Funding Secured: Lightning Systems Raises $41 Million To Ramp Up Production
Credit to Author: Kyle Field| Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 18:10:28 +0000
Published on December 10th, 2019 | by Kyle Field
December 10th, 2019 by Kyle Field
Loveland, Colorado-based commercial EV builder Lightning Systems just closed a $41 million round of financing comprised of equity, debt, and working capital line funding from a variety of investors. Lightning Systems plans to use the new funding to scale up production of its electric powertrains for Ford Transits, Ford E-450s, Ford F-59 step vans, Chevrolet Low Cab Forward 6500XD trucks, and Lightning Electric city buses.
A Lightning Systems-powered Chevy 6500 HD in Loveland, Colorado. Image credit: Kyle Field | CleanTechnica
“We are now delivering powertrains for over $25 million in orders from major fleets, propelling Lightning Systems to the position of the established premium provider of a full range of platforms for commercial vehicle fleets,” said Tim Reeser, CEO, Lightning Systems. “Lightning is in series production of high-quality powertrains for new and repowered commercial vehicles across Class 3-7 on five major platforms that are on the road with customers today.”
CleanTechnica visited Lightning Systems in September for Lightning Day where CEO Tim Reeser shared the company’s vision for the future. Critical to the success of Lightning Systems was its first-hand experience working through the early days of the electric vehicle industry. He shared how they had learned many lessons the hard way and come out the other side of those difficult times as a stronger company.
The Lightning Systems team builds each its electric powertrains locally before integrating them into customer vehicles. Image credit: Kyle Field | CleanTechnica
After more than a decade working in the space, Lightning Systems is now a leader looking to scale up production in a maturing industry in response to customer demand. Trent Yang, who heads the Cupola Infrastructure investment team, said, “Lightning is a leader in designing and manufacturing all-electric powertrains for many of the existing fleet platforms for which the traditional OEMs have no electric solutions, and we believe there will be significant demand for its solutions as more commercial fleets are incentivized to go electric.”
Thanks to attractive financials and an imperative to address local air quality, the future of commercial vehicles, while uncertain, is headed towards zero emission and electric vehicles. Lightning Systems appears to be well-positioned to capitalize on this transition and this new funding will help them ramp up production to fill customer orders.
“The global electric vehicle market is growing at an unprecedented rate, and we are seeing the electrification of more and more commercial fleets,” David Hayes, chief investment officer at BP Ventures said. “We believe in Lightning’s ability to quickly scale its zero-emission powertrain business. Lightning already has a very wide base of vehicles that use its powertrains, which will be key as fleets look to scale their investments in zero-emission vehicles.”
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Kyle Field I’m a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor.