While it's common practice for a company to take the last name of a prominent inventor, few have taken the first name. But since "Tesla" was already taken, electric vehicle company founder Trevor Milton went with "Nikola."

Milton's Nikola Motor Company develops sleek-looking, electric-powered vehicles, but they won't be competing with Elon Musk. That's because the former company's vehicles cost around $375,000 and are aimed at the lone driver. Luxury car? Nope; the Nikola One is a bad-ass semi truck with "near-zero" emissions by virtue of its electric-drive motor.

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Unlike a Tesla, the Nikola One never needs to be plugged in, as the batteries are charged by a natural-gas powered turbine. The company reckons that this will halve fuel costs for operators compared to diesel, to say nothing of the cleaner air left behind.

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The performance statistics are impressive. First off, it being electric, there is of course no clutch and no gears to go through; just a gas pedal and brake. And the absurd torque of an electric motor--at 3,700 ft. lbs., more than double what a diesel engine provides--is available as soon as you hit the gas. The company says the motor will put out 2,000 horsepower compared to the paltry 500HP put out by a diesel engine, and they claim their range to be 800-1,200 miles, which dwarfs the 500-750 miles you'd get with diesels. Lastly, the Nikola One weighs nearly 2,000 pounds less than a diesel rig.

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From a design standpoint, the interior cabin will reportedly be a vast improvement over a diesel cab. Without that huge engine to contend with, Nikola says the driver will be placed further forward to enjoy a panoramic view and greater visibility, which they're touting as a safety feature.

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Though the Nikola One is not to be unveiled until December of this year, fleet operators and individual leasees seem convinced: This month Milton announced the company had clocked a whopping $2.3 billion in pre-orders. With any luck, by next year perhaps you'll see one of these on the road…hauling a carrier full of Teslas.