SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah-based technology firm that last week unveiled the first-ever battery-powered electric big rig has chosen a Tennessee company to produce the first wave of vehicles for highway driving.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Friday that Nikola Motor Co. has selected Fitzgerald Glider Kits, an automotive parts maker in Byrdstown, Tennessee, to produce the first 5,000 Nikola One trucks. The rigs are expected to be on the road by 2019.

Drivers with U.S. Xpress Enterprises, the largest trucking carrier in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will operate some of the first electric trucks.

Nikola CEO Trevor Milton formally revealed the first-of-its-kind vehicle last week at the company's Salt Lake City headquarters. At the time, Milton said the prototype semitrailer would revolutionize the trucking industry by replacing diesel engines with hydrogen fuel and battery-powered electric motors.

U.S. Xpress CEO Max Fuller said he is constantly evaluating new technologies and was impressed by Milton's plans to create a high-power, long-lasting electric engine.

"Anytime there are new technologies in the market that we think will be a game changer, we try to participate with those manufacturers that are coming to the market and try to help them understand what's needed in our industry," Fuller said.

The full-size semitrailer uses a fully electric drivetrain powered by high-density lithium batteries with energy supplied by a hydrogen fuel cell that gives the truck an estimated range of 800 to 1,200 miles.

The vehicle delivers more than 1,000 horsepower and 2,000 foot-pounds of torque — nearly double that of any semitrailer on the road, Milton said.

He said the prototype tested and achieved an estimated best-in-class fuel efficiency — the equivalent of around 15 mpg — while also dramatically improving performance over its diesel competition with the added benefit of zero emissions.

Milton said he plans to build a $1 billion factory to assemble the Nikola One trucks within the next five years.

So far, the company has received approximately $4 billion in reservations for future orders, he said.

Nikola is currently considering several states, including Utah, as possible sites for the new facility. An announcement is expected in mid-2017.