Mullen Automotive acquires ELMS inventory, manufacturing plant, and IP in all-cash purchase
Mullen Automotive has absorbed yet another fellow EV start-up. Today’s acquisition includes Electric Last Mile Solutions, or ELMS, which filed for bankruptcy in June. Mullen received court approval last week to acquire ELMS’s Indiana manufacturing facility, its inventory of EVs, and all its intellectual property.
Mullen Automotive ($MULN) is a Southern California-based EV start-up founded in 2014 that has set out to deliver affordable EVs built entirely on US soil. Although the company has yet to deliver an EV to the market, it came close twice. First, it tried to bring the fabled Coda EV back from the dead, then struck a deal with Qiantu in China to try to bring the assembly of the Dragonfly K50 to the US.
Following a merger in 2020, Mullen pivoted its strategy once again and honed its focus onto its own ground-up EV model – the FIVE crossover SUV. The start-up surprised us yet again by shifting its production sights elsewhere, claiming a majority stake in Bollinger Motors this past September. It vowed to get Bollinger’s ill-fated B1 and B2 electric trucks into production using some of the cash from its acquisition purchase.
Just over a month later, Mullen Automotive announced an investment in another EV start-up, acquiring Electric Last Mile Solutions and all of its assets, including a large production facility.
Mullen approved for all-cash purchase of ELMS’s business
The EV startup shared that it was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court on October 13 as a Chapter 7 transaction, which includes ELMS’s former production facility in Mishawaka, Indiana. Here is the list of assets acquired in the ELMS purchase:
- All intellectual property (IP).
- All inventory, including vehicles (finished and unfinished), finished goods, part modules component parts, raw materials, tooling (including but not limited to product-specific tooling), and all manufacturing data that is required or reasonably helpful for the assembly of the Class 1 Electric commercial delivery vans and Class 3 Commercial Delivery Cab Chassis.
- Real property located in Mishawaka, Indiana, together with all buildings, improvements, and fixtures.
- All tangible personal property, including equipment, machinery, furniture, supplies, computer hardware, data networks, servers (with data and software), communication equipment, software, discs, and all other data storage media.
With the acquisition, Mullen Automotive procures a production footprint with the capability to produce up to 50,000 vehicles per year. The start-up stated that the acquisition of said factory will allow it to accelerate production of the Mullen FIVE and Bollinger B1 and B2 EVs by 12 months.
Mullen currently operates a facility in Tunica, Missouri, which will now become the company’s commercial manufacturing center, responsible for producing Mullen and Bollinger Class 1 to 6 commercial vehicles. Subsequently, FIVE production will move from Tunica to the newly acquired facility in Indiana. Mullen chairman and CEO David Michery spoke to the cash purchase:
Mullen’s acquisition of Bollinger was one of the largest transactions of its kind in the EV market. Upon closing the ELMS transaction, the company will be in a position to strategically leverage all its acquired assets to shorten its production path and aggressively expand into the commercial and consumer EV market.
Mullen Automotive did not share the purchase price of ELMS in its recent press release, but the start-up reportedly offered over $93 million in cash and other considerations, according to previous court documents. The start-up claims to have access to $275 million to close the ELMS acquisition based upon its cash on hand and “funding commitments” of up to $240 million.
Mullen intends to launch Class 1 to 3 commercial delivery EVs in 2023, followed by the start of FIVE production in 2024.
Electrek’s take
It’s interesting to see Mullen Automotive acquire yet another start-up that couldn’t make it over the scaled production hump. The newly acquired facility could certainly help the start-up answer its own call to destiny in becoming a legitimate automaker, but they still don’t pass the sniff test here at Electrek.
We’d love to be proven wrong. We are by no means rooting against Mullen Automotive. The FIVE and FIVE RS look very cool, but this company remains a mere start-up with some prototypes until it actually starts delivering viable EVs to customers.
Why spend all this money purchasing other technologies from companies instead of using those funds to build your own passenger EVs as planned? Makes you wonder. We totally understand the entry into last-mile and commercial Evs – that segment is absolutely booming. But why now, before successfully scaling a vehicle of its own?
Hopefully, Mullen hasn’t spread itself too thin here financially, especially on the wings of “funding commitments” that make up a large majority of its available funds. Again, rooting for them, but this is definitely a “show, don’t tell” situation.
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Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.
To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.
Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back
Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons:
Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward.
Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues.
Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy.
Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power, which means increased competitiveness.”
Permitting: Germany sets the standard
Permitting remains a massive roadblock, despite new EU rules aimed at streamlining the process. In fact, the situation worsened in 2024 in many countries. The bright spot? Germany. By embracing the EU’s permitting rules — with measures like binding deadlines and treating wind energy as a public interest priority — Germany approved a record 15 GW of new onshore wind in 2024. That’s seven times more than five years ago.
If other governments follow Germany’s lead, Europe could unlock the full potential of wind energy and bolster energy security.
Grid connections: a growing crisis
Access to the electricity grid is now the biggest obstacle to deploying wind energy. And it’s not just about long queues — Europe’s grid infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough to keep up with demand. A glaring example is Germany’s 900-megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The turbines are ready to go, but the grid connection won’t be in place until 2026.
This issue isn’t isolated. Governments need to accelerate grid expansion if they’re serious about meeting renewable energy targets.
Electrification: falling behind
Wind energy’s growth is also tied to how quickly Europe electrifies its economy. Right now, electricity accounts for just 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption. That needs to jump to 61% by 2050 to align with climate goals. However, electrification efforts in key sectors like transportation, heating, and industry are moving too slowly.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen with crafting an Electrification Action Plan. That can’t come soon enough.
More wind farms awarded, but challenges persist
On a positive note, governments across Europe awarded a record 37 GW of new wind capacity (29 GW in the EU) in 2024. But without faster permitting, better grid connections, and increased electrification, these awards won’t translate into the clean energy-producing wind farms Europe desperately needs.
Investments and corporate interest
Investments in wind energy totaled €31 billion in 2024, financing 19 GW of new capacity. While onshore wind investments remained strong at €24 billion, offshore wind funding saw a dip. Final investment decisions for offshore projects remain challenging due to slow permitting and grid delays.
Corporate consumers continue to show strong interest in wind energy. Half of all electricity contracted under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs.
Read more: Renewables could meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 – IEA
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the official unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y, Mazda 6e, Aptera solar car production-intent, and more.
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The Chinese EV leader is launching a new flagship electric sedan. BYD’s new Han L EV leaked in China on Friday, revealing a potential Tesla Model S Plaid challenger.
What we know about the BYD Han L EV so far
We knew it was coming soon after BYD teased the Han L on social media a few days ago. Now, we are learning more about what to expect.
BYD’s new electric sedan appeared in China’s latest Ministry of Industry and Information Tech (MIIT) filing, a catalog of new vehicles that will soon be sold.
The filing revealed four versions, including two EV and two PHEV models. The Han L EV will be available in single- and dual-motor configurations. With a peak power of 580 kW (777 hp), the single-motor model packs more power than expected.
BYD’s dual-motor Han L gains an additional 230 kW (308 hp) front-mounted motor. As CnEVPost pointed out, the vehicle’s back has a “2.7S” badge, which suggests a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint time of just 2.7 seconds.
To put that into perspective, the Tesla Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 100 km in 2.1 seconds. In China, the Model S Plaid starts at RBM 814,900, or over $110,000. Speaking of Tesla, the EV leader just unveiled its highly anticipated Model Y “Juniper” refresh in China on Thursday. It starts at RMB 263,500 ($36,000).
BYD already sells the Han EV in China, starting at around RMB 200,000. However, the single front motor, with a peak power of 180 kW, is much less potent than the “L” model. The Han EV can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
At 5,050 mm long, 1,960 mm wide, and 1,505 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,970 mm, BYD’s new Han L is roughly the size of the Model Y (4,970 mm long, 1,964 mm wide, 1,445 mm tall, wheelbase of 2,960 mm).
Other than that it will use a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack from BYD’s FinDreams unit, no other battery specs were revealed. Check back soon for the full rundown.
Source: CnEVPost, China MIIT
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