Workhorse Turns To GreenPower For Class 4 Vans While Lineup Reset

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.

Electric delivery van maker Workhorse Group is going to sell a version of GreenPower Motor Co.'s medium-duty Class 4 vehicle while it redesigns its own product lineup beset by quality and safety issues.

GreenPower's zero-emissions EV Star is used in cargo and delivery, shuttle, transit and school bus markets. Workhorse will get 1,500 cabs and chassis that it will fit with its battery-electric system and sell in North America as the W750 step van beginning in Q3. 

The W750 will feature up to 150 miles of all-electric range, with a payload capacity of 5,000 pounds and standard 60kW direct current (DC) fast charging.

The stopgap move gives Workhorse something to sell while it starts over on its Class 3 C-1000 and W56 platform expected to launch in 2023. Workhorse recalled 41 vans it sold last year after determining they did not meet federal safety standards. 

Watch now: Prospects challenging for Workhorse Group and Lordstown Motors

Under CEO Rick Dauch, appointed last July, Workhorse WKHS did a complete product review and determined its products were not ready for prime time.

Financial and quality missteps

Workhorse, founded in 2007 as Amp Electric by Steve Burns, has stumbled for most of its existence, losing a first-mover advantage in electric pickup-and-delivery vans because of financial and quality missteps. 

Workhorse became a meme stock in late 2020 and early 2021 as it competed but ultimately was passed over in consideration for the $6 billion U.S. Postal Service contract for next-generation delivery vehicles. Months of drama followed as Workhorse tried in federal claims court to get the contract award to Oshkosh Truck Co. overturned.

When Dauch took over the Cincinnati-based company, he withdrew the legal action, saying that suing the government from which it hoped to win business was unwise.

In the GreenPower arrangement, which could be extended, Workhorse gets a product it did not offer that keeps the brand relevant during its engineering and manufacturing makeover. 

GreenPower GP will deliver the cabs and chassis over a 21-month schedule. Workhorse will complete the manufacturing process and deliver finished step vans to its U.S. and Canadian customers from its Union City, Indiana, plant.

"Our partnership with GreenPower is a crucial step in a multipronged effort to redefine our product portfolio," Dauch said in a press release Tuesday.

Related articles:

Starting over: Workhorse overhaul could lead to more than electric vans

Workhorse halts electric van deliveries, sayings NHTSA filings unreliable

Workhorse withdraws next-gen mail truck bid protest

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.

Image credit: FreightWaves

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.