Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Hyliion is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas. As previously reported in our Amended Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, on June 18, 2020, Tortoise Acquisition Corp. (“TortoiseCorp”) entered into a business combination agreement (the "Business Combination Agreement") with each of the shareholders of Hyliion Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Legacy Hyliion”), and consummated the merger contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the "Business Combination"), with Legacy Hyliion surviving the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TortoiseCorp, which was renamed “Hyliion Holdings Corp.” As a result of the Business Combination, we became an NYSE listed company.
Our mission is to be the leading provider of electrified powertrain solutions for the commercial vehicle industry. Our goal is to reduce the carbon intensity and the Greenhouse Gas ("GHG") emissions of the transportation sector by providing electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 semi-trucks at the lowest total cost of ownership ("TCO"). Throughout our product offerings, we utilize our battery systems, control software and data analytics, combined with fully integrated electric motors and power electronics, to produce electrified powertrain systems. Hyliion currently offers two different product lines; a Hybrid system which is designed as an add-on to electric powertrain to trucks which can augment power needs, and the Hypertruck which is a complete powertrain option that is fully electric drive and leverages an onboard generator to recharge the batteries as the vehicle is in operation. By reducing both GHG emissions and TCO, our environmentally conscious solutions support our customers’ pursuit of their sustainability and financial objectives.
We are currently selling the Hybrid eX version of our Hybrid product and are developing our Hypertruck electrified powertrain systems for long-haul Class 8 commercial vehicles. Our Hybrid eX system has been installed in low volumes on our initial customers’ commercial vehicles. Across these customer installations and over the entire Hyliion fleet, we have accumulated millions of real-world road miles on Class 8 commercial vehicles. Our Hybrid eX system can either be installed on a new vehicle prior to entering fleet service or retrofit to an existing in-service vehicle. The Hypertruck platform leverages the experience and operating data from our Hybrid eX system to offer a solution to replace the traditional diesel or Compressed Natural Gas ("CNG") powertrain installed in new vehicles.
The Hypertruck powertrain which is a range-extender vehicle, is addressing the market needs of having a fully electric drive truck that can travel long distance between refuels and can leverage existing natural gas infrastructure. Our initial expected deliveries of our Hypertruck systems to customers are designed to have their batteries recharged by a CNG generator, called the Hypertruck ERX. Our Hypertruck ERX system can offer commercial vehicle owners and operators a net carbon negative electrified powertrain option, when using Renewable Natural Gas (“RNG”). We believe CNG/RNG is the correct fuel source to begin with, but there are other fuels that will become available to address this climate change initiative, including Hydrogen. Hyliion has showcased a multistage roadmap that starts with utilizing a CNG/RNG generator and evolves into offering Hydrogen-based solutions as well. The Hypertruck platform is designed to be generator agnostic while the rest of the electric powertrain can remain the same. Hyliion plans to initially release the Hypertruck ERX natural gas solution, and then expects to release a Fuel Agnostic generator and a Hydrogen Fuel Cell generator for the Hypertruck platform.
CNG fueled recharging is preferable due to both the current comparable cost of fuels and existing availability of CNG refueling infrastructure. Class 8 commercial vehicles can currently be refueled with CNG through existing, geographically diverse and third-party accessible natural gas refueling stations established across North America. Globally, RNG, CNG and liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) are used widely for land-based transport and trucking and Hyliion believes there are established, geographically diverse and third-party accessible refueling stations available in certain areas in which Hyliion expects it may leverage in connection with the use of its electrified powertrain solutions in the future. We believe there is opportunity for adoption of our electrified powertrain solutions across Europe. This existing and accessible refueling infrastructure will significantly reduce the buildout time and cost required to utilize our Hypertruck ERX system as compared to other proposed potential electrified solutions.
Our Hybrid eX and Hypertruck systems are designed to be able to be installed on most major Class 8 commercial vehicles in the long term, which will give our customers the flexibility to continue using their preferred vehicle brands and maintain their existing fleet maintenance and operations strategies. Our early Hybrid eX system deployments include leaders in the transportation and logistics sector. We are focusing our initial marketing efforts on large fleet operators as well as companies committed to reducing the overall environmental impact and fuel costs of their owned and operated trucking fleets.
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Market Opportunity
Our solutions are currently addressing Class 8 commercial vehicles with an intent to begin deployments in North America and then expand globally. Based on ACT Research’s estimates, there are eight million Class 8 commercial vehicles currently in operation globally. In addition, ACT Research estimates that the active Class 8 commercial vehicle population will grow by approximately 4.5% annually from 2022 to 2025.
Challenges with Other Solutions
With the global focus on reducing the environmental impact of commercial transportation, a number of companies have begun developing solutions to lower GHG emissions in commercial vehicles, including plug-in commercial battery electric vehicles (“BEVs”) and commercial fuel cell electric vehicles (“FCEVs”). However, neither of these solutions have been commercialized or delivered in volume for the long-haul Class 8 commercial vehicle space at this time. While we do see market opportunities for these solutions, we believe they will face unique challenges for widespread adoption in the near term, which may include:
• limited availability of such commercial vehicles or solutions;
• a higher TCO relative to currently available diesel commercial vehicles;
• limited availability and capacity of electric charging infrastructure and hydrogen fueling infrastructure;
• higher lifecycle GHG emissions due to emissions from electricity generation to recharge the batteries (from the electrical grid or hydrogen production) and the emissions associated with the production of the battery cells;
• the need or choice to completely redesign the commercial vehicle to implement the solution;
• reduced available payload capacity (and resulting loss of revenue-producing transportation capacity) due to the size and weight of required on-board batteries;
• limited range on a single charge or fueling;
• longer recharging or refueling times compared to refueling times for currently available diesel and natural gas fueled commercial vehicles; and
• the need to change customers’ existing fleet operations, including procurement, dispatch, logistics, maintenance, repair, servicing and driver training.
Our Technology and Solutions
Our electrified powertrain solutions utilize battery systems, control software and data analytics, combined with electric motors and power electronics, to produce an electrified powertrain system technology platform that can be used to either augment, in the case of our Hybrid system, or fully replace, in the case of our Hypertruck ERX system, conventional powertrains in Class 8 commercial vehicles and improve their performance. Our solutions are designed to be compatible with most major Class 8 commercial vehicle manufacturers and are fuel and generator agnostic, giving our customers flexibility to choose the vehicles and fuel source that best fit their overall commercial vehicle operations strategy in their transition to electrified transportation.
Hybrid Electric Powertrain System
Our Hybrid system (the "Hybrid eX") can be installed on most major Class 8 commercial vehicles to reduce fuel usage, decrease GHG emissions, improve performance and/or reduce operating costs. Our Hybrid system is comprised of battery systems and an associated software management solution, a control module running our software and data analytics, high and low voltage power distribution and a thermal management system. The battery system and controllers can be attached to the frame rail of most major Class 8 commercial vehicles, providing cost savings in the case of diesel and simplifying installation, and incorporating a custom e-axle solution with associated cooling box to reduce weight and improve system efficiencies. The system is charged by regenerative braking and downhill deceleration and discharged to provide additional horsepower and torque when called upon by our control software, thereby reducing fuel usage and related GHG emissions or applying additional power to improve vehicle performance. Our Hybrid system’s battery power can be utilized as an auxiliary power unit (“APU”) to supply electricity for in-cab devices and air conditioning to reduce or eliminate idling when the driver is “hoteling” in the truck. Based on internal and third-party testing and customer-reported experiences, we believe the benefits of utilizing our Hybrid system compared to conventional diesel or CNG commercial vehicles will reduce fuel usage, emissions, idling and/or improved performance.
We believe that reduced operating costs will be the main decision factor for many fleets in adopting our Hybrid system. Our Hybrid system enables fleets to transition from diesel to natural gas engines, which can currently be fueled at a cost significantly lower than the fuel cost of a diesel engine.
Our Hybrid eX system officially launched, and our first Hypertruck ERX showcase unit was unveiled, on August 31, 2021 at the ACT Expo in Long Beach, CA. Compared to previous Hyliion Hybrid systems, the Hybrid eX offers fleets a lighter solution
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that is easier to install, service and operate. The Hybrid eX draws upon the real-world feedback Hyliion has received from customers and the millions of miles logged with the previous system. Due to shortages of various components caused by global supply chain disruptions, we are experiencing longer delivery times for a portion of the orders we have received on new Hybrid eX units. In addition, we are assessing the potential demand impact for the Hybrid eX product offering in light of recent changes within the competitive landscape.
Hypertruck ERX Powertrain System
Our Hypertruck ERX system, which is an electric range extender powertrain system, is being designed for installation on most major Class 8 commercial vehicles to create a net carbon negative capable electrified Class 8 commercial vehicle when using RNG. Our Hypertruck ERX system builds upon technical knowledge gained from our Hybrid system and consists of a larger battery system, an associated software management and data analytics solution, a range extending electric generator powered by a customer’s choice of fuel, a primary electric traction drive system and power electronics with integrated controls and our Hyliion Co-Pilot in-cab driver display. The system works by pairing a fully electric powertrain with a battery system that is recharged by an onboard generator that produces electricity. This system fully replaces the traditional powertrain in Class 8 commercial vehicles, while giving our customers the flexibility to choose between most major Class 8 commercial vehicle brands and fuel type for their long-haul applications.
We plan to leverage varying battery system sizes to achieve different all-electric EV vehicle ranges, including a 75-mile capable electric range solution which will likely qualify for Zero Emission Vehicle credits.
Our Hypertruck ERX system combines the performance of fully electric powertrains with the refueling efficiency of traditionally fueled vehicles. We estimate that it may be less expensive to run our onboard generator to produce electricity than recharging a BEV from the grid. By using onboard generation of electricity, rather than using a large battery pack for a BEV, our Hypertruck ERX system will provide an extended range over commercial BEVs. We believe the benefits of our Hypertruck ERX system will include:
• a powertrain solution as opposed to a complete vehicle redesign;
• lower TCO than diesel;
• net carbon negative electric Class 8 commercial vehicle solution potential;
• utilization of existing natural gas infrastructure;
• zero tailpipe emissions drive capable;
• range comparable to diesel;
• industry standard refueling times; and
• familiarity to existing Class 8 commercial vehicle brands.
Hypertruck ERX Rollout Timeline
We began our Hypertruck ERX roadshow in November 2021 with a two-day showcase event focused on demonstrating the features and benefits of the powertrain firsthand. The roadshow consisted of ride-alongs and in-depth product education of the Hypertruck ERX’s features and benefits, including how it enables fleets’ decarbonization goals while also reducing TCO. Our development timeline has been extended to allow for design verification and testing inclusive of critical summer and winter seasons, as well as the accumulation of up to one million miles prior to production. We expect to complete design verification and begin initial controlled fleet trials by the end of 2022.
While we have recently achieved critical product milestones, shortages in the supply chain and changes to the development program have led to an extension in the go-forward development timeline. Similar to others in the automotive industry, the semiconductor shortage, as well as several other key components, is extending our timelines longer than expected. These supply chain challenges have been especially prominent in the trucking industry, and one of the impacts has been significantly extended lead times for ordering new trucks. Fleets are experiencing lead times on new truck purchases that extend out for delivery into 2023. We have already placed orders with Peterbilt for all chassis needed in 2022 and are working to secure build slots for the 2023 calendar year in an effort to mitigate potential future supply chain impacts to our Hypertruck ERX development schedule. We continue to work closely with our current supply base to improve delivery of components for the quarters ahead and are diligently seeking alternative sources of supply for components that meet our technical specifications with shorter lead times.
CNG and RNG as a Fuel
Our Hypertruck ERX system will leverage existing CNG fueling stations that provide a cross country refueling network. In the continental United States, there are approximately 700 public CNG fueling stations already in operation for Class 8 commercial
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vehicles. These stations are geographically dispersed across the United States enabling long-haul trucking without the need for incremental refueling infrastructure buildout. Furthermore, our Hypertruck ERX system is being designed to be refueled in approximately ten minutes, which is on par with existing diesel solutions. Internationally, we believe CNG infrastructure is even more prevalent due to government mandates requiring reduced carbon emissions from transportation. Additionally, we believe that in certain international jurisdictions, the necessary heavy-duty infrastructure exists that would support adoption of our Hypertruck ERX system. The ability to utilize the existing CNG fueling infrastructure eliminates the time and cost needed to build expensive fueling infrastructure before our Hypertruck ERX system can be utilized, as compared to Class 8 commercial BEVs and FCEVs, which currently lack electric charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
RNG is a form of natural gas that is much cleaner for the environment than most other fuel sources. RNG is generated by capturing methane from landfills, livestock operations such as dairies, wastewater treatment and other sources or through anaerobic digestion and processing of food and animal waste streams. Depending on the source, RNG can have a significantly negative carbon intensity score, enabling our solutions to achieve a net carbon negative emissions profile. RNG is widely available today and new sources are in development.
Generator and Fuel Agnostic
Although our initial Hypertruck ERX system is being used in conjunction with CNG, it is designed to be generator and fuel agnostic. Our current designs would allow our Hypertruck system to use any available fuel generator to recharge the battery system without needing to change other components of its electric powertrain system. In addition to natural gas, other potential generator options include hydrogen fuel cells, and Fuel Agnostic generator solutions. The effect of the system’s design is to allow our Hypertruck ERX system customers to choose their preferred recharging fuel based on their unique priorities, including fuel cost and availability and emissions objectives. By designing our solutions in this manner, we expect to be able to quickly adapt to changing commodity price and availability fundamentals, customer preferences and regulatory signals and mandates without the need to redesign our solutions.
Software and Data Analytics
Our software and algorithms seek to control and optimize the fuel economy and performance of our powertrain systems by controlling and optimizing the charging and discharging of the battery systems and the performance of the electric motor and power electronics. Our software and control algorithms can be remotely updated over the air to enable our customers to receive improvements and the latest features and functionalities.
We intend to develop additional value-added services and software programs for our customers by further utilizing the data we harvest and the insights into vehicle performance and utilization our solutions provide, which could include predictive maintenance and other logistics and fleet management services.
Our Hyliion Co-Pilot product runs on our in-cab display and provides real-time vehicle performance, vehicle status metrics and driving feedback to the vehicle operators.
Strategy
Our mission is to be the leading provider of electrified powertrain solutions for the commercial vehicle industry. Our value proposition to our customers has many key elements including: reduced GHG emissions, cost savings, performance, availability and leveraging existing infrastructure.
Maintaining Technology Leadership and First-Mover Advantage
Our Hybrid eX system is currently being sold, and we are one of the first to the market with an electric powertrain solution for long-haul Class 8 commercial vehicles. Our software and the algorithms that drive our Hybrid eX solution has been utilized in millions of real-world road miles, which are used to drive continuous improvements in the system management software. Our Hypertruck ERX system is in advanced development, and we intend to complete design verification and begin initial controlled fleet trials by the end of 2022. We expect to capture a market share for low and zero emission commercial vehicles by being one of the first to the market and by having a solution that can offer a net carbon negative capable electrified powertrain option to the industry.
Focusing on Powertrains
Our electrified powertrain solutions are designed to be installed on Class 8 commercial vehicles from most major commercial vehicle OEMs. By focusing on the powertrain and its associated components and including compatibility into its design, our solutions are intended to give its customers the flexibility to use their preferred vehicle brand. This will allow our customers to adopt our Hybrid eX or Hypertruck ERX system while continuing to utilize their existing maintenance and service organizations. We believe this approach will increase the adoption of our solutions by reducing our customers’ cost and risk of transitioning to electrified transportation.
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Leveraging Existing Infrastructure
We intend to leverage the substantial infrastructure of the existing commercial transportation sector of diesel and CNG to accelerate adoption of its solutions. To start, utilizing CNG allows for electrified Class 8 commercial vehicle solutions that do not require substantial new infrastructure, such as the construction of electric charging stations. By utilizing existing commercial transportation fueling infrastructure, we believe our customers can achieve low GHG emissions, when utilizing CNG, or carbon negative status, when utilizing RNG, with our solutions. Hydrogen refueling stations are in development for regional vehicle operation and Hyliion intends to leverage these stations with the Hypertruck platform equipped with Hydrogen capable generator solutions.
Continuing to Build and Leverage Strategic Relationships
We intend to continue developing partnerships to accelerate the development and production of our solutions. We have entered into (a) agreements with Meritor, Inc., FEV North America Inc. and other companies for component development, potential future sourcing and design and system integration support, and (b) a partnership agreement with American Natural Gas (“ANG”) that offers our customers discounted pricing for RNG at ANG fueling stations across the country. Our strategic, engineering, production and technology partners augment our internal resources, and we intend to leverage their capabilities and infrastructure to bring our solutions to market more quickly and to meet industry standards, without requiring us to invest substantial amounts of capital in internal production operations.
Customer Demand
We have deployed demonstration Hybrid eX systems to certain early adopters we expect some to be customers in the future, including leaders in the transportation and logistics sector as well as companies committed to reducing the overall environmental impact and fuel costs of their owned and operated trucking fleets. Further, we commercialized and began selling the Hybrid eX system in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In 2021, Hyliion announced its Hypertruck Innovation Council, which consists of some of the largest fleets who will be assisting Hyliion along the development journey and will be among the first to experience the Hypertruck ERX. We anticipate our initial customers for the Hypertruck ERX system will be our Hypertruck Innovation Council members who will be the first to operate the Hypertruck ERX through controlled fleet deployments which will begin with some fleets in 2022 with further controlled fleet deployments anticipated. The successful launch program and deployment of the Hypertruck ERX met with positive feedback from customer operations teams and drivers and generated further interest in the Hypertruck ERX solution and longer-term commercial relationships with Hyliion.
Production, Assembly and Installation
We intend to primarily outsource the production, assembly and installation of our electrified powertrain systems to our partners at volume, while maintaining in-house research, development and prototyping capabilities, including low-volume assembly and installation.
Sales and Marketing
We currently market and sell our electrified powertrain solutions domestically through a direct sales organization and with our marketing partners to Class 8 commercial vehicle fleet owners and operators, and we expect to begin marketing and selling our electrified powertrain solutions internationally in the future.
Research and Development
Our research and development activities primarily take place at our headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas, on our testing and demonstration vehicles on roads and highways, and at our partners’ facilities. Our research and development is primarily focused on:
• electrified powertrain development and system integration;
• control software and algorithms for our powertrain systems;
• BMS enhancement;
• next generation packaging and cooling for our battery systems;
• interoperability with third-party powertrain components, such as e-motors, inverters and axles;
• component integration;
• accelerated lifetime testing processes to improve reliability, maintainability and system-level robustness;
• data analytics; and
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• alternative products for existing and in development components and technology.
The majority of our current activities are focused on the research and development of our electrified powertrain systems, third-party component integration and the underlying proprietary battery and software technology platforms. We undertake significant testing and validation of our products and components in order to ensure that they will meet the demands of our customers.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is important to our business, and we seek protection for our strategic intellectual property. We rely upon a combination of patents, copyrights, trade secrets, know-how and trademark laws, along with employee and third-party non-disclosure agreements and other contractual restrictions to establish and protect our intellectual property rights.
At December 31, 2021, we had 22 issued U.S. patents and 17 pending U.S. patent applications. We pursue the registration of our domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and in some locations abroad. In an effort to protect our brand, at December 31, 2021 we had three registered and five pending trademarks in the United States and 29 registered and 19 pending trademarks internationally.
We regularly review our development efforts to assess the existence and patentability of new intellectual property. To that end, we are prepared to file additional patent applications as we consider appropriate under the circumstances relating to the new technologies that we develop.
We cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications we may own or license in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents we may own or license in the future will be useful in protecting our technology.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 200 employees who were all located within the United States. We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement or represented by a labor union. Our people are integral to our business, and we are highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management and technical and vehicle engineering personnel. We seek to provide our employees with competitive compensation and benefits, including grants of equity under our equity incentive plans, access to 401(k) plans and medical, life and disability insurance. We welcome the diversity of all team members and encourage the integration of their unique skills, thoughts, experiences and identities. By fostering an inclusive culture, we enable every member of the workforce to leverage unique talents and high-performance standards to drive innovation and success. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges to us and our daily operations. Our production and research and development employees continue to mainly work in our headquarter facilities with implementation of practices including company-wide policies to ensure the safety of each employee and compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, access to personal protective equipment and enhanced sanitation procedures. We have developed a flexible work policy that allows certain employees to work from home. While we are currently still a small company in terms of headcount, we have plans to grow, and expect that our practices and programs with respect to human capital management will grow as we do.
Government Regulations
We operate in an industry that is subject to extensive environmental regulation, which has become more stringent over time. The laws and regulations to which we are subject govern, among others:
• water use;
• air emissions;
• use of recycled materials;
• energy sources;
• the storage, handling, treatment, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials;
• the protection of the environment;
• natural resources and endangered species; and
• the remediation of environmental contamination.
We may be required to obtain and comply with the terms and conditions of multiple environmental permits, many of which are difficult and costly to obtain and could be subject to legal challenges. Compliance with such laws and regulations at an international, regional, national, provincial and local level is an important aspect of our ability to continue operations.
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Environmental standards applicable to us are established by the laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate, and our product are sold, standards adopted by regulatory agencies and the permits and licenses that we hold. Each of these sources is subject to periodic modifications and increasingly stringent requirements. Violations of these laws, regulations, or permits and licenses may result in substantial civil and criminal fines, penalties, orders to cease the violating operations, or to conduct or pay for corrective works. In some instances, violations may also result in the suspension or revocation of permits and licenses.
EPA and CARB Emissions Compliance and Certification
Under the U.S. Clean Air Act, some of our electrified powertrain solutions may be required to obtain a Certificate of Conformity issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and a series of California Executive Orders issued by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), demonstrating that our powertrains and vehicles comply with requirements including as applicable, emission standards for both criteria pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) and particulate matter (“PM”), and GHGs, such as carbon dioxide ("CO2") and nitrous oxide (“N2O”). A Certificate of Conformity is required for vehicles sold in all states and Executive Orders are required for vehicles sold in California and states that have adopted the California standards. CARB sets the California standards for emissions control for certain regulated pollutants for new vehicles and engines sold in California and, under the U.S. Clean Air Act, must obtain a waiver of preemption from the EPA before implementing and enforcing such standards. States that have adopted the California standards, as approved by the EPA, also require a CARB Executive Order for sales of vehicles in those states. There are currently four states that have adopted the California standard for heavy-duty vehicles.
Pursuant to its authority under the U.S. Clean Air Act, the EPA adopted Phase 1 fuel efficiency and GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles and engines effective 2014 through 2018. The EPA subsequently adopted more stringent fuel efficiency and GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles and engines in October 2015. Phase II CARB also has adopted GHG and fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles and engines effective 2018 to 2027, and is implementing an Advanced Clean Trucks rule that would require heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to produce and offer for sale in California a certain number of zero-emission vehicles. Manufacturers of vehicles and engines must comply with the GHG standards as a condition of the EPA Certificate of Conformity and the CARB Executive Order.
Additionally, CARB is also providing more stringent criteria on heavy-duty engines, now testing requirements an expanded emissions warranty for specific engines and powertrain components in CARB’s Low NOx Omnibus rule. As currently proposed, CARB’s Low NOx Omnibus rule would begin in 2024 and be implemented through 2031.
All vehicles and engines manufactured for sale in the United States must be covered by an EPA Certificate of Conformity (and respective CARB Executive Orders if sold in California), including engines and vehicles using zero-emission or low-carbon technology. As is necessary, an EPA Certificate of Conformity and/or CARB Executive Order, covering both criteria pollutants and GHG, must be obtained each model year for each engine family and heavy-duty vehicle. Failure to obtain or comply with the terms of a Certificate of Conformity or Executive Order is subject to civil penalty and administrative or judicial enforcement.
Receipt of an EPA Certificate of Conformity and CARB Executive Orders obligates the holder to ensure that the covered engine or vehicle complies with applicable standards throughout the full useful life of the product, which ranges from ten years or 185,000 miles, whichever comes first, for medium heavy-duty vehicles, to ten years or 435,000 miles, whichever comes first, for heavy heavy-duty vehicles. Emissions control system warranty coverage must be provided for a period of five years or 50,000 to 100,000 miles, whichever comes first and depending on the engine and vehicle size. During this time, manufacturers must repair emission-related defects at no cost to the customer. Throughout the full useful life of the engine or vehicle, manufacturers are required to remedy in-use problems that cause engines or vehicles to exceed emission standards for criteria pollutants or GHGs. Manufacturers may have to conduct recalls, service campaigns or other field actions, or provide extended warranties to address any such in-use issues that may arise. Both the EPA and CARB are considering extending the emissions warranty period, depending on the engine size.
Manufacturers of heavy-duty engines and vehicles also must ensure that their products comply with On Board Diagnostics (“OBD”) requirements. The OBD system is intended to identify and diagnose malfunctions within the engine, aftertreatment and emission control systems and alert the driver to the underlying issue so the vehicle can be brought in for service. CARB issues approval of the OBD system as part of its issuance of an Executive Order; the EPA typically deems CARB OBD approval to be compliance with the EPA’s requirements. As with emissions compliance, manufacturers are required to ensure that the OBD system functions as designed and is able to identify component malfunctions throughout the full useful life of the vehicle or engine.
RNG Credits
Generation and Sale of Renewable Identification Numbers (“RIN”) Credits and Low Carbon fuel Standards ("LCFS") Credits. In February 2010, the EPA finalized the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) (which was established by the Energy
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Policy Act of 1992/2005), which creates RINs that can be generated by the production and use of RNG in the transportation sector and sold to fuel providers that are not compliant under the RFS. In addition, CARB and comparable agencies in Oregon have adopted the LCFS, which encourages low carbon “compliant” transportation fuels (including CNG) in the California and Oregon marketplace by allowing producers of these fuels to generate LCFS Credits that can be sold to noncompliant regulated parties.
GHG Credits — U.S. EPA
The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulation requires all manufacturers of heavy-duty engines and vehicles to comply with fleet average GHG standards. Manufacturers may comply with the standards by producing engines or vehicles, all of which comply with the standards, or by averaging, banking and trading GHG credits within vehicle or engine categories. Manufacturers may also comply with GHG standards by purchasing credits from manufacturers with a surplus of credits. The failure to comply with GHG standards can lead to civil penalties or the voiding of a manufacturer’s EPA Certificate of Conformity. In connection with the delivery and placement into service of zero-emission and low-emission vehicles, we may earn tradable GHG credits that under current laws and regulations can be sold to other manufacturers. Under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulation, plug-in hybrid, all-electric and fuel cell vehicles earn a credit multiplier of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5, respectively, for use in the calculation of GHG emission credits.
Commercial engine and vehicle manufacturers are required to meet the NOx emission standard for each type of engine or vehicle produced. Typical diesel engine emission control technology limits the fuel economy and GHG improvements that can be made while maintaining compliance with the NOx standard. As the fleet-average GHG standards continue to decrease over time, compliance with the NOx standard will increase the difficulty for conventional diesel vehicles to meet the applicable GHG standard. Until technology catches up for commercial vehicles, manufacturers of diesel trucks will likely need to purchase GHG credits to cover their emission deficit. The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulation provides the opportunity for the sale of excess credits to other manufacturers who apply such credits to comply with these regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the regulation does not limit the number of GHG credits that can be sold within the same commercial vehicle categories.
GHG Credits — California Air Resources Board
California also has a separate GHG emissions regulatory program which is very similar to the EPA requirements. Like the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule, the CARB rule allows for averaging, banking and trading of credits to comply with the fleet-average GHG standard and the failure to comply with the California GHG standard may lead to the imposition of civil penalties. The delivery and placement into service of our zero-emission and low-emission vehicles in California may earn us tradable credits that can be sold. Under CARB GHG regulations, advanced technology vehicles also earn a credit multiplier of for use in the calculation of emission credits in the same amounts as under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule.
Examples of other potential incentive and grant programs that either we or our customers can apply for include:
• Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS was initially developed in California and is quickly gaining traction in other jurisdictions around the United States and the world. The goal is to reduce the well-to-wheel carbon intensity of fuels by providing both mandated reduction targets as well as tradable and sellable credits.
• Purchase Incentives. Both California and New York have active programs that provide “cash on the hood” incentives to customers that purchase newer, lower emissions vehicles, including zero-emission vehicles. Other states are considering developing similar programs.
• Grant Programs. Government entities at all levels from federal, including the U.S. Department of Energy, state (for example, CARB) and local (for example, North Texas Council of Governments), have grant programs designed to increase and accelerate the development and deployment of zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure technologies.
• EPA Smartway. The EPA Smartway program provides grants and funding for the retrofit of heavy-duty vehicles with components and technologies that reduce emissions. Drivers and fleet owners who repower vehicles with advanced technology powertrains or CNG engines may be able to access funding to offset a portion of the cost.
European and Other Requirements for Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Similar to requirements in the US, Europe and other jurisdictions regulate pollutants, operational characteristics and content of heavy-duty vehicles and vehicle equipment. For example, European emission regulations of heavy-duty vehicles (currently under “Euro VI” regulations) specify criteria pollutant emission limits from various vehicles, including heavy-duty vehicles, that are similar to those of EPA and CARB. The European regulations also require similar engine and vehicle OBD systems to those of EPA and CARB. However, as these are ‘similar’ emissions and diagnostic regulations, the EPA and CARB are not the same as European emissions and diagnostic regulations. Unlike the generally synergistic relation and regulations between EPA and CARB, current European emissions and diagnostic regulations require separate design, validation, testing and approval such that EPA and/or CARB approval does not directly correlate to European approval of similar powertrain and vehicle equipment. Other requirements regulating vehicles and vehicle equipment components similar to Hyliion systems may be
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applicable to or exempted by regulation. For example, European Restriction of Hazardous Substance (“ROHS”) regulates materials in electrical equipment, but currently exempts transport vehicles. As Hyliion considers these other markets, Hyliion systems will be configured to meet these requirements in other jurisdictions.
Heavy-Duty Vehicle Safety Requirements
Manufacturers of vehicles that operate on US highways are subject to, and must comply with, various regulations established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”). These federal motor vehicle safety standards (“FMVSS”) cover a wide variety of vehicle equipment and components. Manufacturers of vehicles, including heavy-duty vehicles, must confirm that their vehicles and vehicle equipment comply with applicable standards or, as appropriate, are exempt from those standards. Currently, there are several FMVSS that apply to vehicle manufacturers and may be applicable to Hyliion’s hybrid and ERX systems. As may be required, Hyliion is evaluating FMVSS requirements for applicability to Hyliion products.
Manufacturers of vehicles that operate on US highways must also comply with NHTSA safety reporting requirements concerning safety involving Hyliion systems concerning various issues including, but not limited to, accidents, warranty claims, field actions and reports and recalls. As situations may arise, Hyliion will take appropriate actions to comply with these reporting requirements.
Competition
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, intense competition from a number of companies, particularly as the commercial transportation sector increasingly shifts towards low-emission, zero-emission, or carbon neutral solutions. We face competition from many different sources, including major commercial vehicle OEMs and companies that are developing alternative fuel and electric commercial vehicles. Existing commercial vehicle OEMs such as PACCAR, Navistar, Volvo, Mack Trucks and Daimler maintain the largest market shares in the sector. Given we primarily develop and sell powertrains that are designed to be installed into an OEM’s commercial vehicle to augment or replace conventionally fueled powertrains, as opposed to a complete commercial vehicle, we believe we will primarily compete with other powertrain providers offering new low emissions solutions as opposed to commercial vehicle OEMs as we are not producing the entire vehicle. While there are many competitors addressing electrification of commercial vehicles, many of them are focused on shorter range vehicles. We are providing electrified solutions that are addressing both the long-haul and regional transportation sectors. We believe the primary competitive factors in the long-haul Class 8 commercial vehicle market include, but are not limited to:
• total cost of ownership;
• emissions profile;
• availability of charging or fueling network;
• ease of integration into existing operations;
• product performance and uptime;
• vehicle quality, reliability and safety;
• vehicle support, parts and on-road service network;
• technological innovation specifically around battery, software and data analytics; and
• fleet management.
We believe that we compete favorably with our competitors on the basis of these factors; however, most of our current and potential competitors have greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than us. Our competitors may be able to deploy greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sales, marketing and support of their alternative fuel and electric truck programs. Additionally, our competitors also have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, broader customer and industry relationships and other tangible and intangible resources than us. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. We cannot provide assurances that our electrified systems will be the first to market. Even if our electrified systems are first to market, or among the first to market, we cannot be sure that customers will choose vehicles with our electrified systems over those of our competitors, or over conventional diesel-powered vehicles.
Numerous companies have announced their plans to bring long-haul Class 8 commercial BEVs and FCEVs to the market over the coming years. Cummins, Daimler, Dana, Navistar, PACCAR, Volvo, Tesla, Nikola, Lion Electric, Hyzon and other commercial vehicle manufacturers have announced their plans to bring Class 8 commercial BEVs or FCEVs to the market. However, we do not believe any of them have showcased a roadmap similar to Hyliion’s where it is a range extender electric
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vehicle that utilizes various generators with different fuel sources. Furthermore, we will also face competition from manufacturers of internal combustion engines powered by diesel fuel. We expect additional competitors may enter the market as well.
Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings or be subject to claims arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings. Regardless of outcome, such proceedings or claims can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of resources and other factors and there can be no assurances that favorable outcomes will be obtained.
Strategic Collaborations
FEV Commercial Agreement
In December 2020, we entered into a Master Service Agreement with FEV North America Inc. (“FEV”) relating to the provision of engineering services (the “FEV MSA”). The FEV MSA provides that FEV will provide services to us on a non-exclusive basis relating to engineering and research and development in connection with our development of electrified solutions for heavy-duty trucks, among other matters. The FEV MSA contemplates that we will, from time to time, provide FEV with the details of projects that we are working on and request that FEV submit a proposal to provide services to us in connection with such projects. If mutually agreed to by us and FEV, FEV would then provide such services to us pursuant to the MSA. In August 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, we and FEV entered into a statement of work, pursuant to which FEV is providing engineering services to us.
Collaboration with American Natural Gas
Since 2018, we and American Natural Gas (“ANG”) have collaborated, on a non-exclusive basis, in connection with customer inquiries, on potential co-marketing opportunities and potential opportunities for ANG to provide our customers with RNG/CNG at fueling stations built, owned, or operated by ANG across the United States. In October 2020, we entered into a sales agreement and partnership agreement with ANG. The sales agreement includes a pre-order of up to 250 Hypertruck ERX vehicles and the partnership agreement offers our customers discounted pricing for RNG at ANG fueling stations across the country and, for qualifying fleet customers, ANG has also agreed to build new fueling stations near our customer locations with no upfront capital costs to such customers.
Available Information
Additional information about Hyliion is available at www.hyliion.com. On the Investor Relations page of the website, the public may obtain free copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable following the time that they are filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). References to our website do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained in such website, and such information is not part of this Form 10-K.
1A. RISK FACTORS
Investing in our securities involves risks. Before you make a decision to buy our securities, in addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed above under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” you should carefully consider the specific risks set forth herein. If any of these risks actually occur, it may materially harm our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. As a result, the market price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Additionally, the risks and uncertainties described are not the only risks and uncertainties that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may become material and adversely affect our business.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry
We are an early stage company with a history of losses, and expect to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future.
We incurred a net loss of $96.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and have incurred cumulative net operating losses of $130.3 million during the previous three years ended December 31, 2021. We believe that we will continue to incur significant operating and net losses each quarter until at least the time we begin commercial deliveries of our Hypertruck ERX system, which are not expected to begin until 2023 or later, and may not occur at all. Even if we are able to successfully develop and sell our electrified powertrain solutions, there can be no assurance that they will be commercially successful. Our
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potential profitability is dependent upon the successful development and successful commercial introduction and acceptance of our electrified powertrain solutions, which may not occur.
We will require significant capital to develop and grow our business, including developing, producing and servicing our electrified powertrain solutions and building our brand. We expect to incur significant expenses which will impact our profitability, including research and development expenses (including our Hypertruck ERX system), component and service procurement costs, sales and distribution expenses as we build our brand and market our electrified powertrain solutions, and general and administrative expenses as we scale our operations and incur costs as a public company. Our ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on our ability to complete the design and development of our electrified powertrain solutions to meet projected performance metrics and successfully market our electrified powertrain solutions and services, but also to sell our products at prices to achieve our expected margins and control our costs. We may need to sell our products at a loss or discounted pricing in the near term in order to gain customer base and confidence of fleet customers. If we are unable to efficiently design, produce, market, sell, distribute and service our electrified powertrain solutions, our margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.
We are in the early stages of developing key commercial relationships with suppliers and customers, and our ability to predict the outcome of those relationships is limited.
We are in the process of developing partnerships to accelerate the development and production of our solutions and have deployed demonstration Hybrid system units to certain companies we expect to be customers in the future; however, all of our commercial relationships are in the early stages of development and we do not have the ability to predict with certainty the outcome of those relationships. Our partners may face delays or be unable to meet our business requirements and standards at the quantity, quality and price levels needed for our business. The entities that we expect to be customers in the future may decide not to do business with us. Because we are still getting to know our partners and the commercial space in which we are doing business, these relationships could result in controversies or even litigation, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue our plans for strategic growth and ultimately our business results.
We are highly dependent on the services of Thomas Healy, our Chief Executive Officer, and if we are unable to retain Mr. Healy, attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical and vehicle engineering personnel, our ability to compete could be harmed.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to retain our key personnel. We are highly dependent on the services of Thomas Healy, our Chief Executive Officer, and largest stockholder. Mr. Healy is the source of many, if not most, of the ideas and execution driving us. If Mr. Healy were to discontinue his service to us due to death, disability or any other reason, we would be significantly disadvantaged. The unexpected loss of or failure to retain one or more of our key employees could adversely affect our business.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, including failing to attract and integrate qualified personnel, we may not be able to develop, produce, market and sell our electrified powertrain solutions successfully.
Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. We intend to expand our operations significantly. We intend to continue to hire a significant number of additional personnel, including software engineers, design and production personnel and service technicians for our electrified powertrain solutions. Because our electrified powertrain solutions are based on a different technology platform than traditional internal combustion engines, individuals with sufficient training in alternative fuel and electric vehicles may not be available to hire, and as a result, we will need to expend significant time and expense training any newly hired employees. Competition for individuals with experience designing, producing and servicing electrified vehicles and their software is intense, and we may not be able to attract, integrate, train, motivate, or retain additional highly qualified personnel, particularly with respect to software engineers in the Austin, Texas area where we are headquartered. Due to the specific skills required, the strong job market nationally and the high cost of living and competition in the Austin, Texas area, we may experience increased relocation expenses, higher expenses to recruit and retain talent and challenges at attracting talent. The failure to attract, integrate, train,
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motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Risks Related to our Financial Results
Our financial results may vary significantly from period to period due to fluctuations in our operating costs and other factors.
Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
• the pace at which we continue to design, develop and produce new products and increase production capacity;
• the number of customer orders in a given period;
• changes in manufacturing costs;
• the timing and cost of and level of investment in, research and development relating to our technologies and our current or future facilities;
• developments involving our competitors; and
• changes in governmental regulations or applicable law.
As a result of these factors, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our financial results, especially in the short term, are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Moreover, our financial results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts, ratings agencies or investors, who may be focused only on quarterly financial results. If any of this occurs, the trading price of our common stock could fall substantially, either suddenly or over time.
Risks Related to our Customers and Products
We may not be able to successfully engage target customers or convert early trial deployments with truck fleets into meaningful orders or additional deployments in the future.
Our success, and our ability to increase revenue and operate profitably, depends in part on our ability to identify target customers and to convert early trial deployments with truck fleets into meaningful orders or additional deployments in the future. If we are unable to meet our customers’ performance requirements or industry specifications, identify target customers or convert early trial deployments in truck fleets into meaningful orders or obtain additional deployments in the future, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be materially adversely affected. Moreover, if we or our customers find that our Hybrid system does not perform as expected or if our customers decide to wait until our Hypertruck system is deployed before making any purchases, we may cease to distribute our Hybrid system, or recall some or all of our product, and future distributions may be delayed or cease for some period of time or indefinitely.
We plan to accept reservation orders for the sale of our electrified powertrain solutions that are cancellable, and our initial pre-launch sales order for Hypertruck ERX equipped trucks is cancellable.
Our electrified powertrain solutions are still in the development and testing phase and commercial deliveries of the Hypertruck ERX system are not expected to begin until 2023 or later, and may not occur at all. As a result, we plan to accept reservation orders for our electrified powertrain solutions that will be cancellable by customers without penalty. As a result, no assurance can be made that reservations will not be cancelled or that reservations will result in the purchase of our electrified powertrain solutions, and any such cancellations could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We may also enter into contracts for the sale of our electrified powertrain solutions that include various cancellation rights in favor of the customer. For example, in May 2020, we entered into a pre-launch sales agreement (the “Agility Pre-Launch Agreement”) with Agility Logistics Cargo Transport Co. WLL (“Agility Transport”), a company organized under the laws of and based in Kuwait and a subsidiary of Agility Public Warehousing Company K.S.C.P. for up to 1,000 trucks equipped with our Hypertruck ERX system in one or more future purchase orders, subject to certain testing and performance requirements and termination rights, including a right to terminate the Agility Pre-Launch Agreement prior to purchasing all or any portion of Agility Transport’s pre-order. The Agility Pre-Launch Agreement does not specify the terms or period upon which these purchase orders may be entered into, such that our sale of Hypertruck ERX to Agility Transport is subject to the parties reaching further agreement on the terms of the purchase agreements. Any termination, reduction or dispute related to this agreement or others similar to it could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We intend to sell our electrified powertrain solutions to large commercial vehicle OEM customers and large volume customers, and the failure to obtain such customers, loss of sales to such customers or failure to negotiate acceptable terms in contract renewal negotiations could have an adverse impact on our business.
Although we intend to sell our electrified powertrain solutions to commercial vehicle OEMs and other large volume customers, we may not be able to establish relationships with such OEMs or large volume customers if customer demand is not as high as we expect or if commercial vehicle OEMs face pressure from their existing suppliers not to purchase our electrified powertrain solutions. We may enter into long-term contracts with certain of these commercial vehicle OEMs and other large volume
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customers, who have substantial bargaining power with respect to price and other commercial terms, and any long-term contracts would be subject to renegotiation and renewal from time to time. Failure to obtain new customers, loss of all or a substantial portion of sales to any future customers for whatever reason (including, but not limited to, loss of contracts or failure to negotiate acceptable terms in contract renewal negotiations, loss of market share by these customers, insolvency of such customers, reduced or delayed customer requirements, plant shutdowns, strikes or other work stoppages affecting production by such customers), or continued reduction of prices to these customers could have a significant adverse effect on our financial results. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain or retain large volume customers or that we will be able to offset any reduction of prices to these customers with reductions in our costs or by obtaining new customers.
Demand for our products will ultimately depend on our end users, some of whom operate in highly cyclical industries, which may subject us to the performance of their industries and can result in uncertainty and significantly impact the demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Demand for our products will ultimately depend on our end users, some of whom operate in highly cyclical industries and have felt the impact of COVID-19 and other factors on demand for output in their industries. Decisions to purchase our electrified powertrain solutions may depend on the performance of the industries of our end users and if demand for output in those industries decreases, the demand for our products will likely decrease. Demand in these industries is impacted by numerous factors, including commodity prices, infrastructure spending, housing starts, real estate equity values, interest rates, consumer spending, fuel costs, energy demands, municipal spending and commercial construction, among others. Increases or decreases in these variables may significantly impact the demand for our products. If we are unable to accurately predict demand, we may be unable to meet our customers’ needs, resulting in the loss of potential sales, or we may produce excess products, resulting in increased inventories and overcapacity in our contracted production facilities, increasing our unit production cost and decreasing our operating margins.
If our electrified powertrain solutions fail to perform as expected, our ability to develop, market and sell our electrified powertrain solutions could be harmed.
Our electrified powertrain solutions may contain defects in design and production that may cause them not to perform as expected or may require repair. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in our electrified powertrain solutions. Our electrified powertrain solutions may not meet customers’ expectations or perform competitively with other vehicles that may become available. Any product defects or any other failure of our electrified powertrain solutions and software to perform as expected could harm our reputation and result in adverse publicity, lost revenue, delivery delays, product recalls, negative publicity, product liability claims and significant warranty and other expenses and could have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
The performance characteristics of our electrified powertrain solutions, including fuel economy and emissions levels, may vary, including due to factors outside of our control.
The performance characteristics of our electrified powertrain solutions, including fuel economy and emissions levels, may vary. Our electrified powertrain solutions are still being designed and developed, and there are no assurances that they will be able to meet their projected performance characteristics, including fuel economy and emissions levels. External factors (such as driver behavior, weather conditions, hardware efficiency, payload and terrain) may also impact the performance characteristics of our electrified powertrain solutions related to estimated fuel savings, GHG emissions and fuel economy of vehicles installed with our electrified powertrain solutions. These external factors as well as any operation of our electrified powertrain solutions other than as intended, may result in emissions levels that are greater than we expect. The ability of our electrified powertrain solutions to have a net carbon negative profile, will depend on the availability of renewable natural gas (“RNG”) as well as the infrastructure necessary to purchase RNG through fuel providers. Any limitation on the ability to purchase RNG, such as a decrease or a limitation on the number of natural gas fueling stations or limitation on the production of natural gas and RNG in particular, will negatively impact the anticipated carbon intensity profile of our electrified powertrain solutions. In addition, the carbon intensity profiles could vary based on the source of RNG, which could reduce a fleet’s ability to have favorable carbon
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intensity scores. Due to these factors, there can be no guarantee that the operators of vehicles using our electrified powertrain solutions will realize the expected fuel savings and fuel economy and GHG emission reductions.
Our beliefs regarding the ability of our electrified powertrain solutions to limit carbon intensity and reduce GHG emissions and contribute to global decarbonization may be based on materially inaccurate assumptions.
Our beliefs regarding our ability to reduce carbon intensity and GHG emissions are based on certain assumptions, including, but not limited to, our projections of the extent of natural gas and renewable natural gas use in the future, fuel types used, the ability to obtain carbon credits and driver behavior and our electrified powertrain solutions’ efficiencies and performance. To the extent our assumptions are materially incorrect or incomplete, it could adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. In addition, if our assumptions regarding the ability of our solutions to limit carbon intensity and reduce GHG emissions from trucking operations are materially incorrect or incomplete, or if our beliefs regarding the availability of our products are materially incorrect or incomplete, it is possible that our competitors’ technology may be better at limiting carbon intensity and reducing GHG emissions in certain circumstances and in certain markets.
We have limited experience servicing our electrified powertrain solutions and our integrated software. If we are unable to address the service requirements of our customers, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
We have limited experience in servicing our electrified powertrain solutions and expect to increase our servicing capabilities as we begin commercial production of our electrified powertrain solutions. Servicing hybrid and electric vehicles is different than servicing vehicles with internal combustion engines and requires specialized skills, including high voltage training and servicing techniques. We plan to partner with a third party to perform some or all of the servicing on our electrified powertrain solutions, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into an acceptable arrangement with any such third-party provider. Our ability to provide effective customer support is largely dependent on our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel with experience in supporting customers on platforms such as ours. As we continue to grow, additional pressure may be placed on our customer support team, and we may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for technical support. If we are unable to successfully address the service requirements of our customers or establish a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support, we may be subject to claims from our customers, including loss of revenue or damages, and our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
Our electrified powertrain solutions rely on software and hardware that is highly technical, and if these systems contain errors, bugs or vulnerabilities, or if we are unsuccessful in addressing or mitigating technical limitations in our systems, our business could be adversely affected.
Our electrified powertrain solutions rely on software and hardware to store, retrieve, process and manage immense amounts of data. Such software and hardware, that is developed or maintained internally or by third parties, is highly technical and complex and will require modification and updates over the life of the vehicle. Our software and hardware may contain, errors, bugs or vulnerabilities, and our systems are subject to certain technical limitations that may compromise our ability to meet our objectives. Some errors, bugs or vulnerabilities inherently may be difficult to detect and may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. If we are unable to prevent or effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects in our software and hardware, we may suffer damage to our reputation, loss of customers, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.
Future product recalls could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Any product recall in the future, whether it involves us or a competitor’s product, may result in negative publicity, damage our brand and materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. In the future, we may voluntarily or involuntarily, initiate a recall if any of our products (including the batteries we design, develop and manufacture) prove to be defective or noncompliant with applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. Such recalls involve significant expense and diversion of management attention and other resources, which could adversely affect our brand image, as well as our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.
Product liability claims, even those without merit or those that do not involve our products, could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. The automobile industry in particular experiences significant product liability claims, and we face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our electric powertrain solutions do not perform or are claimed to not have performed as expected. As is true for other commercial vehicle suppliers, we expect in the future that our electrified powertrain solutions will be installed on vehicles that will be involved in crashes resulting in death or personal injury. Additionally, product liability claims that affect our competitors may cause indirect adverse publicity for us and our products.
Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given the relatively limited number of electrified powertrain solutions delivered to date and limited field experience of our products. A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. In most jurisdictions, we generally self-insure against the risk of product liability claims for
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vehicle exposure, meaning that any product liability claims will likely have to be paid from company funds, not by insurance. Product liability claims could have a material adverse effect on our brand, business and financial condition.
Insufficient warranty reserves to cover future warranty claims could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We maintain warranty reserves to cover warranty-related claims of our electrified powertrain solutions. If our warranty reserves are inadequate to cover future warranty claims on our vehicles, or our parts suppliers fail to provide warranties for, or honor warranty claims against, their parts, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected. We may become subject to significant and unexpected warranty expenses as well as claims from our customers, including loss of revenue or damages. There can be no assurances that then-existing warranty reserves will be sufficient to cover all claims.
Risks Related to our Production Processes and Supply Chain
We face significant barriers to produce our electrified powertrain solutions, and if we cannot successfully overcome those barriers our business will be negatively impacted.
The commercial trucking industry has traditionally been characterized by significant barriers to entry, including the ability to meet performance requirements or industry specifications, acceptance by OEMs and our end users, large capital requirements, investment costs of design and production, long lead times to bring components to market from the concept and design stage, the need for specialized design and development expertise, regulatory requirements, establishing a brand name and image and the need to establish sales capabilities. If we are not able to overcome these barriers, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be negatively impacted and our ability to grow our business will be harmed.
Our success will depend on our ability to economically outsource the production, assembly and installation of our electrified powertrain solutions at scale, and our ability to develop and produce electrified powertrain solutions of sufficient quality and appeal to customers on schedule and at scale is unproven.
Our business depends in large part on our ability to execute our plans to develop, produce, assemble, market, sell, install and service our electrified powertrain solutions. We currently produce our Hybrid eX system at our facility in Cedar Park, Texas and expect to begin production of our Hypertruck ERX system in 2023, at the earliest. Over time, we anticipate we will shift production to our outsourcing partners’ facilities. We anticipate that a significant concentration of this production, assembly and installation will be performed by a small number of outsourcing partners. While these arrangements can lower operating costs, they also reduce our direct control over production and distribution. Such diminished control may have an adverse effect on the quality or quantity of products or services, or our flexibility to respond to changing conditions.
Our continued development of our electrified powertrain solutions is and will be subject to risks, including with respect to:
• the equipment we plan to use being able to accurately produce our electrified powertrain solutions within specified design tolerances;
• the compatibility of our electrified powertrain solutions with existing and future commercial vehicle designs;
• long- and short-term durability of the components in our electrified powertrain solutions in the day-to-day wear and tear of the commercial trucking environment;
• compliance with environmental, workplace safety and similar regulations;
• securing necessary components on acceptable terms and in a timely manner;
• delays in delivery of final component designs to our suppliers;
• our ability to attract, recruit, hire and train skilled employees;
• quality controls, particularly as we plan to expand our production capabilities;
• delays or disruptions in our supply chain;
• other delays and cost overruns; and
• our ability to secure additional funding if necessary.
We and our future production partners have no experience to date in high volume production of our electrified powertrain solutions. We do not know whether we or our future production partners will be able to develop efficient, automated, low-cost production capabilities and processes and reliable sources of component supply, that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes, required to successfully mass market our electrified powertrain solutions or whether we or our production partners will be able to do so in a manner that avoids significant delays and cost overruns, including as a result of factors beyond our control such as problems with suppliers and vendors, or in time to meet our vehicle commercialization schedules or to satisfy the requirements of customers. Any failure to
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develop such production processes and capabilities within our projected costs and timelines could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We may experience significant delays in the design, production and launch of our electrified powertrain solutions, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Our electrified powertrain solutions are still in the development and testing phase, and commercial deliveries of the Hypertruck ERX system are not expected to begin until 2023 or later, and may not occur at all. Any delay in the financing, design, production and launch of our electrified powertrain solutions, including future production of our Hybrid eX system and Hypertruck ERX system at our outsourcing partners, could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We are dependent on large commercial vehicle OEMs and producers of glider kits and rolling chassis to provide vehicles for our electrified powertrain solutions.
Because we do not manufacture complete commercial vehicles, we are dependent on commercial vehicle OEMs and producers of glider kits and rolling chassis to provide vehicle chassis for our electrified powertrain solutions. The most favorable financial model for deployment of our products is for OEMs to directly install our products in their commercial vehicles when they are being produced. If OEMs are unable or unwilling to integrate the installation of our electrified powertrain solutions into their commercial vehicle production lines, we may have to rely on producers of glider kits and rolling chassis and commercial truck upfitting and modification companies. To the extent that there are limitations on the availability of glider kits or rolling chassis, either due to the unwillingness or inability of OEMs and producers to produce and provide them to us or our installation partners, or a change in governmental regulations or policies, we would either need to develop our own commercial vehicle on which to install our electrified powertrain solutions or install our products into commercial vehicles that would have to be decontented. Either case could have a negative impact on our ability to sell our electrified powertrain solutions at the prices, or achieve the margins, or in the timeframes that we anticipate. Additionally, if commercial vehicle OEMs limit or fail to provide a warranty on vehicles with our electrified powertrain solutions, we will incur additional costs by contracting with a third party to provide warranty services. Any of the foregoing would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We will rely on third parties, including commercial truck upfitting and modification companies and commercial vehicle OEMs, to install our electrified powertrain solutions in vehicles, which is subject to risks.
We intend to enter into agreements with commercial truck upfitting and modification companies and commercial vehicle OEMs to install our electrified powertrain solutions. Using third-party contract manufacturers and installers for the production and installation of our electrified powertrain solutions is subject to risks with respect to operations that are outside our control. We could experience delays if our outsourcing partners do not meet agreed upon timelines or experience capacity constraints that make it impossible for us to fulfill purchase orders on time or at all. The installation of our solutions may also void the warranty of a vehicle or a vehicle’s components, such as our engine or transmission, which may reduce customer demand for our solutions. Our ability to successfully build a premium brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our outsourcing partners’ products. In addition, although we are involved in each step of the supply chain, production and installation processes, because we also rely on our outsourcing partners and third parties to meet our quality standards, there can be no assurance that the final product will meet expected quality standards.
We are dependent on our suppliers, some of which are single or limited source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to deliver necessary components of our vehicles at prices and volumes, performance and specifications acceptable to us could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We rely on third-party suppliers, some of whom are single-source suppliers, for the provision and development of many of the key components and materials used in our electrified powertrain solutions, such as natural gas generators. Any failure of these suppliers or outsourcing partners to perform could require us to seek alternative suppliers or to expand our production capabilities, which could incur additional costs and have a negative impact on our cost or supply of components or finished goods. While we plan to obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, some of the components used in our vehicles will be purchased by us from a single source. Our third-party suppliers may not be able to meet their product specifications and performance characteristics or our desired specifications, performance and pricing, which would impact our ability to achieve our product specifications and performance characteristics as well. Additionally, our third-party suppliers may be unable to obtain required certifications for their products for which we plan to use or provide warranties that are necessary for our solutions. If we are unable to obtain components and materials used in our electrified powertrain solutions from our suppliers or if our suppliers decide to create or supply a competing product, our business could be adversely affected. While we believe that we may be able to establish alternate supply relationships and can obtain or engineer replacement components for
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our single source components, we may be unable to do so in the short term (or at all) at prices or quality levels that are favorable to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Increases in costs, disruption of supply or shortage of our components, particularly LTO battery cells, could harm our business.
Once we begin commercial production of our electrified powertrain solutions, we may experience increases in the cost or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of our components. Any such increase or supply interruption could materially negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. The prices for our components fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand and could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Any disruption in the supply of battery cells could temporarily disrupt production of our electrified powertrain solutions until a different supplier is fully qualified. Moreover, battery cell manufacturers may refuse to supply electric vehicle manufacturers if they determine that the vehicles are not sufficiently safe. Furthermore, fluctuations or shortages in petroleum and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges. Substantial increases in the prices for raw materials may increase the cost of our components and consequently, the costs of products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to recoup increasing costs of our components by increasing prices, which could reduce our margins.
Risks Related to Our Industry and Competitive Landscape
Our future growth is dependent upon the commercial trucking industry’s willingness to adopt alternative fuel, hybrid and electric vehicles.
Our growth is highly dependent upon the adoption of alternative fuel, hybrid and electric vehicles by the commercial trucking industry. If the market for alternative fuel, hybrid and electric vehicles and our electrified powertrain solutions does not develop at the rate or in the manner or to the extent that we expect, or if critical assumptions we have made regarding the efficiency of our electrified powertrain solutions are incorrect or incomplete, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be harmed. The market for alternative fuels, hybrid and electric vehicles is new and untested and is characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, numerous competitors, evolving government regulation and industry standards and uncertain customer demands and behaviors.
Although we hope to be among the first to bring electrified powertrain solutions to market, competitors have already displayed electrified vehicle prototypes and may enter the market before us.
We face intense competition in trying to be among the first to bring electrified powertrain solutions to market, and we expect competition to intensify in light of increased demand and regulatory push for alternative fuel and electric vehicles. Most of our current and potential competitors have greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than we do. They may be able to deploy greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sales, marketing and support of their alternative fuel and electric truck programs. Additionally, our competitors also have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, broader customer and industry relationships and other resources than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. We cannot provide assurances that our electrified systems will be the first to market. Even if our electrified systems are first, or among the first, to market, there are no assurances that customers will choose vehicles with our electrified systems over those of our competitors, or over diesel powered trucks.
Numerous companies have announced their plans to bring long-haul Class 8 commercial BEVs and FCEVs to the market over the coming years. Cummins, Daimler, Dana, Navistar, PACCAR, Volvo, Tesla, Nikola, Lion Electric, Hyzon and other commercial vehicle manufacturers have announced their plans to bring Class 8 BEVs or FCEVs to the market. Furthermore, we will also face competition from manufacturers of internal combustion engines powered by diesel fuel. We expect additional competitors to enter the industry as well.
Developments in alternative technology or improvements in the internal combustion engine may adversely affect the demand for our electrified powertrain solutions.
Significant developments in alternative technologies, such as battery cell technology, advanced diesel, improved natural gas engines, new power generation technology or alternate fuel sources or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine, may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results in ways we do not currently anticipate. Existing and other battery cell technologies, fuels or sources of energy may emerge as customers’ preferred alternative to our electrified powertrain solutions. Any failure by us to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay our development and introduction of new and enhanced alternative fuel and electric vehicles, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our
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electrified powertrain solutions, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors. Our research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in alternative fuel and electric vehicle technology.
Risks Related to Technology, Data and Privacy-Related Matters
We are subject to cybersecurity risks to operational systems, security systems, infrastructure, integrated software in our electrified powertrain solutions and customer data processed by us or third-party vendors or suppliers and any material failure, weakness, interruption, cyber event, incident or breach of security could prevent us from effectively operating our business.
We collect, store, transmit and otherwise process customer, driver and employee and others’ data as part of our business operations, which may include personal data or confidential or proprietary information. We also work with partners and third party service providers or vendors that collect, store and process such data on our behalf in connection with our business. There can be no assurance that any security measures that we or our third-party service providers or vendors have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats.
We are at risk for interruptions, outages and breaches of: (a) operational systems; (b) facility security systems; (c) transmission control modules or other in-product technology; in each case owned by us or our third-party vendors or suppliers as well as (a) the integrated software in our electrified powertrain solutions; or (b) customer or driver data that we process or our third-party vendors or suppliers process on our behalf. The techniques used by cyber attackers change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time. Although we maintain information technology measures designed to protect ourselves against intellectual property theft, data breaches and other cyber incidents, we cannot be sure that these systems upon which we rely, including those of our third-party vendors or suppliers, will be effectively implemented, maintained or expanded as planned. If these systems do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions. Moreover, our proprietary information or intellectual property could be compromised or misappropriated. A significant cyber incident could impact production capability, harm our reputation, cause us to breach our contracts with other parties or subject us to regulatory actions or litigation, any of which could materially affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Any unauthorized control or manipulation of the information technology systems in our electrified powertrain solutions could result in loss of confidence in us and our electrified powertrain solutions and harm our business.
Our electrified powertrain solutions contain complex information technology systems and built-in data connectivity to accept and install periodic remote updates to improve or update functionality. We have designed, implemented and tested security measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology networks, our electrified powertrain solutions and related systems. Any unauthorized access to or control of our electrified powertrain solutions, or any loss of customer data, could result in legal claims or proceedings and remediation of such problems could result in significant, unplanned capital expenditures.
Inability to leverage vehicle and customer data could impact our software algorithms and impact research and development operations.
We rely on data collected from the use of fleet vehicles outfitted with our products, including vehicle data and data related to battery usage statistics. We use this data in connection with our software algorithms and the research, development and analysis of our products. Our inability to obtain this data or the necessary rights to use this data could result in delays or otherwise negatively impact our research and development efforts.
We may need to defend ourselves against patent, copyright or trademark infringement claims or trade secret misappropriation claims, which may be time-consuming and cause us to incur substantial costs.
Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may own or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent or limit our ability to make, use, develop or sell our electrified powertrain solutions, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. We may receive inquiries from patent, copyright or trademark owners inquiring whether we infringe upon their proprietary rights. We may also be the subject of allegations that we have misappropriated their trade secrets or other proprietary rights. Companies owning patents or other intellectual property rights relating to battery packs, electric motors, fuel cells or electronic power management systems may allege infringement or misappropriation of such rights. In response to a determination that we have infringed upon or misappropriated a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to (a) cease development, sales or use of our products that incorporate the asserted intellectual property, (b) pay substantial damages, (c) obtain a license from the owner of the asserted intellectual property right, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all or (d) redesign one or more aspects or systems of our electrified powertrain solutions. A successful claim of infringement or misappropriation against us could materially
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adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Any litigation or claims, whether valid or invalid, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources.
Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights from unauthorized use by third parties.
Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we will rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets (including know-how), employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to establish and protect our rights in our technology; however, the measures we take to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others may not be effective.
Patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws vary throughout the world. Some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the U.S. Further, policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property in foreign jurisdictions may be difficult. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the U.S.
Also, while we have registered trademarks in an effort to protect our investment in our brand and goodwill with customers, competitors may challenge the validity of those trademarks and other brand names in which we have invested. Such challenges can be expensive and may adversely affect our ability to maintain the goodwill gained in connection with a particular trademark.
Risks Related to Environmental and Regulatory Matters
The unavailability, reduction or elimination of government and economic incentives for alternative fuel use due to policy changes or government regulation could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Any reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of government subsidies and economic incentives because of policy changes, the reduced need for such subsidies and incentives due to the perceived success of the electric vehicle industry or other reasons may result in the diminished competitiveness of the alternative fuel and electric vehicle industry generally or our electrified powertrain solutions. While certain tax credits and other incentives for alternative energy production, alternative fuel and electric vehicles have been available in the past, there is no guarantee these programs will be available in the future. In particular, we are influenced by federal, state and local tax credits, rebates, grants and other government programs and incentives that promote the use of RNG and natural gas as vehicle fuel. These include various government programs that make grant funds available for the purchase of natural gas vehicles or encourage low carbon “compliant” transportation fuels (including CNG). If current tax incentives are not available in the future, our financial position could be harmed.
Additionally, other changes to governmental regulations and policies could impact the competitiveness of natural gas as a fuel source. For instance, a limitation or ban on extraction methods like fracking, could have a negative impact on the availability and price of natural gas and may adversely affect the growth of the alternative fuel automobile markets. Additionally, an increase in the economic incentives for other fuel sources or BEVs, such as through the subsidization of other fuel sources or higher permitted weight limits for BEVs or FCEVs or the reduction or elimination of the higher permitted weight limits for natural gas vehicles, could make our products less competitive. Such changes in regulations and policies could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Our business could be negatively affected by unfavorable changes to federal or state tax laws or the adoption of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of GHG emissions, the cost of natural gas and “tailpipe” emissions.
Federal or state laws or regulations may be adopted that would impose new or additional limits on the emissions of GHG. The potential effects of GHG emission limits on our business are subject to significant uncertainties based on, among other things, the timing of the implementation of any new requirements, the required levels of emission reductions, the nature of any market-based or tax-based mechanisms adopted to facilitate reductions, the relative availability of GHG emission reduction offsets, the development of cost-effective, commercial-scale carbon capture and storage technology and supporting regulations and liability mitigation measures, the range of available compliance alternatives, and our ability to demonstrate that our products qualify as a compliance alternative under any new statutory or regulatory programs to limit GHG emissions. If our solutions are not able to meet future GHG emission limits or perform as well as BEV, FCEV or other alternative fuel vehicles, for instance due to unavailability of RNG in a particular area or a decline in RNG production or an increase in our cost, our solutions could be less competitive. Additionally, federal, state or road taxes could be added to natural gas fuel, which would increase the operating cost of our products. Furthermore, additional federal or state taxes could be implemented on “tailpipe” emissions, which would have a negative impact on the cost of our products and a positive impact on the cost of BEVs and FCEVs relative to our
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solutions. Such new federal or state laws or regulations could have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We, our outsourcing partners and our suppliers are or may be subject to substantial regulation and unfavorable changes to, or failure by us, our outsourcing partners or our suppliers to comply with, these regulations could substantially harm our business and operating results.
Our electrified powertrain solutions, and the sale of motor vehicles in general, our outsourcing partners and our suppliers are or may be subject to substantial regulation under international, federal, state and local laws. We continue to evaluate requirements for licenses, approvals, certificates and governmental authorizations necessary to manufacture, sell or service our electrified powertrain solutions in the jurisdictions in which we plan to operate and intend to take such actions necessary to comply. We may experience difficulties in obtaining or complying with various licenses, approvals, certifications and other governmental authorizations necessary to manufacture, sell or service their electrified powertrain solutions in any of these jurisdictions. If we, our outsourcing partners or our suppliers are unable to obtain or comply with any of the licenses, approvals, certifications or other governmental authorizations necessary to carry out our operations in the jurisdictions in which we currently operate, or those jurisdictions in which we plan to operate in the future, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. For example, if the battery packs installed in our electrified powertrain solutions are deemed to be transported, we will need to comply with the mandatory regulations governing the transport of “dangerous goods,” and any deficiency in compliance may result in us being prohibited from selling our electrified powertrain solutions until compliant batteries are installed. Additionally, although we do not believe that our current after-market Hybrid system is required to obtain certifications from the EPA in the event that regulators determine that certifications are necessary, we may be prohibited from selling our Hybrid system until such time as we obtain the required certifications. Any such required changes to our battery packs or Hybrid system will require additional expenditures and may delay the shipment of vehicles. In addition, regulations related to the electric and alternative energy vehicle industry are evolving and we face risks associated with changes to these regulations.
To the extent the laws change, our electrified powertrain solutions and our suppliers’ products may not comply with applicable international, federal, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time consuming and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected.
We are subject to evolving laws, regulations, standards and contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our reputation, subject us to significant fines and liability or adversely affect our business.
We intend to use our in-vehicle services and functionality to log information about each vehicle’s use in order to aid us in vehicle diagnostics and servicing. Our customers or their drivers may object to the use of this data, which may increase our vehicle maintenance costs and harm our business prospects. Collection of our customers’, employees’ and others’ information in conducting our business may subject us to various legislative and regulatory burdens related to data privacy and security that could require notification of data breaches, restrict our use of such information and hinder our ability to acquire new customers or market to existing customers. The regulatory framework for data privacy and security is rapidly evolving, and we may not be able to monitor and react to all developments in a timely manner. For example, California requires connected devices to maintain minimum information security requirements. As legislation continues to develop, we will likely be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures and internal processes to comply with such legislation. In addition, non-compliance with these laws or a significant breach of our third-party service providers’ or vendors’ or our own network security and systems could have serious negative consequences for our business and future prospects, including possible fines, penalties and damages, reduced customer demand for our vehicles and harm to our reputation and brand.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs upon us and cause delays in building our production facilities.
Our operations are and will be subject to international, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including laws relating to the use, handling, storage, disposal of and human exposure to hazardous materials. Environmental and health and safety laws and regulations can be complex, and we have limited experience complying with them. Moreover, we expect that we will be affected by future amendments to such laws or other new environmental and health and safety laws and regulations which may require us to change our operations, potentially resulting in a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. These laws can give rise to liability for administrative oversight costs, cleanup costs, property damage, bodily injury, fines and penalties. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with environmental laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties, third-party damages, suspension of production or a cessation of our operations.
Contamination at properties we will own or operate, we formerly owned or operated or to which hazardous substances were sent by us, may result in liability for us under environmental laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which can impose liability for the full amount of
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remediation-related costs without regard to fault, for the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil and ground water, for building contamination and impacts to human health and for damages to natural resources. The costs of complying with environmental laws and regulations and any claims concerning noncompliance, or liability with respect to contamination in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results. We may face unexpected delays in obtaining the required permits and approvals in connection with our planned production facilities that could require significant time and financial resources and delay our ability to operate these facilities, which would adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Risks Related to Capital and Tax Matters
We may need to raise additional funds and these funds may not be available to us when we need them. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be negatively affected.
The design, production, sale and servicing of our electrified powertrain solutions is capital-intensive. In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination on October 1, 2020, we raised net proceeds of approximately $516.5 million (net of transaction costs and expenses). As of December 31, 2021, all outstanding warrants were either exercised or redeemed, with gross proceeds of $140.8 million raised. However, we may subsequently determine that additional funds are necessary earlier than anticipated. This capital may be necessary to fund our ongoing operations, continue research, development and design efforts, create new products and improve infrastructure. We may raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from government or financial institutions. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes may be limited in connection with the Business Combination or other ownership changes.
We have incurred losses during our history and do not expect to become profitable in the near future, and may never achieve profitability. To the extent that we continue to generate taxable losses, unused losses will carry forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused losses expire, if at all. As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $187.6 million.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”), as modified by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards generated in taxable periods beginning after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such net operating loss carryforwards in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Act or the CARES Act.
Under Section 382 of the Code, substantial changes in our ownership may result in an annual limitation on the amount of net operating loss carryforwards that could be utilized in the future to offset our taxable income. Generally, this limitation may arise in the event of a cumulative change in ownership of more than 50% within a three-year period. We have completed such analysis and determined that such an ownership change occurred in 2017. This will limit the usage of our 2017 and prior year net operating losses, and will cause $2.0 million of such losses to expire unused, regardless of future taxable income. No other such ownership changes have occurred through December 31, 2021. Due to this, as well as our overall profitability estimate as noted above, we have recorded a full valuation allowance related to our net operating loss carryforwards and other deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty of the ultimate realization of the future benefits of those assets.
We may not be able to obtain or agree on acceptable terms and conditions for all or a significant portion of the government grants, loans and other incentives for which we may apply. As a result, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
We anticipate applying for federal and state grants, loans and tax incentives under government programs designed to stimulate the economy and support the production of alternative fuel and electric vehicles and related technologies. We anticipate that in the future there will be new opportunities for us to apply for grants, loans and other incentives from federal, state and foreign governments. Our ability to obtain funds or incentives from government sources is subject to the availability of funds under applicable government programs and approval of our applications to participate in such programs. The application process for these funds and other incentives will likely be highly competitive. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining any of these additional grants, loans and other incentives.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
Concentration of ownership among our existing executive officers, directors and their respective affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.
As of December 31, 2021, our executive officers, directors and their respective affiliates, as a group, beneficially own approximately 23.2% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders are able to exercise a significant level of control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, amendment of our Certificate of Incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions. This control could have the effect of delaying or preventing a
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change of control of us or changes in management and will make the approval of certain transactions difficult or impossible without the support of these stockholders.
We may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock, including under our equity incentive plans. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock, including under our equity incentive plans. Any such issuances of additional shares of common or preferred stock may cause significant dilution, subordinate the rights to holders of common stock to those of preferred stock, cause a change in control, and adversely affect prevailing market prices.
General Risks
We have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the duration and economic, governmental and social impact of which is difficult to predict, which may significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
There has been a widespread worldwide impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected as a result. Numerous government regulations and public advisories, as well as shifting social behaviors, have temporarily limited or closed non-essential transportation, government functions, business activities and person-to-person interactions, and the duration of such trends is difficult to predict. Reduced operations and production line shutdowns at commercial vehicle OEMs due to COVID-19, limitations on travel by our personnel and personnel of our customers and increased demand for commercial trucks within our customers’ fleets caused a delay to the planned installation of our Hybrid system on their trucks, and future delays or shutdowns of commercial vehicle OEMs or our suppliers could impact our ability to meet customer orders. We also instituted certain temporary cost reduction measures such as reducing or deferring discretionary spending.
We are or may be subject to risks associated with strategic alliances or acquisitions and may not be able to identify adequate strategic relationship opportunities, or form strategic relationships, in the future.
We have entered into strategic alliances and may in the future enter into additional strategic alliances or joint ventures or minority equity investments, in each case with various third parties for the production of our electrified powertrain solutions as well as with other collaborators with capabilities on data and analytics, engineering, installation channels, refueling stations and hydrogen fuel cells. These alliances subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the third party and increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. Strategic business relationships will be an important factor in the growth and success of our business. However, there are no assurances that we will be able to continue to identify or secure suitable business relationship opportunities in the future or our competitors may capitalize on such opportunities before we do. Moreover, identifying such opportunities could require substantial management time and resources, and negotiating and financing relationships involves significant costs and uncertainties. If we are unable to successfully source and execute on strategic relationship opportunities in the future, our overall growth could be impaired, and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
When appropriate opportunities arise, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. In addition to possible stockholder approval, we may need approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may disrupt our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.