I’ll be the first one to tell you that I am extremely excited for the future of electric vehicles. I think they will be more fun, more practical, more affordable, and more responsible than internal combustion cars. We know Ford invested in the upcoming Rivian R1T electric truck, Karma (formerly Fisker) is still hanging on in the luxury market, and Rimac makes electric hypercars for the ultra rich, and GM has made a promise to have 30 electric vehicles by 2025, but, other than Tesla, who are the other independents still trying to get their skin in the game?
One name buzzing around the internet a couple years ago was Atlis Motor Vehicles. I had heard of them, but never paid much attention because of the exciting things coming from Tesla, Volvo, Ford, and GM. That is, not until I was reminded of Atlis in my social media feed today. However, the strange thing was that the advertisement wasn’t asking me to buy a completed truck, it was asking me to invest. The even stranger thing is that they closed their $25 million IPO in late 2020 and have been a bit quiet ever since.
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Who The Heck Are Atlis Motor Vehicles?
Founded in 2016 by a guy named Mark Hanchett, Atlis Motor Vehicles is aiming to sell you an affordable electric truck that has a 500 mile range and charges in 15 minutes. Their XT Pickup Truck will be their initial vehicle and it will be built on top of their XP Platform; basically four wheels attached to a battery. The XP Platform looks to have a lot of customizable options, support different bed sizes, and boasts a 20-minute swap-out time for a problematic unit. All promising stuff!
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What Are The Specs?
- 3/4 and 1-Ton wheelbases
- XT Pickup will start at $45,000, climbing up to $85,000+ with options
- 300, 400, and 500 mile range units
- 20 minute powertrain swap
- 1,600 volt charging w/ compatibility for 400 & 800 volts
- 0 – 100% charge in 20 minutes
- Up to 17,000 lbs hitch towing
- Up to 35,000 lbs gooseneck towing
- Up to 5,000 lb payload capacity
What Are The Numbers?
*According to their website as of 2/16/2021
- $25 Million public offering at $8.24/share in Sept 2020
- 3328 current investors
- $166 Million Company Value
- 25,000+ vehicle and platform reservations
- 17,096,177 issues & outstanding shares
- $4,560,897 raised so far
What Are They Up To Now?
Well, investment for Atlis has closed and they haven’t had a new blog post on their website since September of 2020. News on the web is scarce as well. They do have an interesting “Roadmap” page that displays their progress, but lacks any real numbers to cling onto. However, they do seem to keep up with posting on Facebook and YouTube. Hey, maybe they’re focusing all of their attention on the product instead of updating the site?
As for news that I could find, Green Car Reports says that Atlis is still looking at a late 2021 production and plans to reveal an XT prototype in the first quarter of 2021. They’ve also partnered with Media Tech Co., Ltd as a machinery supplier and Greatech for battery pack production, which might be good news for that 1,600 volt, 15-minute charge claim.
Below is Atlis Motor Vehicles latest Progress Report:
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What Do I Think of Atlis?
Well, I had to look pretty hard to find any new information about Atlis Motor Vehicles. I’m also curious as to why I got an ad asking to invest in Atlis if their website states that investment has ended. Being a so-called “web guy” and a millennial, I think they need to put more effort into keeping that website updated every day!
As far as the product goes, I love the idea of a modular powertrain. I also love the idea of a company being able to sell their battery platform (XP in Atlis’s case) to other manufacturers and startups so they can custom make vehicles to suit their needs. It seems to me that Mark Hanchett had this well thought out from the get-go, developing the battery platform and the vehicle separately, and has a great vision for the future. I suppose like all things it now comes down to demand, development, and funding. Will Atlis Motor Vehicles compete, go belly-up, or will they be bought out? Only time will tell.
Update 2/23/21
It appears that Atlis has partnered with Clemson University for a 3-year study to further develop EV batteries.
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