An automobile company named in his honor, Tesla Motors, is poised to revolutionize America’s highways. Another similarly named company, Nikola Motor Company (NMC), seems poised to do the same for transportation.
Trevor Milton founded his company to design and manufacture electric vehicles, energy storage systems and electric vehicle drivetrain components. With the first working prototypes expected to be displayed to the public later this year, the company plans to soon launch a 2,000 horsepower electric semi-truck, Nikola One.
The company says Nikola One is capable of pulling a total gross weight of 80,000 pounds and offers more than 1,200 miles between stops. The majority of the truck’s components are being developed by NMC, but the company turned to Meritor for help in co-designing the industry’s first-ever independent suspension.
“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 design,” Milton says. “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 is just the beginning of what’s ahead for America, our company and the electric vehicle market.”
Nikola One’s fully electric 335 horsepower motor features a dual gear reduction at every wheel (6×6). Combined, the truck outputs more than 2,000 horsepower and 3,700-plus ft. lbs. of torque before gear reduction, and nearly 86,000 ft. lbs. of torque after gear reduction.
