British electric vehicle manufacturer Tevva has said it’s exploring new merger opportunities after a deal with Canadian e-mobility firm ElectraMeccanica fell through.
The two companies had announced a merger in August, citing complementary operations based on ElectraMeccanica’s US footprint and Tevva’s experience in the UK and EU.
ElectraMeccanica announced it was terminating the plans at the start of October, citing “multiple incurable breaches of the agreement by Tevva, including failures by Tevva to disclose to ElectraMeccanica material information about Tevva”.
Tevva said the termination of the deal had “galvanised” the entire team and added that it’s now “laid down plans to regroup from this event and emerge even stronger”.
It’s now “re-engaged” with a number of investors and public companies looking for a merger with Tevva and says it’s confident it will secure both medium- and long-term financing to complete its business plan of commercialisation and ramp up sales.
It’s also restructured the leadership team, with David Roberts taking the role of CEO and Ken Scott becoming managing director, under the chairmanship of Ian Harnett.
Tevva has also reported continued interest from customers in its 7.5t battery-electric truck and the company has held a number of open days and customer demonstrations in recent weeks. These include a successful acceptance test with TG Lynes ahead of a vehicle handover in December, which will mark the firm’s first battery-electric truck for use in central London. It also has a number of trucks in build for handover to other customers.
Aimed at last-mile and urban delivery fleets, Tevva’s 7.5t electric truck entered mass production earlier this year after whole vehicle type approval. It offers up to 140 miles (227km) of range from its 105kWh battery, while the brand is working on a 7.5t hydrogen-electric truck, using hydrogen range-extender tech to enhance vehicle range to up to 354 miles (570km) – enhancing the fleet usage case.
In its statement, Tevva also said it was “deeply disappointed” by the “abrupt decision” of ElectraMeccanica to pull the merger plans and said it had no opportunity to respond to ElectraMeccanica’s claims before they went public.
It’s “strongly” refuted the basis under which the planned merger was terminated and says it will be seeking recourse through due legal process.
The deal with ElectraMeccanica was expected to “accelerate Tevva’s growth in the UK and Europe, and speed its entry into the highly attractive US market by leveraging ElectraMeccanica’s US expertise, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and capital”.
ElectraMeccanica has said it’s now in direct contact with several additional companies following the termination announcement, including companies that were previously assessed.
Conditions for EV startups remain challenging. Earlier this month, electric vehicle startup Volta Trucks said it was planning to file for bankruptcy after the collapse of a supplier. The business, based in Sweden and the UK, said it was a “challenging capital-raising environment for electric vehicle players”.
