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Nikola Corp. lost an order to supply sanitation heavyweight Republic Services Inc. with 2,500 battery-electric garbage trucks, the latest setback for the troubled startup.

Since taking the wheel at Nikola Corp. in September, Mark Russell has been adamant the electric-truck startup doesn’t need a deal with General Motors Co. to survive. Now he has to prove it.

China, the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles, isn’t so quick to dismiss the alternative to batteries. Officials are promoting the development of hydrogen-powered cars, trucks and buses, with Beijing offering to reward cities that achieve adoption targets.

Hydrogen will likely end up as the dominant fuel for longhaul trucks one or more decades from now, according to experts at familiar component suppliers and truck manufacturers. Nikola Motor Co. agrees, as one of the first entrants into this arena, with a whole new vehicle architecture.

Three power plants planned in New York, Virginia and Ohio will test whether hydrogen can one day replace natural gas in electric generation.

Commercial trucking is making progress with sustainability, but obstacles and unknowns remain, according to a coalition of industry groups.

With little more than sketches and not fully baked prototypes, a crowd of electric vehicle startups have rounded up billions from investors. Can that fundraising engine drive a hydrogen-powered car?

Nikola Corp. founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton believes the hydrogen fuel cell technology that powers his company’s trucks can place Nikola at the forefront of global efforts to toughen clean-air rules while also providing a truck that meets the needs of commercial fleets.