ElectraMeccannica Vehicles Corporation (SOLO) has risen rapidly even as the company recently sought to raise $20 million in a public offering at $2. SOLO was trading as low as $1 in May, and in the last few days has touched $6.
After underwriting discounts and commissions, the individual electric vehicle manufacturer pocketed $18.65 million.
SOLO recently signed a deal with Gateway Investor Relations, a leading strategic financial communications and capital markets advisory firm. Gateway will manage an increasingly active investor relations program, which will include an expanded corporate messaging initiative and other consulting services to ElectraMeccanica.
The company said Gateway has been tasked with, “refining overall company and investment-oriented messaging and corporate positioning, strategic advisory services, and introductions to institutional investors, sell-side analysts and other key influencers in the broader financial community.”
Earlier this year, ElectraMeccanica announced it would introduce its first single seat electric car, the Solo, to the U.S. market in late 2020, beginning with a rollout in Los Angeles.
In addressing its entry into the U.S. market, ElectraMeccanica CEO Paul Rivera quoted U.S, Census Bureau statistics that 90% of commuters are driving solo in their automobiles. Rivera said, “So many vehicles are being driven by one person, why does everybody think they need to drive around and leave three or four empty seats?”
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The Solo is a unique vehicle, looking about the quarter of the size of a typical SUV from the front, and then tapering down in the rear to one wheel. The three-wheeled single seat vehicle is technically classified as a motorcycle, yet has a steering wheel and pedals for acceleration and braking.
If history has any lessons for ElectraMeccanica, it is that the U.S. market is a tough nut to crack when it comes to ultra-small vehicles, electric or not. The Smart car, sold by Mercedes, sold only 618 units in the U.S. in 2019, and has been pulled from the market.
ElectraMeccanica has not been deterred thus far, and has announced five possible locations for a U.S. based manufacturing facility. The company is looking at Arizona, Colorado, Florida,North Carolina and Tennessee as possible sites to produce the Solo.
Rivera said, “We believe having a future base of operations in the United States will provide us several material benefits, including gaining access to a top-tier talent pool of engineering resources, protecting our global supply chain costs and driving increased efficiencies within our distribution processes.”
The hiring of Gateway Investor Relations by ElectraMeccanica should boost it’s standing on Wall Street, but Main Street is where the company will have its tallest task.
Steven Adams’s personal position in ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corporation: none.
