While Nikola (NKLA 2.58%) and Tesla (TSLA -3.55%) have charged up investors' enthusiasm for electric vehicles (EV) recently, they'll soon have to share the stage. Committed to developing electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 commercial vehicles, Hyliion announced today that it's preparing to hit the public market toward the end of the third quarter of 2020.
Similar to what Nikola did with VectoIQ earlier this month, Hyliion plans to IPO by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, Tortoise Acquisition Corp. Once the transaction closes, the new entity will be named Hyliion Holdings Corp. and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HYLN." Thomas Healy, CEO and founder of Hyliion, will continue in the same position as CEO of the new holding company.
According to Hyliion, the pro forma implied market capitalization of the combined company is over $1.5 billion, and "proceeds will be used to fully fund the commercialization and mass production of the company's electrified powertrain solutions. Thomas Healy, CEO and founder of Hyliion will continue to serve in the same position of the new holding company.
Image source: Hyliion.
According to Healy, "Hyliion's solutions were specifically developed to utilize existing infrastructure in an effort to support rapid technology deployment. Our mission is to enable our fleet customers to quickly realize lower carbon emissions and significantly lower cost of ownership benefits provided by our technology."
Unlike Nikola's Class 8 trucks, which will be powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells, and Tesla's Semi, which is solely powered by batteries, Hyliion offers powertrains which are OEM-agnostic and can be retrofitted to existing diesel and CNG Class 8 trucks to create a hybrid electric system.
