Nikola Motor unveils electric truck concept with up to 1,200 miles of range

Fred Lambert | May 12 2016 - 2:04 pm PT

Don’t be put off by the Tesla Motors spinoff-sounding name (of course inspired by physicist Nikola Tesla) which attracted many headlines this week, Nikola Motor’s recently unveiled electric truck and UTV concepts are very real – well as real as a concept can be.

What many articles about the company missed is the fact that the range is achieved through a natural gas range extender, which is not clear only from the press release. The truck is called ‘Nikola One’ and it is equipped with a 320 kWh battery pack which enables up to 1,200 miles, but again only combined with the natural gas range extender.

There are over 32,000 individual lithium-ion cells welded together in the Nikola One’s battery pack. Nikola Motor boasts the pack as being 3x the pack size of a Tesla Model S P90D.

Nikola Motor lists some impressive specs:

6X6 100% Electric drive
Zero idle
Many times cleaner than diessel engines
1/2 the fuel cost per mile compared to diessel
3,700 FT. LBS Torque
2,000 Horsepower
1,200 Miles range
320 kWh Battery
1 million miles fuel free
Regenarative braking
Never plug-in – Turbine charges batteries automatically while driving

Most of the company’s plan relies on its ability to develop its natural gas CNG refueling stations, which is far from a done deal.

The company is currently only working on the prototype, but it is already taking reservations. They want to create a special lease program for truck drivers for $5,000 a month which would include the lease payment, unlimited miles, unlimited fuel, warranty and maintenance.

A truck driver would be able to trade-in his Nikola One for a new one with no additional cost every 72 months or 1,000,000 miles.