New EV startup Harbinger, founded by industry veterans, aims to shake up medium-duty truck market

A caller Los Angeles-based electrical conveyance startup founded by veterans of Canoo and QuantumScape said Wednesday it's preparing to shingle up the medium-duty motortruck marketplace with a ready-to-build electrical motortruck level coming adjacent year.

The company, called Harbinger, has developed 2 EV platforms it says are optimized for medium-duty trucks specified arsenic transportation vans. The platforms usage motors and different exertion developed in-house specifically to conscionable the needs of a marketplace conception wherever trucks are expected to beryllium successful work for up to 20 years – acold longer than the mean rider car.

It's a marketplace conception that – truthful far, astatine slightest – hasn't been well-served by the industrywide determination to electrical vehicles, CEO John Harris said.

"The companies retired astatine the bookends, successful the light-duty and heavy-duty space, are historically highly vertically integrated," Harris told CNBC successful an interview. "When we look astatine the medium-duty industry, it's wholly different."

Harris said that medium-duty trucks, which autumn betwixt light-duty pickups and heavy-duty semitrucks, are mostly highly specialized. Those trucks, which tin scope from dump trucks to transportation vans, are typically built to bid for fleets by companies called upfitters, utilizing chassis from immoderate of respective established conveyance makers.

It's an ecosystem that hasn't changed overmuch successful the past 50 years, Harris said. That's wherefore Harbinger is tailoring its products to enactment wrong that existing medium-duty ecosystem. The institution is preparing 2 afloat electrical motortruck chassis that volition beryllium acceptable for upfitters to tailor to their commercialized customers' needs – astatine a outgo that, Harris said, volition beryllium comparable to existing internal-combustion options.

Harbinger's products volition see a "cab chassis" akin to those built by companies similar Ford Motor, but electric. Upfitters usage cab chassis, which travel with a rider compartment, to physique container trucks, tow trucks and different likewise sized vehicles.

Harbinger volition besides connection a "strip chassis," without a cab for the driver, that tin service arsenic a instauration for vehicles similar transportation vans. Harris noted that dissimilar existing strip-chassis options, Harbinger's won't necessitate upfitters to enactment astir an internal-combustion motor – allowing for much cargo country and a much comfy situation for the vehicle's driver.

And due to the fact that they're expected to service for up to 20 years, some of Harbinger's chassis volition see the hardware and redundant systems needed for autonomous driving. Harbinger, though, has nary plans to make its ain self-driving bundle in-house.

What isn't wide yet is however the institution plans to manufacture its chassis. Harbinger's office has tooling and instrumentality to physique prototypes, and tin nutrient electrical motors and related parts, but it's not equipped to physique implicit chassis astatine scale.

Harris told CNBC that Harbinger has selected a manufacturing spouse and volition denote details soon. Harbinger presently expects to marque its archetypal deliveries successful precocious 2023 and to statesman measurement accumulation successful 2024, helium said.

Harbinger was founded successful July 2021 by Harris, who worked astatine EV startups Faraday Future and Xos Trucks; Phillip Weicker, who serves arsenic Harbinger's main exertion serviceman and worked astatine QuantumScape and Canoo, wherever helium was a cofounder; and Will Eberts, main operating officer, who worked with Harris astatine Faraday Future and with Weicker astatine Canoo.

The institution received aboriginal backing from Tiger Global Management and "other highly specialized investors with heavy experience" successful electrical vehicles, Harris said.

Harbinger plans to amusement disconnected its EV motortruck chassis astatine the North American International Auto Show successful Detroit aboriginal this week.