Arkansas Trucking Association

The electric truck is (almost) here

Nikola Motor Company — called the “Tesla of the Trucking Industry” for its electric vehicles and the first name of famous inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla— announced 7,000 reservations for its yet-to-be-released electric hybrid “Nikola One” semi-truck. If all of the orders are filled, Nikola can claim $2.3 billion in revenue since the model was announced in May 2016.

“We believe we will pass the current market leaders like Daimler, PACCAR, Volvo and Navistar in sales orders within the next 12-24 months,” Nikola Motor CEO Trevor Milton claims in a press release. He also says that some of the top class 8 dealerships in America have reached out and are willing to either “add our brand” or move away from their existing brands.

The Nikola One costs $375,000, or can be leased for $4,000 to $5,000 per month.

The Nikola One is only partially electric, using a fuel turbine to feed the 320 kWh battery pack. On a full tank of gas, it will be able to travel 1,200 miles before it needs to be filled, and the company estimates it will get half the cost per mile of current diesel semis.

“Our technology is 10-15 years ahead of any other OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in fuel efficiencies, MPG and emissions,” Milton writes. “We are the only OEM to have a near zero-emission truck and still outperform diesel trucks running at 80,000 pounds.”

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