California EV company acquires Proterra’s Greenville plant

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An Anaheim, Calif.-based electrification solutions provider for medium-duty vehicles has acquired Greenville’s Proterra Transit business line from Proterra Inc. and Proterra Operating Co. Inc.

The acquisition will add heavy-duty transit buses to Phoenix Motor Inc.’s existing product line of medium-duty shuttle and school buses, according to a Phoenix Motor Inc. news release.

“Proterra has a strong position in the full-size, zero-emission transit bus market, just as Phoenix has in the medium-duty market,” said Denton Peng, CEO of Phoenix Motorcars, in the release. “Having spent countless hours meeting with Proterra Transit team members and learning more about their business, we are more excited than ever about this acquisition opportunity. We have already identified attractive growth opportunities as we add transit buses to our product offering and we look forward to servicing Proterra Transit’s existing customers and developing long-term relationships with them.”

The acquisition is a move that will save 290 jobs at Proterra’s Greenville office and manufacturing facility, Proterra spokesperson Shane Levy confirmed.

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Last November, Proterra filed a conditional Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) with the state. The notice informed 290 employees that the company’s location at 1 Whitlee Court would permanently close on Jan. 26, if the acquisition by Phoenix Motor Inc. wasn’t completed, Levy confirmed.

Phoenix was selected as the top bidder to acquire the Proterra Transit business line — which includes the Greenville facility — after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections last August, said Levy.

Proterra’s Greer battery plant was also sold to Volvo at auction, Levy said, though that acquisition has yet to be finalized.

Phoenix Motor Inc. designs, builds and integrates electric drive systems and light and medium-duty electric vehicles, and sells electric forklifts and vehicle chargers for the commercial and residential markets. Phoenix operates two primary brands, “Phoenix Motorcars,” which is focused on commercial products including medium-duty EVs (shuttle buses, school buses, municipal transit vehicles and delivery trucks, among others), electric vehicle chargers and electric forklifts, and “EdisonFuture,” which intends to offer light-duty EVs.