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Introduction
When the cold weather comes, you know it is time to put on winter gear. Flip a coin, and it will land on either side. Drop glass on concrete, and it will break. Such scenarios are obvious and highly predictable. This is the polar opposite when it come onto predicting the success of electric vehicle startups. As proven during the past months of 2019, there are a lot of ups and downs in the automotive landscape. Factors like poor funding, lack of consumer interest, and poor relations with suppliers can easily make or brake a startup.
Success?
What do I define as success? For this write-up, success means bringing a prototype to production, and remaining afloat for at least a decade and beyond. Before proceeding further, it is very important that I mention I am by no means a professional expert in determining the outcome of businesses. To predict the success of the electric startups I am discussing, I will be focusing on the following:
- Leaders
- Product
- Finances
- Factories
The Startups
- Havelaar Canada
- Lucid Motors
- Rivian Automotive
- Faraday Future
- Atlis Motor Vehicles
- NIO
- Bollinger
Havelaar Canada
By far, this Toronto-based company is the most enigmatic on this list. The last time the public has seen, or heard from Havelaar was all the way back in 2017. The Bison E-Pickup truck was unveiled at that time. Since then, there has been no public sightings, or any media reports for the matter. This had led me to think that they must have cancelled it. At least, that is what I thought. Upon visiting the website a couple days ago, I discovered that the look of the website has changed significantly since the last time I did a critique on it back in 2018. There is no longer any mention of the E-Pickup anywhere.
Leaders
Under the team page of the website, I can see that there are two men listed: Tony Han, founder and CTO, and Russell Pullan, CEO. Both have impressive credentials from the Ontarian universities they studied at. Both also happen to speak no less than 3 languages! It does not mention their fluency, but nevertheless, having a conversational command of multiple languages is not only impressive, but motivating for those doubting the purpose of learning another language or two. Linguistics aside, Havelaar mentions that Tony led the development of the Bison — the first pickup truck designed and prototyped in Canada.
Leadership Conclusion
The leaders seem to be credible people, and I have not found any shady reports on them to date.
Product
In 2017, the product was the Bison E-pickup. They even built a prototype of it, too. What I see now is the Havelaar powertrain. The powertrain consist of a motor, battery, and an inverter which converts battery energy from DC to AC for the motor, controls motor speed and captures energy from regenerative braking to recharge the battery. They also proudly mention that the system does not use an on-board charger for the following reasons quoted directly from the website:
- Less weight leads to better driving performance
- Fewer parts for greater reliability
- Lower cost is critical for the mass-market
- More space for design flexibility
Under the sustainability page, Havelaar states that the powertrain is capable of charging directly from the grid, renewable sources such as solar panels, and existing charging stations. Havelaar says it is unique intellectual property that existing electric powertrains currently do not have.
Product Conclusion
which vehicles have they implemented these powertrains within? How come nobody has talked about how innovating this technology is? For this reason, I will say that it sounds promising on paper, but remain uncertain about how good it truly is.
Finances
Because Havelaar Canada is so mysterious and under-reported, their financial information and funders are not widely talked about. Nevertheless, the University of Toronto news section (November 10, 2017) mentioned that the University of Toronto Electric Vehicle Research Centre (UTEV) secured a major investment to support collaborative research into next-generation electric vehicle (EV) technologies with its founding partner Havelaar Canada. How much? No exact number givens.
Financial Conclusion
The financial state is unknown, but based on how much they may have been testing their powertrain or even pickup truck under the quiet, their financial state could very well be excellent.
Factories
Invest In Ontario says that vehicles are being built now at Havelaar’s prototype facility in Toronto. The website went on to further mention that Ontario government site selectors are helping Tony find a location for a full-scale manufacturing facility. The goal initially was to begin commercially selling the E-Pickup in 2019. With it being November 2019 at the time I write these predictions, Havelaar are nowhere to be seen in Ontario. Nor are they remotely mentioned by anyone. No journalists, automotive photographers, nothing. Perhaps the timetable was a bit too aggressive and they have decided to take their time more? Building an electric vehicle is challenging, so I do hope they take their time to make Canada’s first electric truck right.
Manufacturing Conclusion
Havelaar currently does not have a full-scale factory. Given that they appear to be serious and proud of their powertrain, they are likely still actively looking for a good site.
Success: Unknown
As a Canadian myself, I would really love to see the Bison E-Pickup became a reality. Could Tony and his team become the Elon Musk of Canada? I am not too sure about them reaching international levels of appeal. However, they do appear to be interested in keeping their technology affordable. How much? I do not know. Being designed and built in Canada will be a major selling point for Canadians. Other countries that highly respect Canada, will find that attractive, too. Mind you, they did not mention anything about selling it abroad. In case they do, the capability of charging directly from the grid will be on of Havelaar’s best selling points. That is if, someone does not master it by the time their trucks launch, if they ever end up launching it.
Lucid Motors
Is Lucid Motors just another one of those California startups that is all talk and no action? Some people might say so, but it appears that this is not truth. While it might not end up being a “Tesla Killer” you will learn why it is more than just a flashy luxury competitor below. In fact, it is apparently not even being targeted at Tesla.
Leaders
There are a lot of team leaders over at Lucid. I will be focusing solely on the chief executive officer, who also happens to be the chief technology officer: Peter Rawlinson. Before Peter took over his role, the company was led by their former CEO and co-founder Sam Weng. Is Peter Rawlinson a good leader? I tried searching around to see if he was scandalous or ill-natured in anyway. Luckily for him, I did not find any reports on that. In fact, what I did find was that he was Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla and Chief Engineer of the Model S. Yes, that is right: former chief engineer of the Tesla Model S. This is a huge deal, because Tesla is considered the golden standard for electric vehicles.
Or at least you think so? Perhaps not? Based on what Peter said earlier in 2019 at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) he has a different opinion:
“Today there isn’t a luxury EV available for anyone to buy anywhere in the world. I’m not hammering Tesla unduly here, I’m just an observer, I’m being analytical. I think they’re beautifully engineered, super products, but not true luxury.”
So who exactly are his competitors then? Mercedes, Audi and BMW are his main competitors.
Leadership Conclusion
Lucid Motors has fantastic leaders that know what they are doing.
Product
Lucid’s flagship product is presently the Lucid Air. This is a full-sized, all-electric, luxury sedan. According to the website, the Lucid air will have 643km of range, do 0 to 100 km/h in under 2.5 seconds, and have a top speed of over 321 km/h. I have no idea how close those numbers will be under real world testing. I remain highly skeptical of getting anywhere near 600km of range during a long, cold Canadian winter. The interior? Yes, in my honest opinion, both the interior and exterior proudly displays luxury. The exterior particularly looks like a blend of Bugatti Chiron, 2015 Dodge Charger, and 2019 Lincoln MKZ. Based on the existence of test drives seen on YouTube, Lucid has clearly managed to build working prototypes.
Product Conclusion
I am not into sedans, but even I cannot deny that this vehicle looks very luxurious and sporty. I believe that it will have its audience, if marketed correctly.
Finances
Lucid Motors announced a $1 billion deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund back in September 2018. They confirmed it completed later.
Financial Conclusion
Lucid received a generous fund, which now leads to the next point: factories.
Factories
On November 06, 2019, Lucid Tweeted that construction is underway in Casa Grande, Arizona to begin production of the all-electric Lucid Air luxury sedan in late 2020. 7 days later, Lucid even released a video to YouTube titled “Lucid Air Beta Prototype Body Structures”
Manufacturing Conclusion
Lucid is getting real with making the Lucid Air a legitimate all-electric true-luxury offering.
Success: Quite Likely
So long as Lucid Motors does not irresponsibly plough through its budget, or run into some unexpected complication, they will likely succeed as a company. However, their rivals BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are also electrifying, too. All of which have far more resources, especially Audi. None of those competitors will offer a full-size luxury sedan by 2020 however, so this could give Lucid a chance to get into customers hands first.
Rivian Automotive
Of all the startups I am discussing within this predictive post, this one by far is the one that has been making most headlines. The company has a rather interesting history in that it was founded in 2009, with the focus to build an electric sports coupé. This prototype was partially revealed in 2011, but then scrapped entirely. Fast forward to November 2018, and two products were revealed.
Leaders
Robert (also called RJ) Scaringe is both the CEO and founder of Rivian. He has also become very recognizable and has made plenty of media appearances, too. His official profile states that he earned his MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a member of the research team in the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. So far, there has not been any controversies and scandals he has been involved with.
Leadership Conclusion
Rivian is in good hands. The investments, media coverage, and interest proves this further.
Products
Rivian is releasing two products for 2020: Rivian R1T and Rivian R1S, a pickup truck and SUV respectively. Both of which also have functional prototypes. Why is this creating such intense hype and interest from legacy automakers? Traditionally, pickup trucks are known for being gas-guzzling monsters. North America and other parts of the world are deeply in love with pickup trucks. Electric vehicles are also quickly capturing consumer interest. Pickup + all-electric powertrain = intense interest. So much so, that even a legacy automaker announced a strategic investment.
Product Conclusion
Finances
Rivian has received a healthy amount of investment from various groups. The original three were the Saudi Arabian Abdul Latif Jameel, Japan’s Sumimoto Corporation, and London’s Standard Chartered Bank. Amazon invested $700 million in February 2019. Ford Motor Company invested $500 million in April 2019, as part of a strategic partnership to build an all-new battery electric vehicle using Rivian’s flexible skateboard platform.
Financial Conclusion
Rivian has solid finances. Investors clearly see Rivian as a worthy startup, based on all the investments they have been receiving. As of September 2019, they managed to secure $1.5 Billion.
Factories
When it comes onto manufacturing, Rivian has clearly done their homework. They were focused on their electric vehicle technology and manufacturing during their planning stages. It was not until when they officially took over an abandoned Mitsubishi in Normal, Illinois, that they decided it was time to unveil themselves to the world. On March 24, 2019, Rivian Tweeted a photograph of the factory stating that there is a lot going on inside.
Manufacturing Conclusion
Rivian is on track for launching full-scale production in 2020.
Success: Highly Likely
Unlike a lot of other startups that have been too ambitious about what they are offering without getting their finances, technology, and facilities sorted out, Rivian has done the polar opposite: kept silent for nearly a decade till they met what needed to be done. This stealth mode has done wonders for them. With investors, consumers, and commercial industries all highly interested in what they have to offer, I strongly believe that they will be successful. However, this can change drastically if the company falls short on reliability, servicing, customer service, or gets into a severe scandal to name a few.
Faraday Future
Similarly to Tesla and Lucid, Faraday Future is also based in California. Unfortunately, Faraday Future’s name has become associated with “vaporware” and being a joke-of-a-company as other people would put it. So what went wrong? Are these accusations justified?
Leaders
The founder and former CEO, Jia Yueting, is largely why Faraday Future has been, and still is in much uncertainty and financial trouble. This is the same man who fled from his native land, China, to escape billions of dollars of debt, left LeEco crippled, only to end up declaring bankruptcy in the United States last month, October 2019. Given his past leadership and role with Faraday Future, it is no wonder investors have been spooked to pour their resources into this company. After acknowledging that his presence as CEO and debts were dragging the company, Faraday Future appointed Carsten Breitfeld as CEO on September 03, 2019. This is the same person who led the development of the BMW i8. In addition to this, Carsten co-founded Byton, and once served as the CEO for Iconiq Motors. He is confident about reigniting hope and trust for the future of Faraday. Jia Yueting is still involved with the company as chief product officer. Many concerns with this company are still present, including the financial status.
Leadership Conclusion
Despite Carsten’s clean reputation, it remains to be seen how much of an improvement will be made under his rule.
Product
Despite all the negative press about Faraday Future, and how financially weak they are, they do have functional prototypes. Both YouTube and Facebook videos prove this. As for the product itself, it is called the Faraday FF91. It is an ultra-luxury, high performance crossover. A very good-looking, futuristic one, too. With a price tag ranging between $150,000 – $200,000, the company made it very clear that it was meant to go after Bentley and Rolls Royce. Likely the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls Royce Cullinan respectively. They did not say which models precisely, but this assumption makes a lot of sense. Beyond the FF91, Faraday also mentioned plans for a mid-sized crossover called the Faraday FF81, and then the Faraday FF71, which they plan to use as the volume seller.
Product Conclusion
Faraday has interesting, ambitious plans. However, they are struggling miserably to get the Faraday FF91 into production, making it seem highly unlikely they will even get the higher volume models on the road anytime soon or ever.
Finances
Faraday’s finances is the major reason why the company is struggling so badly. So much so, that the company has lost key people such as Nick Sampson, Peter Savagian, and many other employees over the years. Speaking of that, Faraday put many employees on unpaid leave last year, only to confirm that they could not actually return March 1st 2019 as planned. This too, is another notorious thing that has caused distrust and disappointment, as ex-employees had just moved on and did not bother to wait it out. Who can blame them?
The biggest financial battle took place during the dispute with their partner, Evergrande back in October 2018. What happened was that Evergrande agreed to spend up to $2 billion to finance Faraday Future and get the FF91 to market. However, Faraday spent $800 million of that investment by mid-2018 without building a single salable vehicle. This resulted in a prolonged dispute that nearly put Faraday out of business. By December 1st 2018, Faraday Future publicly Tweeted they have entered into a newly agreed upon restructuring agreement. This agreement would allow them to open up to other investors.
Financial Conclusion
Faraday Future’s financial state is highly unstable.
Factories
Faraday Future initially planned to build a $1 billion factory in Nevada to produce the Faraday FF91. Those plans were cancelled in 2017 for an existing factory in Hanford, California, where tire company Pirelli used to operate. As I mentioned above, Faraday has managed to produce prototypes of the FF91, but nothing salable due much hardships.
Manufacturing Conclusion
Faraday Future has a factory, but has not been able to put it to good use.
Success: Highly Unlikely
I would like to see Faraday Future successfully produce salable vehicles. Their design language is unique, fresh, and futuristic. Unfortunately, their financial situation and lack of investor interest make it highly unlikely that they will succeed. Especially, when you consider that other rival startups have managed to secure far better funding, and remain in the minds of interested consumers.
Atlis Motor Vehicles
This startup was founded in 2016. No, not in California or Michigan, but in Mesa, Arizona. I like the looks of the Atlis XT quite a bit, but there are a number of questions: will it successfully make it to production? What about the company? Will they be successful as whole? If there is one thing really great about the company’s website, is that they actually have an FAQ page that addresses a lot of these questions: their future, the audience, and such.
Leaders
Mark Hanchett is the main leader behind Atlis Motor Vehicles. He has served as Founder, Director, and CEO of Atlis Motor Vehicles since inception in 2016. His profile mentions that he has over ten years of product development experience with 16 successful electromechanical and software product launches. Which exactly? That is not specified. At least not on the Atlis biography. It does mention that before starting Atlis, he served as a director at Axon Enterprise Incorporate from 2012 to 2017. Before that, he served as senior mechanical engineer and project manager. Ross Compton, Lead Vehicle Desinger (LVD) also appears to be a notable figure withing company, as he has even been interviewed about the company back in July.
Leadership Conclusion
Based on what I have read about the leaders, they are no doubt experienced people that understand pickup trucks and electronics. Hopefully, they will execute this successfully. The lack of a prototype at this point in late 2019 has many people skeptical about Atlis.
Product
Atlis Motor Vehicles’ sole product at the moment is the Atlis XT; a 100% battery-electric full-size pickup truck. Now you might be wandering, “How is this small company that has no prototype at this point, supposed to be taken seriously?” According to Atlis, they plan to have the first batch of trucks hopefully delivered sometime in 2020. And yes, that is the same year where the Rivian R1T will also be debuting. Based on what I have read in the Atlis FAQ, it turns out that this company has done its research. They fully acknowledge the existence Bollinger, Tesla, Rivian, and the traditional pickup trucks under Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler. For Rivian specifically, Atlis pointed out that Rivian is offering mid-sized luxury trucks geared towards the adventurous crowd.
Atlis makes it clear that they are differentiating themselves by offering full-size work-focused trucks for consumer and work related customers. Seeing that the option for a flatbed, service body and dually exists for potential customers proves this. But, what about when the legacy automakers start doing this, who have far more servicing stations and infrastructure available? This, too, was addressed by Atlis simply stating that they welcome competition, and believe that there is room for everyone to play with pickup trucks in America.
Instead of offering different models through dealerships, Atlis will sell its trucks directly to consumers, akin to Tesla. Unlike Rivian’s R1T and Tesla’s Cybertruck, the Atlis XT will appeal far more to people who want a truck with conservative styling.
Product Conclusion
Pickup trucks are indeed extremely popular vehicles in North America. However, Atlis will need to prove that their trucks will be as reliable as they say they will be, and charge as fast as they say they will. If this is met, they will have an amazing, highly customizable product. And above all, Atlis needs to get a factory to produce the vehicles.
Finances
The Start Engine page of Atlis Motor Vehicles provides tons of information. Everything from the CEO, the company, why they are doing what they are doing, how they plan to succeed, and more. From what I have read, their current priorities are to raise funding and complete the prototype of an Atlis XT pickup truck within 12 months of the close date of the financing round. I do not know how long that financing round is. Atlis also mentioned that they do not have any large investors.
Financial Conclusion
Atlis has only managed to build the platform of the truck. They have a long way to go with production and creating real results.
Factories
I have not seen any mentions of where their factory is, or where they even plan to build their pickup trucks. The only thing they promised is that they will be American-made and American-built. I assume that they will almost certainly build the trucks locally within Arizona.
Manufacturing Conclusion
They will be American, but the exact location is entirely unknown at this point.
Success: Unlikely
As much as I love the looks of the Atlis XT, I remain skeptical about Atlis Motor Vehicles being successful. They do not have a factory, money or even one working prototype. Even money-stricken Faraday Future has been able to make functional prototypes, and land a factory. Atlis XT does have an advantage over the Bollinger B2 for being far cheaper. It also subjectively has a styling advantage over the polarizing Rivian R1T and even more polarizing Tesla Cybertruck. By the time Ford and General Motors drop their traditional-styled all-electric trucks between 2021-2022, Atlis is going to be in for a very savage battle. However, if Atlis does manage to deliver its first 100 trucks in 2020 and get people and the media to fall in love with them, they could stand a chance. Who knows. It is better they take their time, rather than rush to be first. Maybe Atlis might somehow survive even with Ford, General Motors, and all the other automakers in place.
NIO
Despite seeing this name a fair bit in the media, this is the startup I know the least about on this list of startups I am making predictions for. Researching it and sharing my predictions will certainly be interesting for this very reason. Let us start with the fact that its Chinese name is Weilai, meaning Blue Sky Coming. This is apparently represented in their symbol. The top is about the sky, openness, vision, and the future. The bottom part is about the earth, direction, action and forward momentum. This is their directional philosophy and stands for their commitment to a brighter future. Highly interesting that they mention future, given that this is exactly what I am doing with them in this write-up: predicting their future success.
Leaders
William Li (李斌, Bin Li in Chinese) is the CEO and founder of NIO. He is also apparently dubbed as the “Elon Musk of China” due to his presence and ambitions with NIO. That said, NIO does not quite have the international fame that Tesla does. This is due to the fact they do not sell vehicles outside of Asia, despite having offices in Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. I do not even know if they sell vehicles outside of China for the matter. As for William himself, he holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Peking University where he minored in law. This interestingly contrasts with a number of the other Leaders I have looked at here, who have mechanical and electrical degrees.
In 1996, William co-founded Beijing Antarctic Technology Development Corporate Limited. This is a pioneer web hosting service provider in China. He served as the director and general manager between 1996 to 2000. In 2000, he started his second company, Bitauto. It was an automobile Internet content and marketing services provider. He served as the CEO and chairman for 13 year, before selling it in 2013. In 2014, NIO was founded.
Leadership Conclusion
William Li had humble, lowly beginnings, yet pushed to be successful and productive. He sounds like a good leader, but will this be enough to keep NIO afloat?
Product
NIO has not one, not two, but three production vehicles: NIO ES6, NIO ES8, and the hyper-limited NIO EP9. The NIO ES6 and ES8 are both all-electric crossovers, the latter of which can be had in a 7-seat configuration, akin to that of the Tesla Model X. It does not have falcon doors, unlike the Tesla Model X, which would have been really cool. Aside from these three models, NIO plans to release a compact sedan, mid-size sedan, minivan, and subcompact crossover post 2020.
Product Conclusion
NIO has a lot of interesting products in their portfolio. None of these are offered outside of Asia, though.
Finances
At this point, you will know why I believe this company will not succeed: the financial situation is disastrous. Despite NIO being able to raise over $1 billion from investors in 2016, the company has totalled $5 billion in losses in 2019. Cost overruns, weak sales, and dangerous recalls have led NIO to dive 74% since its market value hit a record $11.9 billion about approximately a year ago. NIO’s reversal of success explains why concerns are growing that China created an electric vehicle bubble that may soon become destroyed. I personally have not looked into the finances of other Chinese electric vehicle startups, so I do not know how exaggerated this may or may not be. Despite the financial struggles, William said that investors need to understand that making new cars costs money, from an interview back in June 2019.
Financial Conclusion
The way NIO has laid off thousands this year, and bled through billions is not something exclusive to NIO. At the same time, something needs to be done soon, or it will become defunct.
Factories
NIO does not make its own cars. The company had plans to build a factory in Shanghai for 2020, where Tesla is currently constructing its third Gigafactory. They cancelled the idea back in March this year, and will instead continue using their current contract manufacturer, state-owned automaker JAC Motors. The advantage this has is that it allowed NIO to put its cars on the road sooner, as opposed to waiting years until it gets its own factory. However, this also comes at cost. NIO has to pay JAC motors a fee for every vehicle that comes off the line. On top of this, NIO also has to compensate JAC Motors for any operating losses during the first three years of the deal.
Manufacturing Conclusion
NIO may have been better off waiting in order to secure things, rather than rushing production by getting involved with a 3rd party.
Success: Not Unlikely
“NIO didn’t position itself in the right place. I’m not optimistic about its future in the long run.” -Yale Zhang
Yale, based on my personal research, I would certainly agree with you. I may not be a foresight expert, but you do not need to be such when dealing with predictions after researching this company. Quite sad to day this, as this is a company whose name literally translates to Blue Sky Coming, reflecting their sunny, clear ambitions. NIO was, and is determined to become the “Chinese Tesla”. Perhaps too determined, that they have not spent enough time securing funds, calculating losses, securing their own factory, and dealing with quality issues. Being a startup is not easy, as even Tesla and other had their challenges. But, when the losses and problems are too big, too early, this spells trouble.
Bollinger Motors
The final startup I will be making predictions for in this write-up. Similarly to Ford, General Motors, and Rivan, Bollinger is also headquartered in Michigan. It was originally New York, till they moved there. Why that state? Michigan and California are popular founding states for automakers due to their history. Bollinger appears to want to be seen as an old-school, yet modern automaker by setting up shop in Michigan. Do I think they will succeed? We shall find out below.
Leaders
When looking at the team of Bollinger leaders, there is one thing that notably stood out to me: Paco! “Who is that?” You must be asking. A dog. His is the ergonomics engineer, and love to play with tennis balls. While not something to be taken seriously, this does show that the small team at this startup knows how to have fun, despite the immense amount of work they have been putting into the Bollinger B1 and B2. The CEO and founder of Bollinger Motors is Robert Bollinger.
Robert’s history is fairly interesting. He studied at Carnegie Mellon, earned an industrial degree, went to New York City and worked his way to becoming a creative director, used those skills to help a friend with a hair care company, then moved north to the Catskill Mountains to co-start a grass-fed cattle farm. It was there, where Robert discovered the faults of present pickup trucks. It reignited his automotive passion, and drove him to create Bollinger Motors.
Leadership Conclusion
In good company. Sounds familiar? That is the tagline of their team page, and after reading their stories and the amount of work the Bollinger workers put into the vehicles, this is accurate.
Product
Bollinger Motors plans to offer two trucks: the Bollinger B1 SUV and Bollinger B2 pickup truck. They have managed to build working prototypes. As evidenced from the exterior and interior styling of these trucks, they are focused on utility, and not luxury. Think Jeep and Hummer, but only with an all-electric powertrain. When a person looks at their asking price of $125,000 they would immediately think that they will not stand a chance. Seeing as though numerous automakers also plan to produce all-electric pickup trucks post 2020.
For Bollinger, their main selling points are their very high ground clearance (38cm) at stock, excellent traction due to the presence of a large battery placement, and unique features such as the pass-through mid-gate storage that allows owners to place materials through the middle of the vehicle. If my knowledge serves me correct, no other vehicle presently has the capability of allowing very long objects to be carried straight through their bodies.
Financial Conclusion
The rudimentary, yet modern all-electric powertrain will be highly attractive to customers that want something highly capable, without all the extra bells and whistles found in something like a Tesla. The high asking price is not for many, however.
Finances
I tried searching for the answer as to who is funding or investing in Bollinger Motors. I could not find any information. As it turns out, it is because they do not have any investors. I soon found this:
” The Bollinger Motors team is the foundation our trucks are built on. Years of family office, private equity, investment banking, and capital markets experience.”
While I was searching around further for the financial information, a source made it very clear that they intend to be a low-volume, ready-to-work truck company, who is not chasing Rivian. Within that interview, I found my answer:
“Yeah, we’re solely self-funded right now” – Robert Bollinger
Now that officially makes sense and justifies the $125,000 USD price tag. If this translates directly to CAD, that would be $166,000. There will likely be some adjustments by the time Bollingers sells its vehicles to Canadian customers.
Manufacturing Conclusion
Making electric vehicles is very difficult and extremely expensive. Bollinger Motors wants to make vehicles that can last, but at the same time must be able to make a profit to stay afloat. They are a small team without major investors, hence the steep price on its proposed offerings.
Factories
Bollinger Motors currently has a facility in Ferndale, Michigan. If things go as planned, the company will be producing their vehicles in a Detroit factory — something not done since 1925 when Chrysler was founded.
Manufacturing Conclusion
This will be America’s forth company from the Detroit area. I can imagine the official opening of that factory being a great day of pride and nostalgia for Americans.
Success: Quite Likely
I cannot count the number of comments this company has been getting on Instagram about the vehicles being too expensive, they are going to fail, and how the Cybertruck’s price is far better. Not all comments have been moans, complaints, or comparisons though. Some Instagram users have even reminded the complainers that this is a startup that does not have investors, and must be able to sell them at a profit to stay afloat. While I suspected the price was for a reason, I admittedly wondered if they were going to fail, too.
By actually doing my own research on the company, learning about how and why the CEO started, and who they are trying to compete with, this totally changed my view on the company. Bollinger Motors mission is to create a low-volume, reliable, simple, rugged truck. They do not care about what Tesla, Rivian, and the others are doing.
That said, it does make me curious as to how they will compete when General Motors revives Hummer as an all-electric brand in 2021-2022? Then again, this does not even seem to be 100% confirmed at the moment. Even if it is, Bollinger has acknowledged the existence of current and future truck makers, and is not afraid of the competition. They know who they are, and believe that they can have a presence in the market.
Summary Of Success
As stressed in the beginning, I am not a forecast expert. I also do not wish any horror upon any of these companies, including the ones I predict will not be successful. In an ideal world, it would be fantastic to see all of these electric vehicle become successful. Seeing Havelaar Bisons, Lucid Airs, Rivian R1Ts, Faraday FF91s, Atlis XTs, NIO ES8s, and Bollinger B2s would be extremely refreshing to see on Canadian streets. Sadly, money is the driving issue behind startups failing or struggling. Let us also not forget that sometimes it is other things as well such as poor planning, or even leaders with a shady history.
Millennium River 