Launching later this year, the ELMS Urban Delivery is expected to be the first Class 1 commercial electric vehicle available in the US market and will be manufactured at the company’s Mishawaka, Indiana facility.
Last Mile Electrical Solutions
DETROIT. Shares of electric vehicle startup Electric Last Mile Solutions plunged during intraday trading on Monday to less than $1 a share after the company confirmed an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its operations.
Late Friday’s disclosure was the latest issue for the Troy, Michigan-based company following the surprise resignation last month of both the company’s chairman and CEO. The deviations were related to an ELMS determination that executives lied during an internal investigation into the share purchase before the company went public through a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.
ELMS said it became aware of the SEC investigation on March 7, according to regulatory filings filed Friday. The company also said it was canceling previous guidance and would need to raise cash for its vehicles in the market.
ELMS shares fell more than 50% during intraday trading on Monday to around 90 cents a share, the lowest price to date for a SPAC-backed electric vehicle launch.
The company said it has sufficient cash to continue operations between July and September 2022.
ELMS is among the new electric vehicle startups that have gone public thanks to the SPAC deal over the past two years. After the initial spike in share prices, most companies were hit by federal investigations, scandals, and executive upheavals.
Nikola Corp., Lordstown Motors and Lucid Group are among such companies that have disclosed SEC requests. Late last year, Nikola agreed to pay $125 million to the SEC to settle allegations that it deceived investors about its products, technical capabilities and business prospects.
ELMS made headlines last year when it went public in June as it prepared to begin production of electric commercial vans at a former General Motors plant in Indiana that last produced gasoline-powered Hummer SUVs in the mid-2000s.
According to the statement, the company is fully cooperating with the SEC investigation. ELMS said it “cannot predict the likely scope, duration, or outcome” of the investigation.