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IPFS News Link • Transportation

For real? Startup talks 2,000-hp turbine-hybrid big rig and 520-hp UTV

• gizmag.com

Already this year, we've seen a crop of unknown startups and established companies with little to no automotive experience pop up to tout new cutting edge electric and hybrid vehicles. There's been Faraday Future, and Techrules, and LeEco. We're nothing if not skeptical.

Given its overnight ascendance and off-the-charts claims, we're especially skeptical about the most recent member of the club, Salt Lake City-based Nikola Motor Company. We are, however, hopeful that its 2,000-hp turbine-extender semi truck and solar-assisted, all-electric side-by-side - or derivatives thereof - become reality.

Yes, there's a lot to be skeptical about when a company with a name so clearly inspired by another (as you probably remember, the electrical pioneer's full name was Nikola Tesla) pops out of nowhere, barrages the world with four press releases and brings nothing more to show-and-tell than an album of renderings and a list of obscene specs. In fact, if this had happened a month ago, we'd have sworn it was a late April Fool's joke.


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