Proterra delivers batteries to Lightning eMotors
Proterra has won another customer for its batteries. An agreement now signed with US company Lightning eMotors that will see its Lightning Electric Transit electric delivery van fitted with batteries from Proterra.
Lightning eMotors manufactures electric vehicles for commercial fleet use, including cargo and passenger vans, shuttle buses, ambulances, school buses and RVs. With the agreement just concluded with Proterra, the company expects to produce up to 3,000 vehicles annually by 2023, with the first electric vans to be delivered to customers as early as the end of this year.
The company, based in Loveland in the US state of Colorado, has been building zero-emission vehicles since 2017. Lightning buys chassis from other vehicle manufacturers and then converts them to electrified drives. In 2020, the company rebranded from Lightning Systems to Lightning eMotors.
The two companies have not disclosed the exact details of their collaboration. According to Forbes both companies are in the process of going public on the US stock market with the help of SPAC firms. This means Lightning eMotors will be merging with Gigacapital 3 Inc. and will be valued at $823 million in the IPO. Back in January, Proterra merged with ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. in a SPAC transaction that itself was valued at $1.6 billion.
For Proterra, the supply agreement with Lightning eMotors is the second in a matter of weeks. In February, the Californian company announced that they had also been chosen as battery supplier by Swedish startup Volta Trucks. Volta Trucks plans to use the US manufacturer’s batteries in the Volta Zero e-truck, an all-electric 16-tonne truck with a real-world range of up to 200 kilometres developed for inner-city freight transport.
The deal with the Swedish startup also means Proterra’s entry into the European truck market. Volta Trucks plans to start testing its Volta Zero e-truck with customers later this year and start series production around twelve months later. Shortly after the start of production, “tens of thousands” of the Volta Zero are already expected to hit the roads.
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