Mullen boosts California customer base

Nasdaq-listed commercial EV maker Mullen Automotive has secured an initial vehicle order of 10 class 3 EV cab chassis trucks from Associated Coffee, a San Francisco Bay Area coffee and snack distributor. The deal is the third in as many weeks across Mullen and its subsidiary Bollinger Motors.

"Our commercial EVs are an ideal solution for office coffee and snack delivery services, and the San Francisco Bay Area is a well-known established region for electric vehicle adoption," says David Michery, Mullen’s CEO. "We are proud to support Associated Coffee’s sustainability initiatives and their focus on operational efficiency."

In late November, the firm also announced new orders for its Mullen One class 1 commercial EV cargo van from two California universities in Los Angeles and Berkeley. This followed orders from other higher education institutions such as Princeton University, University of Virginia and University of North Carolina.

“This surge in demand underscores the growing adoption of clean energy vehicles within the higher education sector in the US,” the firm says. “Most universities and colleges have established long-term zero emission goals and vehicle fleets are often one of the most common and public use cases where switching to EVs can have an immediate and meaningful impact.”

“We are thrilled to see leading universities in California, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina choose Mullen for their fleet EVs, which further establishes our position in the higher education market,” says Michery. “We are confident that our commercial EVs will enhance campus operations and contribute significantly to the overall sustainability goals of these institutions.”

Mullen’s majority-owned subsidiary Bollinger — which makes a class 4 chassis cab e-truck and is developing a class 5 offering, to complement Mullen’s class 1 EV cargo van and class 3 cab chassis e-truck — has also received an additional order in recent days. It will deliver a further seven all-electric 2025 Bollinger B4 trucks to full-service truck and trailer dealership TEC Equipment, on top of an end-of-October order of three e-trucks from the same buyer.

The firm is also hoping to secure more customers in the government sector, having in mid-November partnered with National Auto Fleet Group (NAFG), a vehicle vendor catering to government agencies and municipalities, to sell its B4s to government agencies through a contract awarded to NAFG via Sourcewell, a government organization that helps government, education, and non-profit agencies operate more efficiently.

“The agreement with NAFG provides Bollinger Motors a conduit to winning more government contracts,” the firm says. ““At National Auto Fleet Group, we take pride in helping municipalities find and manage their fleet vehicles,” says NAFG’s Ben Rodriguez. “The Bollinger B4 is an excellent addition to our vehicle portfolio and will help fill a key product need for multiple government organisations developing electrification strategies.”

Bollinger is also hoping for a further leg-up from the public sector in the form of incentives. In mid-November it announced that the California Air Resources Board (Carb) had approved the B4 for the hybrid and zero-emission truck and bus voucher incentive project (HVIP).

Under HVIP, the B4, with a suggested MSRP of $158,758, now qualifies for up to a $60,000 cash voucher. When combined with a $40,000 federal tax credit, the net effective cost of the B4 could be less than $59,000, the firm says.

Earlier in the month, it was able to declare the B4’s eligibility for New York State’s New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program, an incentive for commercial EV from the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority providing up to a $100,000 cash voucher. New York is the fourth state incentive in the US Northeast for which Bollinger has qualified for, including vouchers of up to $20,000 in Pennsylvania, $30,000 in Massachusetts, and $90,000 in New Jersey.

“We applaud the states in the Northeast who are working hard to create more sustainable transportation options,” says Jim Connelly, Bollinger’s chief revenue officer. “The commercial fleet market is primed for electrification, and the incentives available in the Northeast will accelerate the adoption of this important technology.”