EV maker ElectraMeccanica opens new Arizona facility while ‘riding macroeconomic tailwinds’
ElectraMeccanica CEO Paul Rivera on what prompted the expansion out of China with the new US factory
ElectraMeccanica CEO Paul Rivera discussed the growth trajectory for the electric vehicle industry during an exclusive interview with “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday, saying that his company is “riding the macroeconomic tailwinds right now.”
On Tuesday, Rivera announced on the program that the designer and manufacturer of electric vehicles is expanding production out of China with a new factory in the United States.
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ElectraMeccanica, which is listed on the Nasdaq, has chosen Mesa, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, for its U.S. based assembly facility and engineering technical center, according to a news release. The company is the manufacturer of three-wheeled electric vehicles based in Vancouver, Canada.
“The biggest reason for us is we want to have a made in the USA product,” Rivera said.
“We want to mitigate against the Chinese tariffs,” he added. “We want to tap into the U.S. talent pool. We want to make sure that we can tap into a logistics base so there’s just lots of reasons to do it and we’re really excited to be here in the U.S.”
The new facility will support ElectraMeccanica’s goal of meeting anticipated demand for their flagship SOLO EV with the capability of producing up to 20,000 vehicles a year, according to the release, which noted that the factory, which features a light vehicle assembly plant and state-of-the-art engineering technical center, is expected to create up to 500 new jobs.
“This is a single occupant EV,” Rivera said, adding that it’s “different than any other vehicle that’s out there.”
“This is our flagship, it’s SOLO and it’s for everything that you do solo,” he continued. “It was originally meant to be a commuter vehicle, but think about everything that you do by yourself, you can get groceries by yourself, you go to Pilates by yourself, to the gym, you go visit friends by yourself.”
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He went on to say that “the price point is $18,500” and the SOLO EV has a 100-mile all urban range, an 80-mile-per-hour top speed “and it has a lot of the same comfort features as a typical car.”
Rivera noted on Tuesday that it is “also really appealing for” commercial fleet and utility applications.
“We think there will be a mass appeal for fleets because think about how many applications there are for fleets, especially around delivery for pizzas, and fast food franchise [and] small parcel post.”
Rivera pointed to some analysis on the electric vehicle market, including from Frost & Sulivan, which recently found that the U.S. market “is expected to flourish with government incentives driving EV ownership,” according to a news release.
The electromotive vehicle market in America is estimated to register a nearly five-fold growth, reaching nearly 7 million unit sales by 2025 from 1.4 million last year, according to the analysis.
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“So there’s a lot of electric vehicles coming into the space right now. It’s just inevitable,” Rivera said. “We’re riding the macroeconomic tailwinds right now.”