Electric Class 8 semi unit revealed to the US

A US start-up the Nikola Motor Company (NMC), named after electrical engineer Nikola Tesla, has announced plans to put an electric Class 8 semi-truck and an electric 4×4 UTV into series production.

Founder and CEO Trevor Milton set up NMC years ago to design and manufacture electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and electric vehicle drivetrain components.

The first working prototypes to be displayed will be a 2000 horsepower, electric semi-truck, called Nikola One, and a 520 hp, 4×4 electric UTV bearing the code name of Nikola Zero.

Online deposits and reservations have just begun for both the Nikola Zero UTV and the Nikola One electric semi-truck at nikolamotor.com

. The company is requesting a US $1500 deposit for the electric semi-truck

While Nikola is developing the majority of the semi-trucks components, the company also co-designed the industry’s first ever independent suspension with Meritor.

“By working together with some of the top engineering firms in America, we were able to design vehicles that have previously been thought impossible to create,” says Milton.

“We want to even the playing field and income inequalities seen between owner-operators and fleets for the first time in recent trucking history. This technology is just the beginning of what’s ahead for America, our company, and the electric vehicle market,” he says.

Before establishing NMC, Milton was CEO of dHybrid Systems, a natural gas storage technology company acquired in October 2014 by one of America’s steel providers, Worthington Industries.