Social media was abuzz this week with a new electric semi prototype called the Thor ET—One.  It’s the new semi-tractor designed by Los Angeles startup Thor. Thor hopes to compete with, and beat out Tesla, in the growing electric truck market.

The Thor ET-one uses a Navistar chassis, heavy duty axles from Dana, and they incorporated the electric motor from Hydro-Quebec’s TM4. The smorgasbord of established parts was for two reasons—one, the small LA company didn’t have the capacity to build a vehicle from the ground up. Secondly, most customers with any sense know that and would be skeptical of a vehicle with parts from an untested brand.

Be that as it may, the company says the electric motor is expected to outperform diesel engines, and according to their marketing, is supposed to better on maintenance, and the overall cost of ownership.

“Conditions are coming together that we think make this the right timing for the industry,” said Dakota Semler, Thor Trucks co-founder and chief executive told Trucks.com.

The vehicle was developed by Semler, and Giordano Sordoni, both 25-year-olds that met as undergraduates at George Washington University. Truck driving is in Semler’s blood, as he comes from a family of fleet operators.

“I am from a multi-generational family of fleet operators and we actually ran diesel trucks,” he said. “We’re part of the problem.”

But, green thinking has weighed heavy on his heart ever since as a teen when he figured out how to change his mother’s SUV to run on vegetable oil. He met partner Sordoni in 2016, and they started Thor with a handful of industry people. It receives no government funding, on runs on funds from Semler’s other business ventures, such as a handful of real estate companies, as well as family money. Right now, Thor’s entire company is comprised of 18 people,  described as “non-hierachial.”

“Thor Trucks is a very dedicated group of folks that are serious about being a player in this market,” said John Boesel, chief executive of the clean transportation nonprofit Calstart. “They’ve worked hard to develop a product that meets the needs of the fleets.”

The ET-One was constructed in a warehouse in Hollywood. It has aerodynamic fenders, a one-piece windshield, and battery packs from LG Chem.

The vehicle is expected to start at $150,000, with a full capacity of an 80,000 pound load. The motor comes standard with 100 mile range, but customers can upgrade to the 300 mile range power for an additional $100,000. The ET-One should be available next year for demonstration drives and production is expected sometime in 2019.