Harbinger expands EV adoption through chassis sales

Commercial EV manufacturer Harbinger plans to capitalize on the medium-duty truck market as more companies explore the growing technology. 

Garden Grove, Calif.-based Harbinger, founded in July 2021, builds the commercial EV chassis and components to make it function before selling it to fleets for customization, co-founder and Chief Executive John Harris told Equipment Finance News. 

“The big difference is that we’re focused around building everything on the vehicle, so we are extremely vertically integrated,” he said. “We build our own battery packs, drive systems, chassis, transmissions, and all of that stuff pushes us in the direction of building a lot of manufacturing capacity.”

Harbinger targets the Class 4 to Class 6 chassis space, commercial vehicle charging manufacturer Electrada CEO Kevin Kushman told EFN.  

“Class 4 and 5 vehicles represent the sweet spot between mileage and fuel efficiency for commercial EVs,” he said. “When we electrify those routes, the total cost of ownership impact is great.”  

San Francisco-based venture debt and equipment financing firm Atel Ventures agreed to provide an undisclosed amount of funding to help Harbinger expand its production, according to a July 8 Atel Ventures release. In addition, Harbinger secured $102.7 million of venture investment from Greycroft, Ridgeline, THOR Industries, Tiger Global and others across four funding rounds since Aug. 2 2021, according to Crunchbase.

Harbinger’s expansion

Harbinger sells to larger fleet operators and dealers such as Bimbo Bakeries USA, the U.S. business of Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company, THOR Industries and postal service operator Mail Management Services, according to the company’s website. These large fleets manage the upfitting, whereas in the traditional commercial upfitting market, the manufacturer sells to dealerships that manage the upfitting and then sell the vehicles, Harris said. 

“Our focus is really on replacing diesel vehicles with vehicles that can do all the same things at the same price, and when we look at a vehicle going 60 or 80 miles a day, we can do that now,” he said. “We can sell an electric chassis that has the same performance, the same capacity and enough range to meet that customer’s needs at the same price as a diesel vehicle.” 

Harbinger also entered sales agreements with commercial truck dealers Doggett Equipment Services Group, Campbell Supply, GATR Truck Center, ETHERO Truck + Energy, and Electric Commercial Vehicles (ECV), an affiliate of Smyrna Truck, according to a May 21 press release. 

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