Tesla Motors has been an inspiration for many automakers developing electric vehicles in recent years, laying the groundwork for other companies to follow with long-range EVs that can be a viable alternative to conventionally-powered vehicles.

Now, with Tesla having sparked a tech revolution and paved the way for mass-market passenger vehicles, a new company has shown up, that wants to do the same for commercial vehicles. A startup based in Utah, that is also named after the legendary electrical engineering pioneer and inventor Nikola Tesla, but in this case using his first name, has introduced a hybrid semi-truck that can travel up to 1,200 miles before having to be recharged or refueled.

Natural Gas-Electric Hybrid

Nikola Motor Company, a startup headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has developed a semi-truck concept that employs a powertrain consisting of a battery pack and a fuel-agnostic turbine, which the company says will be replaced by a natural gas tank once the truck goes into production.

The truck is dubbed Nikola One, and it only takes one look at its specifications and the innovations it includes, to realize why the company that built it is called “Tesla of trucks”.

“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,” said Trevor Milton, founder and CEO of Nikola Motor Company, in a statement. “We want to even the playing field and income inequalities seen between owner operators and fleets for the first time in recent trucking history.”

Before he founded Nikola, Milton used to work as a CEO at dHybrid Systems, a company specialized in the development of natural gas storage systems.

2,000 Horsepower and a 1,200-Mile Range

The Nikola One uses a 400 kW turbine powered by natural gas, which is stored in a 150-gallon tank, but can also run on diesel and on gasoline, generating electricity and sending it to a 320-kWh battery pack, that powers 6 motors located in each of the trucks wheels.

This hybrid powertrain generates a total of 2,000 horsepower, along with 3,700 lb-ft of torque, which is considerably better than the average diesel-fueled semi-truck.

As far as fuel economy is concerned, Nikola One is set to be the most fuel-efficient semi-truck on the market. Thanks to the high-capacity battery, and the fact that like all hybrid vehicles, the Nikola One will rely on regenerative braking to charge the battery while the vehicle is moving.

The automaker claims that the Nikola One will be able to travel between 800 and 1,200 miles on one charge, a range that is more than enough to complete a typical long-haul trucking route.

Nikola Motor Company says that it plans to put the truck into production in 3-4 years, and it has already started taking reservations. Prospective buyers can reserve a Nikola One by paying the $1,500 deposit, which is refundable. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price will be set at $375,000, the company says.

Jordan Perch is a writer for DMV.com, and a contributor to pstc.ca. More articles by Perch can be read here, and he can be reached on Google+.