- Lightning eMotors announces partnership to build electric motors for up to 7,500 shuttle buses…
- Forest River is a Berkshire Hathaway company…
- Deliveries to begin by year-end…
Lightning eMotors Inc. (NYSE: ZEV) surged today on news of a huge partnership deal for its electric bus technology.
ZEV stock popped more than 87% early in the session and at writing, shares were still up more than 82%.
This comes after the company announced it has entered into a “strategic partnership agreement” with Forest River, Inc. “to deploy up to 7,500 zero-emission shuttle buses.”
Forest River is a Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) company that makes buses, RVs, cargo trailers, pontoon boats, and commercial trucks.
Details of the Partnership
Lightning eMotors says the agreement has an estimated value of up to $850 million.
Under the partnership, Lightning eMotors will “build fully electric powertrains and provide charging products, and services for Forest River over the next four and a half years.”
The company said it will manufacture the powertrain systems for the electric buses at its 231,000 square foot facility located in Loveland, Colorado.
After manufacturing, those powertrains will be sent to the Forest River factory located in Goshen, Indiana.
The final assembly of the Class 4 and 5 all-electric passenger buses will take place at the Forest River facility.
Lightning eMotors said, “Forest River is the leading shuttle bus market producer in North America, with eight manufacturing buildings and more than 500,000 square feet of production space.”
The company reportedly plans to dedicate 100,000 square feet of that production space to install Lightning eMotors’ powertrains in its shuttle buses.
Tim Reeser, CEO of Lightning eMotors, said, “This has the potential to be the largest contract ever in the electric shuttle bus market, and we believe it will be the catalyst for other large commercial vehicle OEMs and fleets to accelerate their adoption of commercial electric vehicles.”
Editorial credit: VanderWolf Images / Shutterstock.com
The shuttle buses produced through this partnership will have a driving range between 80 and 160 miles.
Lightning eMotors says the motor will be able to fully recharge over a lunch break using the company’s “DC fast charge infrastructure with integrated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities.”
The buses will range in length between 20 and 34 feet with a capacity ranging from 12 to 33 passenger seats.
Other features of the buses include “a modern digital-dash display, hill-hold functionality for safety, advanced telematics, analytics, and a mobile app for drivers and fleet managers.”
Lightning eMotors says all of the buses produced through this partnership will be compliant with the Federal Transit Administration’s “Buy America” and the Federal Aviation Administration’s “Buy American” guidelines.
“We decided to work with Lightning eMotors after several years of extensive research because of their market and technology leadership in the commercial EV segment,” said David Wright, president of Forest River’s bus divisions.
“We’ll be providing our customers with a factory-installed electric powertrain that has proven technology relied upon by major fleets, at a price point no one else has been able to achieve. We believe this will be a game changer for shuttle-bus operators.”
Kash Sethi, chief revenue officer of Lightning eMotors, said, “Forest River is demonstrating it will continue being the leader in the commercial bus market by offering sustainable zero-emission buses as part of their core product portfolio. We believe that will greatly improve the availability of premium-quality, cost-effective electric buses. We look forward to working with Forest River, and their dealer network, in leading the industry through this transformation.”
Forest River has more than 10 bus dealership locations throughout the U.S. and Canada where the company will sell and service the buses built through this partnership.
The company expects to begin deliveries of the electric shuttle buses by the end of 2021.
Lightning Energy will “offer a comprehensive suite of charging and charging infrastructure-related products and services to Forest River dealers and shuttle-bus operators.”
ZEV Stock Top Ten
- Lightning eMotors Inc was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Loveland, CO.
- The company went public through a SPAC merger in May.
- ZEV is the company’s ticker symbol but is also an acronym for their main product, zero-emission-vehicle technology.
- Lightning eMotors has provided ZEV solutions for commercial fleets since 2018.
- Its product lines include Class 3 cargo and passenger vans, Class 4 and 5 cargo vans and shuttle buses, Class 6 work trucks, school buses, Class 7 city buses, and Class A motor coaches.
- ZEV stock closed at $6.41 per share on Monday.
- The stock began trading today at $9.88 per share.
- ZEV hit a daily high of $12.10 per share.
- The company has a market cap of more than $469 million.
- Trading volume jumped to more than 23,000% average, at nearly 128 million shares.
Seven Facts About Forest River
- Forest River Inc was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Elkhart, IN.
- The company is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathway.
- Forest River’s products include Class A, B, and C motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, pop-up tent campers, truck campers, park model trailers, destination trailers, cargo trailers, commercial vehicles, buses, pontoons, and mobile restroom trailers.
- The company has more than 10,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding $5 billion.
- Forest River Bus delivered its 100,000th bus in July 2020.
- Forest River Bus “has a rich history of manufacturing expertise and dedication to customer satisfaction, building small to midsize shuttle buses for both the public and private transportation markets.”
- The company’s bus brands include Berkshire Coach, Glaval Bus, Elkhart Coach, Starcraft Bus, StarTrans Bus, ElDorado, and Champion Bus.
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