Vicinity receives major order for Class 3 electric truck
Ties between Canadian commercial EV maker Vicinity and distributor Pioneer Auton Group are tightening. Pioneer placed an order for 1,000 Class 3 electric trucks, with deliveries expected to commence this month. These are in addition to existing orders worth millions to Vicinity.
In today’s communications, Vicinity refers to Pioneer Auto Group as their “exclusive dealer” in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The companies started dealing with each other in late 2021 when Pioneer reportedly intended to buy up to 100 Vicinity electric trucks.
Fast-forward a year, and Pioneer expects Vicinity to deliver 1,000 VCM 1200 throughout 2023. The company has started building the Class 3 truck and is about to shift to a new factory in Ferndale, Washington, with 10,000 units annual capacity.
William Trainer, the Vicinity CEO, said they had “increased our credit facilities to accommodate this order, and I am confident in our ability to fulfil this PO on schedule in 2023”.
“We continue to see intense customer demand for class 3 commercial EVs, a segment that was largely unfilled prior to the arrival of the VMC 1200,” Ray Van Empel of Pioneer Auto Group added. “This purchase order is a clear sign of our confidence not only in our sales capabilities at Pioneer Auto Group but in the superiority of Vicinity’s product.” Referring to incentives, he also called the EV a “no-brainer” from a financial perspective.
The Vicinity 1200 is a medium-duty electric truck with 6,000 pounds load capacity, a 150-mile range from a 150 kWh battery, a top speed of 65 mph and an 8 kW onboard charger. An earlier announcement revealed Electrovaya as Vicinity’s battery supplier, making NMC chemistry the most likely. The German SME Lion Smart reportedly supplies the drive system.
“Due to the fact we are not facing significant pressures in the VMC 1200 supply chain specifically, the VMC 1200 will prove to be a significant contributor to our 2023 revenue growth and profitability,” concluded Trainer.
Pioneer is a Canadian dealership group with 17 locations throughout British Columbia and retails over 6,000 vehicles annually.
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