Tesla competitor Nikola reveals hydrogen-electric semi

Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Nikola Motor Company has developed a hydrogen-electric semi-truck it hopes will appeal to European trucking companies, and have in production within five years.

The Nikola Tre will have up to 1,000 horsepower, level 5 autonomy and a range of up to 745 miles, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Salt Lake City-based Nikola is also developing two hydrogen-electric truck models for North and South America, one with a sleeper cab, the Nikola One, and a day cab, the Nikola Two.

"This truck is a real stunner and long overdue for Europe," Nikola CEO and founder Trevor Milton. "It will be the first European zero-emission commercial truck to be delivered with redundant braking, redundant steering, redundant 800 volt DC batteries and a redundant 120 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell, all necessary for true level 5 autonomy."

European testing is expected to start in Norway in 2020.

For the Nikola trucks to work, they need a network of hydrogen filling stations, which are currently clustered in California. Nikola's long-term goal is to have more than 700 hydrogen filling stations across the United States and Canada within the next decade. Nikola stations could go online by 2022 and could blanket the continent by 2030, the company said.

Nikola will show the trucks at the upcoming Nikola World event in April in Phoenix. They will also demonstrate how a hydrogen station works and show off fully electric off-road and water sport vehicles.

The company said it has $11 billion in reserve and is planning a European manufacturing plant.

Nikola is a rival company to Tesla -- both of which took their names from Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla.