Company Announces Record
Deliveries of All-Electric School Buses for Fiscal 2024
SOUTH
CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 10,
2024 /CNW/ -- GreenPower Motor Company Inc.
(NASDAQ: GP) (TSXV: GPV) ("GreenPower"), a leading
manufacturer and distributor of purpose-built, all-electric,
zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles serving the cargo and
delivery market, shuttle and transit space and school bus sector,
today announced that it plans to deliver an additional 88
all-electric Type D BEAST and Type A Nano BEAST school buses to
school districts in West Virginia
in GreenPower's fiscal year 2025 which began April 1, 2024.
"GreenPower is currently manufacturing all-electric,
purpose-built school buses purchased by the state of West Virginia in its South Charleston plant," said Fraser Atkinson, CEO of GreenPower. "Following
behind that production are the school buses awarded to seven school
districts in West Virginia under
Round 2 of the EPA's Clean School Bus Program." School buses for
other eastern markets like New
York, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Virginia, and western markets like
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon are in the fiscal 2025 production
schedule as well.
In January 2024, the EPA announced
an $18,565,000 grant awarded to
GreenPower of WV for the deployment of GreenPower's all-electric,
purpose-built, zero-emission school buses in seven West Virginia counties. The grant includes
funding for the charging infrastructure to ensure a proper charging
strategy for the deployment. "These seven counties were leaders in
the #YesWV GreenPower All-Electric School Bus Pilot Project
conducted during the 2022-23 school year. The Pilot showed that, in
fact, these buses worked well in the conditions and terrain of the
Mountain State," said Mark Nestlen,
GreenPower's Vice President of Business Development & Strategy.
"The EPA funding for both the school buses and the charging
infrastructure will ensure a safe and healthy ride for the
students."
Atkinson noted that once delivery is complete, nearly 100
GreenPower all-electric school buses will be in operation in
West Virginia. "With the next
tranche of deliveries, West
Virginia will be a leading state in all-electric school bus
deployment on a per capita basis," he continued.
The announcement of the planned deliveries comes on the heels of
a record number of all-electric, purpose-built, zero-emission
school bus deliveries during GreenPower's just ended 2024 fiscal
year. "GreenPower's 2024 fiscal year was transformational for
our school bus team with deliveries growing significantly due to
ever expanding incentives and mandates from local, state and
federal government entities," Atkinson stated.
During fiscal year 2024, GreenPower delivered 29 Type D BEAST
and 12 Type A Nano BEAST school buses across the country, for a
total of 41 deliveries, an increase of 356% from the previous
fiscal year. "Our production facilities in South Charleston, West Virginia and
Porterville, California are all
expected to be operating at high capacity with a target of reaching
50 to 60 purpose-built school buses per quarter by the end of the
fiscal year 2025," Atkinson added.
GreenPower President Brendan
Riley said that the commercial division also reached
significant delivery levels in fiscal 2024. EV Star deliveries to
customers other than Workhorse increased by 9% during the fiscal
year with a total of 179 EV Star products being deployed during the
fiscal year. And during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024,
Workhorse resumed delivery of EV Star Cab & Chassis under the
delivery contract entered into in March of 2022.
"We expect that the commercial unit at GreenPower will
supplement the income derived by school bus deliveries over the
next fiscal year. Purchase incentives and tax breaks continue to
provide significant financial benefit to fleet operators who are
migrating to all-electric vehicles," Riley stated. "In the fourth
quarter of fiscal 2024, we also delivered the first commercial
vehicles to school districts who are looking to move, not just
school buses, but also their supporting fleet to cleaner energy. We
believe that this trend will continue as local school districts
experience the financial benefit of all-electric vehicle ownership
costs."
Contacts:
Fraser
Atkinson
CEO
fraser@greenpowermotor.com
Brendan Riley
President
brendan@greenpowermotor.com
Mark Nestlen
Vice President of Business Development & Strategy
mark.n@greenpowermotor.com
Allie Potter
Skyya PR for GreenPower
(218) 766-8856
allie@skyya.com
About GreenPower Motor Company Inc.
GreenPower
designs, builds and distributes a full suite of high-floor and
low-floor all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including
transit buses, school buses, shuttles, cargo vans and a cab and
chassis. GreenPower employs a clean-sheet design to manufacture
all-electric vehicles that are purpose-built to be battery powered
with zero emissions while integrating global suppliers for key
components. This OEM platform allows GreenPower to meet the
specifications of various operators while providing standard parts
for ease of maintenance and accessibility for warranty
requirements. GreenPower was founded in Vancouver, Canada with primary operational
facilities in southern California.
Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange since November 2015, GreenPower completed its U.S. IPO
and NASDAQ listing in August 2020.
For further information go to www.greenpowermotor.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating
to, among other things, GreenPower's business and operations and
the environment in which it operates, which are based on
GreenPower's operations, estimates, forecasts and projections.
Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but
rather on current expectations and projections about future events
and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual results to differ materially from the future results
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These
statements generally can be identified by the use of
forward-looking words such as "upon", "may", "should", "will",
"could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect",
"believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar
variations. Such forward-looking statements include, among other
things, that GreenPower plans to deliver 88 all-electric school
buses in West Virginia in fiscal
year 2025; that following behind the current production in
GreenPower's South Charleston
plant are the school buses awarded to seven school districts in
West Virginia under Round 2 of the
EPA's Clean School Bus Program; that school buses for other eastern
markets like New York,
Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and western markets like
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon are in the fiscal 2025 production
schedule as well; that GreenPower's all-electric school bus
production from its South Charleston,
West Virginia manufacturing facility will fulfill the 88
deliveries in the state as well as other east coast orders; that
the EPA funding for both the school buses and the charging
infrastructure will ensure a safe and healthy ride for the
students; that once delivery is complete, nearly 100 GreenPower
all-electric school buses will be in operation in West Virginia; that with the next tranche of
deliveries, West Virginia will be
a leading state in all-electric school bus deployment on a per
capita basis; that GreenPower's production facilities in
South Charleston, West Virginia
and Porterville, California are
all expected to be operating at high capacity with a target of
reaching 50 to 60 purpose-built school buses per quarter by the end
of the fiscal year 2025; that the commercial unit at GreenPower
will supplement the income derived by school bus deliveries over
the next fiscal year; and the trend of moving school districts'
supporting fleet to cleaner energy will continue as local school
districts experience the financial benefit of all-electric vehicle
ownership costs. The material assumptions supporting these
forward-looking statements include, among others, that GreenPower's
ability to maintain projected production deliveries within certain
timelines; expected expansion of GreenPower's production capacity;
labor costs and material costs remaining consistent with
GreenPower's current expectations; labor availability remaining
consistent with GreenPower's current expectations; production of
electric buses meeting customer expectations and at an expected
cost; equipment operating as anticipated; there being no material
variations in the current regulatory environment; and GreenPower's
ability to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable
terms. These statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict.
Actual results could differ from those projected in any
forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors
include, among other things, not being able to produce the full 88
school buses for any reasons, the delay or decrease in the
production as a result of shortage of parts and components, the
school bus EPA program not paying out the funds as contemplated or
at all, supply chain issues, availability of parts, including
shipping delays, availability of capital and availability of
qualified employees to produce the buses and others set forth in
other public filings of GreenPower (filed under GreenPower's
profile on www.sedarplus.ca or with the SEC at www.sec.gov).
Consequently, readers should not place any undue reliance on
such forward-looking statements. In addition, these forward-looking
statements relate to the date on which they are made. GreenPower
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws,
including the securities laws of the
United States and Canada.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. All amounts are in U.S. Dollars ©2024
GreenPower Motor Company Inc. All rights reserved.
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SOURCE GreenPower Motor Company
