned fleet to vehicles that emit no pollution or greenhouse gases by 2025.
The company "plans to reduce carbon emissions by 25 percent over our entire value chain by 2025," De Ryck said. "This will help us reach our sustainability goals."
The market for heavy duty semi trucks is small and slow-growing. In 2016, 249,952 big trucks were sold in the U.S., the majority using conventional diesel fuel, according to IHS Markit. That represents growth of only 0.6 percent over the previous year. Alternative-powertrain companies such as Nikola and Tesla have to displace traditional truck makers to gain traction.
