Electric Truck 'Spy' Video Shows a Mercedes-Benz Actros With 50s Sci-Fi Effects

One of the first startups to claim it was working on a zero-emissions semi truck was Nikola Motor, and eighteen months later, the company is still making the headlines one way or another, even though the truck itself is yet to be seen on the road.

Then, of course, there's Tesla and its electric Semi Truck. The company has been very quiet about this project, but a more ample presentation should take place at an event next month, when Elon Musk promised he would make another important announcement.

Traditional names in the industry have not remained idle either, so you could say there's plenty of activity around the idea of developing an all-electric long-distance hauler. So much so, in fact, that this budding segment seemed like a good place to make some money for a known Hungarian scammer.

At first, eTruck Motor might appear like a legit startup trying to convince investors to pour some money into their upcoming product. And yet there's something so unprofessional about the whole thing that it immediately reeks of something else.

The company's website is so dodgily executed, you feel you've traveled ten years back in time - not what you'd expect from a company that wants to "replace all the diesel trucks in Europe and all around the world." Speaking of which, the goals of eTruck are nothing short of ambitious, and they even claim to have some Chinese financial backing as well.

The 'Our Partners' section features a few companies that belong to the same person behind eTruck (including the very original Uber Trans, with a logo you might find familiar), János Benke, as well as German giant Siemens, who we doubt is aware of the company he's in.

eTruck Motor says it will build a multi-billion factory in Hungary where it will begin production of the electric semi truck. The first units will roll out in two-to-three years and will have impressive specs: 1,200 km maximum range (745 miles) on a single charge, 580 horsepower, 7,000 Nm of torque (5,162 lb-ft), and a recharge time of just 2.5 hours. All for the mere price of €160,000 euros ($188,770).

But the part about the whole scheme has got to be the so-called 'spy video.' If somebody is stupid enough to give any money to eTruck after watching this, then they deserve to go bankrupt. The footage shows a Mercedes-Benz Actros dressed up in black-and-white camouflage with a big eTruck Motor logo on its front and a few strips of LEDs for added credibility.

What makes the clip so surreal is the incredibly bad post-production handling of the sound. Since they had to hide the rattle of the diesel engine, the original soundtrack was removed, and replaced with something that seems taken from a 1950s science-fiction movie. We'd give eTruck Motor an A plus for audacity, but an F minus for execution.