A new truck manufacturing company is expected to build electric-powered semi-trucks in Tennessee. Nikola Motor Co. CEO Trevor Milton unveiled his plans last week in Salt Lake City to revamp the trucking industry by replacing diesel engines with hydrogen fuel and battery-powered electric motors.
Milton says he plans to build a $1 billion factory to assemble the new Nikola One trucks within the next five years. The location for factory is yet to be determined.
In the meantime, he says Fitzgerald Glider Kits, an automotive parts maker in Byrdstown, will produce the first 5,000 Nikola One trucks, which he expects to be ready for the road by 2019.
Paschall Truck VP of Maintenance Lines David Graham says he has his eye on the company.
“ A lot of our customers are interested in seeing a reduction in the carbon footprint.This company, Nikola, claims they have a zero emissions vehicle and has done some test runs with it, using predominantly battery power, we watch that technology and are very interested in it but at some point you have to balance the cost of that versus the ROI as a for profit company and where that really becomes sensible to invest in,” said Graham.
Graham says after the new electric semis have been out on the road and worked out any initial kinks, volumes will increase and the price will become more affordable. He says early adopters are typically government agencies or companies that can swap out a small percentage of their fleet at a time.
The electric-powered semi is available only through leasing at this point and costs between $5,000 and $7,000 a month, which includes all fuel, maintenance and service costs. Nikola Spokeswoman Colleen Robar says the company has more than 8,000 orders already.
Graham says PTL is an EPA Smartway Carrier with a four year trade cycle, with around 3,300 trucks and trailers. Graham doubts the price point for a return on investment will be low enough by their next trade.
