JOLIET,
Ill., April 28, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Lion
Electric Company (NYSE: LEV) (TSX: LEV) ("Lion" or the "Company"),
a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty
vehicles, today announced that the company is preparing to assist
customers in securing funding under the first $500 million tranche of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA")'s
$5 billion Clean School Bus
Program.
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, which will help to bring healthy
commutes to students around the country, especially in underserved
communities which have historically had disproportionately poor air
quality. School districts will also benefit from the reduced energy
and maintenance costs that all-electric school buses have to
offer.
Details of the program were recently announced, and priority
districts can receive up to $375,000
per bus in funding, which can represent up to 100% of an
all-electric school bus price, while other eligible districts 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. EnergyStar
certified charging infrastructure is also eligible for funding,
which LionEnergy can also help customers to secure and install. A
list of priority districts will be released by the EPA in early
May.
"As the leader in all-electric school buses, Lion is in a
fantastic position to help customers secure this new EPA funding
for both all-electric school buses as well as charging
infrastructure, which in some cases will fund the entire purchase
of a new zero-emission Lion school bus," said Marc Bedard, CEO – Founder of Lion Electric.
"Lion put its first electric school buses on the road in the U.S.
in 2016, which have since been driven in real world operating
conditions. We are clearly an early mover in the space and, with
our planned capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year at our
Illinois manufacturing facility,
are ideally positioned to put made in America electric school buses
on the road at scale. This federal program is a major step in
transitioning to sustainable school transportation, bringing
significant improvements to the health of our children and
communities. We applaud the EPA for their commitment to deploy
all-electric school buses."
Through its LionGrants team of funding experts and as an
eligible contractor under the program, Lion can apply on behalf of
school districts and private fleets, as well as assist them with
their own direct applications. Organizations which can benefit from
rebates under the program include state and local government
entities which provide school bus services, for-profit and
non-profit school bus contractors that meet eligibility
requirements, non-profit school transportation associations,
tribes, tribal schools and tribal organizations.
The first $500 million in this
funding will be awarded this year, with applications expected to be
open for a period of 90 days beginning in May. Awardees will then
be determined by a lottery system.
Additionally, the LionGrants team is currently actively tracking
billions of dollars in available funding across North America and can assist customers in
applying to a wide variety of state, municipal, utility and air
district funding. Lion Electric is the leader in zero-emission
school buses, with more than 550 vehicles on the road and 9 million
miles driven.
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 contains "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any
statements contained in this press release 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.
The Company made a number of economic, market and operational
assumptions in preparing and making certain forward-looking
statements contained in this press release including, but not
limited to, 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 centre, that Lion will not suffer 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 and
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 any required additional funding through
equity or debt financing on terms acceptable to Lion. 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, but are not
limited to, the following: any adverse changes in the U.S. and
Canadian general economic, business, market, financial, political
and legal conditions, including as consequences of the global
COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of COVID-19 variants and
varying rates of vaccination amongst various countries; Lion's
inability to successfully and economically manufacture and
distribute its vehicles at scale and meet its customers' business
needs; Lion's reliance on key management and any inability to
attract and/or retain key personnel; Lion's inability to execute
its growth strategy; Any unfavourable fluctuations and volatility
in the price of raw materials included in key components used to
manufacture Lion's products; Lion's reliance on key suppliers and
any inability to maintain an uninterrupted supply of raw materials;
Lion's inability to maintain its competitive position; Lion's
inability to reduce its costs of supply over time; any inability to
maintain and enhance Lion'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; the
reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of government
subsidies and economic incentives or the reduced need for such
subsidies; natural disasters, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks,
boycotts and geo-political events; 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 the section
entitled "Risk Factors" not related to an investment in the
Company's final prospectus dated May 5,
2021 (the "Canadian Prospectus") filed with the Autorité des
marchés financiers (the "AMF") and the registration statement on
Form F-1 (the "Registration Statement") filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and declared effective on
June 14, 2021 and other documents
publicly filed with the AMF and the SEC. 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
the Canadian Prospectus, the Registration Statement and other
documents filed with the AMF and the
SEC.
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