Electric Last Mile signs deal with Chinese EV manufacturer

Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc. has signed a supply deal with Chinese electric vehicle maker Wuling Motors as the Michigan-based startup looks to roll out its first fleet of delivery vans.

Financial terms of the master purchase agreement with Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Industry Co. were not disclosed. It gives Electric Last Mile long-term access to Wuling's EV components, the company said in a Monday news release. The contract is for five years with automatic renewal each year after unless either party ends the agreement, according to a filing by Electric Last Mile with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We believe that this partnership, as a part of our solutions ecosystem model and supplemental to our core vehicle integration and engineering capabilities, will enable us to quickly bring to market, segment-defining and U.S.-made EVs customized to our customers' individual needs and optimized for the qualities that matter most to them: efficiency, reliability and total cost of ownership," James Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Electric Last Mile, said in the release.

Wuling Motors, founded in 2007, designs and develops engines, front and rear axles, brakes and panels. It has grown into one of China's largest manufacturers of electric delivery vans and specialty vehicles.

The deal follows several others recently struck by Electric Last Mile after it began trading on the NASDAQ in late June and looks to roll out its first batch of Urban Delivery all-electric cargo vans later this year. It announced in May a deal with Cox Automotive Inc. to supply service and repairs to its fleet and tapped North Carolina-based Randy Marion Automotive Group for distribution.

It also signed contracts with Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) to supply battery packs and Ontario-based Geotab Inc. for advanced telematics.

Production on 45,000 pre-ordered vehicles is expected to start at a former Hummer plant in Indiana in the third quarter, Crain's Detroit Business reported in May. It is expected to have a range of 150 miles per charge. Crain's is an affiliate of Automotive News.

The company plans to launch its delivery vans by the end of the third quarter or beginning of the fourth quarter, depending on the results of its crash test scheduled for mid-August, spokesman Erik Grossman said Tuesday. It aims to roll out 4,000 vehicles this year, 19,000 next year and progressively ramp up. The Indiana plant's capacity is 100,000 units per year.

Electric Last Mile's management team rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square in New York City on Tuesday to celebrate its recently completed public listing.

Electric Last Mile, founded in 2019, joined a growing list of tech and EV companies going public via SPAC (special purpose acquisition corporation) mergers. Electric Last Mile's vehicle to the public market was Florida-based Forum Merger III Corp. It trades under the ticker ELMS and was trading at $10.25 per share Tuesday afternoon, down from its first-day close of $11.56.