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FALLS CHURCH, Va., May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - The Lion Electric
Company (NYSE: LEV) (TSX: LEV) ("Lion" or the "Company"), a leading
manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, today
joined Vice President Kamala Harris
and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator Michael Regan at an
event in Falls Church, Virginia
for the official launch of the EPA's $5
billion Clean School Bus Program. The program is now
accepting applications and will award up to $375,000 per zero-emission school bus, including
the LionC, the most ordered and delivered electric school bus on
the market.
"We are honored to have been invited by Vice President Harris
and EPA Administrator Regan in Virginia today for the official launch of this
ambitious program which will accelerate the adoption of
zero-emission school buses, to the benefit of the health of our
students," said Brian Piern, Chief
Commercial Officer of Lion Electric. "With this $5 billion in funding the EPA is showing that
zero-emission school buses are the future of student
transportation, something we, at Lion, recognized when we began
developing our all-electric buses over a decade ago. Lion's
dedicated grants team is ready to assist customers in applying for
and securing these funds, leaning on our expertise and strong track
record of success."
As the leader in the zero-emission school bus market in
the United States, Lion is at the
forefront of the transition to clean student transportation that
the Biden Administration and EPA are aiming to accelerate with the
Clean School Bus Program. Lion is able to assist customers in
securing this funding to deploy "made in America" buses to be built
at its Joliet, Illinois
manufacturing facility. This facility, which has a planned annual
production capacity of up to 20,000 vehicles, will be the largest
dedicated medium and heavy-duty electric vehicle manufacturing
plant in the U.S. when production begins in the second half of
2022. Deploying zero-emission school buses brings healthier
commutes to students while preventing exposure to hazardous
particulate emissions from diesel engines, especially in
underserved communities, which have historically had
disproportionately poor air quality.
As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the U.S.
Federal Government has dedicated $5
billion in funding to deploy zero-emission and clean school
buses over the next five years. The first tranche of $500 million in funding will close on
August 19, after which the EPA will
distribute funds to deploy clean school buses around the
country.
Under the Clean School Bus Program, priority districts can
receive up to $375,000 per
zero-emission bus, which can represent up to 100% of the cost of an
all-electric school bus. Other eligible districts and qualifying
operators can receive up to $250,000
per bus, thus largely aligning the price of an electric bus to that
of a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle. Up to
$20,000 per bus in charging
infrastructure funding is also available for EnergyStar certified
charging stations, which LionEnergy can also help customers to
secure and install.
Lion Electric designs its vehicles to be 100% electric from the
ground up and put its first all-electric school buses on the road
in 2016. To date, Lion has deployed over 600 vehicles with over 10
million miles driven, in real world operating conditions.
More information on how Lion can help districts apply for
funding is available here:
https://pages.thelionelectric.com/epa-clean-school-bus-program-phase-2-lp/
About Lion Electric
Lion Electric is an innovative manufacturer
of zero-emission vehicles. The company creates, designs
and manufactures all-electric class 5 to class 8 commercial
urban trucks and all-electric buses and minibuses for the school,
paratransit and mass transit segments. Lion is a North
American leader in electric transportation and designs, builds
and assembles many of its vehicles' components, including chassis,
battery packs, truck cabins and bus bodies.
Always actively seeking new and reliable technologies, Lion
vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its
users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to
all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our
society, environment and overall quality of life. Lion shares are
traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol LEV.
Lion Electric, The Bright Move
Thelionelectric.com
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This press release "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any
statements contained in this MD&A that are not statements of
historical fact, including statements about Lion's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements and should be
evaluated as such.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of
words such as "believe," "may," "will," "continue," "anticipate,"
"intend," "expect," "should," "would," "could," "plan," "project,"
"potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "target" or other similar
expressions and any other statements that predict or indicate
future events or trends or that are not statements of historical
matters, although not all forward-looking statements contain such
identifying words. These forward-looking statements include
statements regarding the Company's order book and the Company's
ability to convert it into actual sales, the Company's long-term
strategy and future growth, the Company's battery plant and
innovation center project in Quebec and its U.S. manufacturing facility,
and the expected launch of new models of electric vehicles. Such
forward-looking statements are based on a number of estimates and
assumptions that Lion believes are reasonable when made, including
that Lion will be able to retain and hire key personnel and
maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and other business
partners, that Lion will continue to operate its business in the
normal course, that Lion will be able to implement its growth
strategy, that Lion will be able to successfully and timely
complete the construction of its U.S. manufacturing facility and
its Quebec battery plant and
innovation center, that Lion will not suffer any further supply
chain challenges or any material disruption in the supply of raw
materials on competitive terms, that Lion will be able to maintain
its competitive position, that Lion will continue to improve its
operational, financial and other internal controls and systems to
manage its growth and size, that its results of operations and
financial condition will not be adversely affected, that Lion will
be able to benefit, either directly or indirectly (including
through its clients), from government subsidies and economic
incentives in the future, and that Lion will be able to secure
additional funding through equity or debt financing on terms
acceptable to Lion when required in the future. Such estimates and
assumptions are made by Lion in light of the experience of
management and their perception of historical trends, current
conditions and expected future developments, as well as other
factors believed to be appropriate and reasonable in the
circumstances. However, there can be no assurance that such
estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Lion
believes that these risks and uncertainties include the
following: any adverse changes in U.S. or Canadian
general economic, business, market, financial, political or legal
conditions, including as consequences of the global COVID-19
pandemic and the emergence of COVID-19 variants, as well as varying
vaccination rates amongst different countries; any
adverse effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, which is increasingly affecting
economic and global financial markets and exacerbating ongoing
economic challenges, including issues such as rising inflation and
global supply-chain disruption; any inability to
successfully and economically manufacture and distribute its
vehicles at scale and meet its customers' business
needs; any inability to ramp-up the production of
Lion's products and meet project construction and other project
timelines; any inability to reduce total cost of
ownership of electric vehicles sold by Lion over
time; the reliance on key management and any inability
to attract and/or retain key personnel; any inability
to execute the Company's growth strategy; any
unfavorable fluctuations and volatility in the price and
availability of raw materials included in key components used to
manufacture Lion's products; the reliance on key
suppliers and any inability to maintain an uninterrupted supply of
raw materials; labor shortages which may in the form of
employee turnover, departures, and demands for higher wages which
result in the Company having to operate at reduced capacity, lower
production and deliveries, delayed growth plans, and could pose
additional challenges related to employee
compensation; any inability by Lion to meet user
expectations related to, or other difficulties in providing,
charging solutions to its customers; any inability to
maintain the Company's competitive position; any
inability to reduce its costs of supply over time; any
inability to maintain and enhance the Company's reputation and
brand; any significant product repair and/or
replacement due to product warranty claims or product
recalls; any failure of information technology systems
or any cybersecurity and data privacy breaches or
incidents; any event or circumstance resulting in the
Company's inability to convert its order book into actual sales,
including the reduction, elimination or discriminatory application
of government subsidies and economic incentives or the reduced need
for such subsidies; any inability to secure adequate
insurance coverage or a potential increase in insurance
costs; natural disasters, epidemic or pandemic
outbreaks, boycotts and geo-political events such as civil unrest
and acts of terrorism, the current military conflict between
Russia and Ukraine or similar disruptions;
and the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be
instituted against the Company from time to time.
These and other risks and uncertainties related to the
businesses of Lion are described in greater detail in section 23.0
entitled "Risk Factors" of the Company's MD&A for the years
ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and
2019 and in Item 3.D entitled "Risk Factors" of the Company's
annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Many of these risks are beyond
Lion's management's ability to control or predict. All
forward-looking statements attributable to Lion or persons acting
on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the
cautionary statements contained and risk factors identified in this
MD&A and in other documents filed with the applicable Canadian
regulatory securities authorities and the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions,
readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. Furthermore, forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date they are made. Except as required under applicable
securities laws, Lion undertakes no obligation, and expressly
disclaims any duty, to update, revise or review any forward-looking
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
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SOURCE Lion Electric