President Biden’s climate plan is a big reach. The entire strategy could run a tab as high as $2 trillion (about the same cost as the first stimulus bill at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic). One major factor in the climate plan has to do with EV bus regulation. Biden has said that all bus transportation in the U.S. must be electrified by the looming deadline of 2030.
Fortunately for two companies, they just so happen to be adequately positioned. Proterra and Lion Electric are two companies who are taking their EV bus duties seriously.
What to know about Proterra EV bus maker
Proterra makes EV buses for transit, but they don’t stop there. They also make drivetrains, batteries, and charging systems for the heavy-duty electric vehicle market.
In a quickly innovating arena, Proterra has earned the accolade of being one of the oldest electric transit bus makers in the United States. To make it easier for transit agencies to make the switch, they have set up a system that allows upfront financing and leasing options thanks to lucrative financing partnerships.
Now, various auto manufacturers use Proterra’s drivetrain and battery engineering innovations for their own sake. The company’s CEO Jack Allen came from a 30-year career at Navistar International, a large truck and bus manufacturer. Allen told Greentech Media, “I understood what was going on with electrification in the commercial vehicle business, and I saw that Proterra had a leadership position.”
In the past, Proterra has fought with controversy around headlights blowing off in the wind, but that’s something they’ve gotten past with robust design.
What to know about Lion Electric EV bus maker
The Lion Electric is most known for its creation of an electrified school bus. Since 2011, the company has been making zero-emission vehicles at its Canadian headquarters. This company works on a smaller scale than others (their facility can handle about 2,500 vehicles annually, and there’s 300 on the road as of early 2021), but they do their job well.
In the near future, Lion Electric hopes to expand with a US-based production facility. Plus, they plan to enhance research and development on their advanced battery systems. You can expect Lion Electric to select a site for their American facility by the end of 2021, with construction groundbreaking slotted for 2023.
In September 2020, Amazon received ten electric trucks (called the Lion6) from Lion Electric to test out in their nationwide delivery fleet.
EV bus makers Proterra and Lion Electric are both going public in 2021
Both Proterra and Lion Electric are looking toward a public offering in 2021. Both happen to be using the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger tactic to do so. This means a blank-check company acquires them as a route into the public market so they can be eligible for publicly funded capital from retail investors. Lion Electric is merging with Northern Genesis Acquisition Corporation while Proterra is merging with billionaire-backed ArcLight Clean Transition.
We’ll have to wait and see whether these two companies and up on hugely popular sustainable ETFs and funds for easy investment access.