Hyliion Enters the Electric Truck Fray with Merger

Hyliion and Tortoise Acquisition Corp. will merge to form Hyliion Holdings Corp.

It’s a volatile time for electric vehicles. Nikola Motor Company made a splash with its futuristic-looking electric trucks, including the Nikola Badger pickup with over 900 horsepower. The hype was almost immediately short-circuited by allegations that Nikola had committed fraud.

Jalopnik reported that Chevrolet’s plug-in electric, the Bolt EV, is selling for prices far below its MSRP.

Even if Nikola proves to be a mirage, there will be no shortage of electric trucks. Also on the horizon in the coming years are an all-electric Ford F-150, the GMC Hummer EV, the Rivian R1T, and the Tesla Cybertruck.

Now, we can add one more company to the crowded field.

Hyliion develops and produces hybrid and electric powertrains for companies such as Penske and Ryder. The company’s newest project is the Hypertruck ERX, a semi truck with a fully electric drivetrain, which is slated to enter production in 2021.

Allegedly, Hyliion’s advantage over Nikola and Tesla is the company’s existing technology, which can be implemented on existing fossil fuel-powered trucks.

The big news now is the merger between Hyliion and Tortoise Acquisition, the announcement of which caused the latter company’s shares to jump significantly in value.

The combined company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under HYLN.

The prospect of all this competition on the electric vehicle market promises innovation and creativity, but it also means that we’ll probably be seeing more drama like what’s been happening with Nikola.

Hyliion itself is new and somewhat unknown company. Although it has some technology already in production, there are a lot of question marks as to what we can expect from the Hypertruck ERX.

The company’s founder and CEO, Thomas Healy, is a 28-year-old Carnegie Mellon University grad.

From our point of view, the factor that sets Hyliion apart from its competitors is its willingness to embrace hybrid technology. The Hyliion hybrid systems incorporating natural gas will ease the transition to fully-electric commercial vehicles.