(Source: Electric Last Mile)
With the vigorous development of e-commerce market, electric trucks are becoming popular, and the company hopes to gain more market share. More and more start-ups and mature car companies are trying to sell electric trucks. Their potential customers include FedEx, Amazon and US Postal Service. These companies need more delivery trucks and want to reduce carbon emissions.
Jim Taylor, CEO of Electric Last Mile, said: "The outbreak of e-commerce is self-evident. There is a high demand in the current market. We will stand in the right place at the right time because we have electric truck products. "
Taylor said that another factor driving demand is that companies such as FedEx and Amazon, as well as fleets operated by the federal government, want to use electric vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce operating costs.
The company’s Urban Delivery is a Class 1 truck, which is similar in size to a minivan and is very suitable for delivery, as well as public utilities and other service fleets. After enjoying the $7,500 tax rebate provided by the US government, the price of the car is $25,000, which is the same as that of a gasoline-powered truck of the same size. Taylor said: "We set the price for it at $25,000, and the gasoline version is also $25,000, so its price will not appear higher. Moreover, the operating cost of electric vehicles is 30% lower than that of gasoline vehicles. "
The company’s competitors include, GM, British startup Arrival, and Rivian Automotive, which is partly owned by Amazon. Ford will start selling electric trucks next year, which are slightly larger than the Urban Delivery of Electric Last Mile. BrightDrop, a new business unit of GM, will also launch a similar electric truck in 2022.
In December last year, Electric Last Mile agreed to merge with Forum Merger III, with a transaction valuation of $1.4 billion. After the transaction is completed, the company will be renamed as Electric Last Mile Solutions and listed on Nasdaq.