Look out, Tesla: Students Create Electric Semi-Truck

An electric semi-truck?

Yes, you heard us right. The future of trucking is electric.

While many claim Tesla is leading the way in terms of electric vehicles, there are 2 new guys on the scene: Dakota Semler and Giordano Sordoni.

Meet the Minds Behind the Electric Semi-Truck

Dakota Semler and Giordano Sordoni started their company, Thor Trucks, in 2016. Semler graduated with an international business degree in 2013, whereas Sordoni majored in marketing but never completed his degree. These recent graduates met in 2012 and began paving the way towards a future of electric trucking. Based in L.A., Thor Trucks is an 18-person company focused on “creating and deploying solutions to fleet owners.”

When most people hear the name Thor, they imagine the superhero who saved New York from aliens. But two former students wanted to change the association with their new company, Thor Trucks – an energy efficient big-rig that is helping to save the world in a different way.

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Their electric semi-truck, known as the ET-One, is one of the first of its kind. (Tesla released plans for a similar vehicle to be released in 2019.) Semler explained, “We had experience running fleets and saw that there was a need for vehicles that were not as heavily regulated and polluting. We just needed to find a way to make economic sense out of these vehicles.” Semler comes from a trucking background himself; his family owned a fleet in Riverside, California, and he claims that this experience is part of what helped he and Sordoni create Thor Trucks.

Meet the ET-One

• Expected to be on the market in 2019
• A fierce competitor for the Tesla Semi
• Built to haul 80,000 lbs with instant torque at zero RPM
• Perfect for local short-haul jobs
• Ranges from $150k to $250k

While it is true that Tesla is creating its own electric semi-truck, the ET-One is different. Tesla focuses primarily on smaller cars, while Thor Trucks’ sole focus is developing electric semi-trucks to decrease harmful fuel emissions.  

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A full battery charge takes only 30 minutes.

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A Problem-Solving Team

“A major issue with creating an economically sensible electric vehicle is determining how and when the vehicle will be recharged,” Sordoni, chief operating officer and co-founder, said. “Without a national infrastructure for charging stations on par with the number of gas stations, all-electric vehicles face limited ranges.” Sordoni and Semler came together to address this challenge in the now. The result? An electric semi-truck that works NOW – even with the lower amount of charging stations around. The ET-One is best for local short-haul jobs, where drivers end up back in their lot at the end of the day. This means Thor Trucks only needs to set up 1 charging station in the lot itself rather than tons all over the place. A more cross-country solution is something they intend to develop long-term.