Woburn EV maker wants to crack the market with a van that costs less than $30,000
Indigo Technologies is putting motors inside the wheels of its vehicles to save space and lower battery costs. Indigo Technologies, a Woburn EV maker, is set to enter the market with a van that costs less than $30,000 and will soon be sold for under $40,000 in 2026. The company's unusual design places electric motors inside of wheels instead of in the body to reduce weight and improve ride quality. The move to mass-produced EVs for delivery and ride-sharing over the next two years has been a challenge for many startups, which has led to bankruptcies and bankruptcies. However, Indigo has the backing of Apple's Foxconn, which invested an undisclosed amount in the company earlier this year. The firm plans to begin selling a small electric van suitable for Uber and Lyft drivers for less under $30k next year and use smaller batteries, saving money, while the vehicles still get 140 to 200 miles of range. Despite this, Indigo CEO Will Graylin has expressed confidence in the upcoming launch schedule.
gepubliceerd : 3 weken geleden door Aaron Pressman in Business Auto
The company’s unusual space-saving design, which places electric motors inside of wheels instead of in the body to reduce weight and improve ride quality , is based on research by MIT mechanical engineering professor Ian Hunter. Sensors look for potholes and bumps in the road and help the wheels adjust in fractions of a second to absorb the shocks.
It’s a transition that has waylaid dozens of EV startups, though Indigo has the backing of one of the world’s manufacturing giants, iPhone maker Foxconn, which invested an undisclosed amount in Indigo earlier this year .
Indigo Technologies has spent almost 15 years turning an MIT professor’s ideas about motors and wheels into some pretty cool-looking electric vehicle prototypes. But now the Woburn company is facing its biggest challenge yet — moving from meticulously hand-crafted prototypes to fully mass-produced EVs for delivery and ride-sharing over the next two years.
Indigo plans to begin selling a small electric van suitable for Uber and Lyft drivers for less than $30,000 next year and a slightly larger delivery vehicle for under $40,000 in 2026. The EV’s low weight relative to competitors means Indigo can use smaller batteries, saving money, while the vehicles still get 140 to 200 miles of range. Foxconn will make the vehicles at a plant in Ohio that used to be a GM factory.
But it won’t be easy. Over the past year, upstart EV makers including Lordstown Motors, Arrival, and ElectricBrands have gone bankrupt, while Fisker teeters, as well. In 2022, Boston-based EV conversion startup XL Fleet gave up the business and pivoted to financing solar power installations. All told, at least 30 EV companies have failed over the past decade, CNBC reported in April. Even new EV makers that successfully made it to the mass market, such as Lucid and Rivian, are struggling to make a profit.
Indigo chief executive Will Graylin said he’s confident in the upcoming launch schedule, thanks to Foxconn’s backing.
“When it comes to manufacturing, unlike Rivian, Lucid, Tesla, and everybody else, we are working with our partner Foxconn to reduce our costs,” Graylin said in an interview. “We don’t need to buy a greenfield factory, we don’t need to hire people and create the processes. That’s what they’re good at.”
Still, Indigo needs to raise more money — about $350 million next year, Graylin said.
“This next quarter, we’re going to get more [customer] deposits and more orders, which will lead us to our next round in 2025,” he said. “We have offers ... to fund our further expansion and development.”
The startup has already had one financing scare. At the end of 2019, MIT’s Hunter, who founded the company and now sits on its board, made a frantic call to Graylin, who was on Indigo’s board at the time. The company had only three weeks’ worth of cash left and no investors were stepping forward, Graylin recalled.
Graylin had cofounded a handful of successful prior startups, including LoopPay, bought by Samsung in 2015 and turned into Samsung Pay. He was also a longtime EV fan, purchasing an early Chevy Volt and one of the first Tesla Model S cars delivered in the state in 2012. He decided to invest in Indigo and take the top job.
Since taking over, he’s steered the company away from the broader consumer EV market. “We decided to focus on the market not for consumers initially but for ride-hailing and delivery, because that’s the market that is moving the fastest,” Graylin said.
Clark University professor Charles Agosta, who teaches a class on renewable energy technology, agreed that putting motors in wheels could be a more efficient solution than mounting motors in an EV’s body. It’s also likely better suited to the delivery van market, which does not prioritize zero-to-60 times or high-speed travel.
“They are aiming their technology at fleets and last-mile delivery, which tend to be slower and less demanding than [as] a competitor to the Tesla S,” Agosta said.
Aaron Pressman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @ampressman.