EV Start-up Electric Last Mile Solutions Aims to Declare Bankruptcy

Only a year after going public, electric vehicle maker Last Mile Solutions (ELMS) is already preparing to declare bankruptcy.

The company said over the weekend that it will liquidate its assets via a Chapter 7 bankruptcy process.

The Michigan-based maker of electric commercial vans said in a release that interim CEO Shauna McIntyre and its board of directors decided on Sunday to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

McIntyre has served as interim chief executive since February, when founder and Chairman Jason Luo and then-CEO Jim Taylor left the company.

This will allow ELMS to liquidate its assets, after a “comprehensive review of the company’s products and commercialization plans” turned up no better option for stakeholders.

ELMS has been unable to secure financing since its founder and CEO departed in February. His departure came after an investigation found the company’s financial statements to be unreliable.

The ELMS Urban Delivery had been anticipated to launch later this year, and is expected to be the first Class 1 commercial electric vehicle available in the U.S. market. It will be produced at the Company’s facility in Mishawaka, Indiana.

ELMS’ public offering was in late June 2021. The company is the first of those post-SPAC EV makers to say that it will declare bankruptcy.

ELMS said in a statement that those executive departures, and a related investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, had made it “extremely challenging” to secure additional funding.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.