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8-K - 8-K - XL Fleet Corp. | d274160d8k.htm |
Exhibit 99.1
Below is a transcript of a Bloomberg TV interview with Tod Hynes, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, XL Fleet. The interview took place on November 12, 2020.
Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV:
Really great focus there. Of course, today we are on the downside, we got a risk-off mood. Nevertheless, its been buoyant in all things EV. Lets get a key take from a leader in that particular part of the business to discuss what the Biden administration means for the industry.
Tod Hynes is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at XL Fleet. Great to have you with us, Tod. Does it mean a new dawn for you? There seems to have been a lot of hype, but whats the reality?
Tod Hynes, XL Fleet:
Weve seen tremendous increase in demand from customers over the last two years or so. So the overall market were in is definitely increasing significantly and, you know, a Biden administration creates a tremendous tailwind with additional, you know, incentives or mandates or resources to really bring electrification to market more quickly. Our focus is specifically in the commercial fleet market, which is still very early in this process. Less than 1% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. have any level of electrification, and were making the electric powertrains that go into the hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of these vehicles and will be rolling out all-electric quite soon in the 2022 timeframe. So we see this is a big addition to the momentum thats already in the market.
Romaine Bostick, Bloomberg TV:
So Tod, I am curious about the commercial fleet angle of this, because whenever we talk about EVs, we typically talk about the consumer passenger vehicle side of it. Why havent we seen faster adoption on the consumer fleet side? Because you would think there would be more of a need and more, I guess, of a will, to push forward with this.
Tod Hynes, XL Fleet:
There really arent a lot of options for commercial fleets right now. Theyre just starting to get to market, and commercial vehicles have much more demanding drive cycles than a consumer vehicle. So its actually technically more challenging to create solutions that meet the operating requirements, number one, and then the cost or sustainability targets. Thats been one of our goals from the beginning of developing and launching XL Fleet, was really meet the customer needs number one, so operations, which is their primary focus, and thats one of the reasons we launched with a hybrid product. Thats a very easy to deploy solution that can immediately reduce emissions by about 20 percent in urban driving, customers can deploy that rapidly across the US.were in about 49 states at this pointand then the plug-in hybrid solution enables customers to reduce emissions further. Obviously, all electric works well, we think in certain segments of the commercial fleet market. So well have a comprehensive offering of not only the hybrid and plug-in, but also the EV solutions for these customers. And then also helping them solve the charging infrastructure side of the problem is another part of our business well be rolling out quite soon.
Taylor Riggs, Bloomberg TV:
How does a Biden Presidency, from President Elect Joe Biden, change your business model? Does this just pull forward future demand that you thought was already coming within the next five years?
Tod Hynes, XL Fleet:
Were growing extremely rapidly already. We grew, we announced our Q3 numbers this morning, but were up 144 percent compared to Q3 last year, so were already experiencing tremendous growth. Biden administrationhe committed to five hundred thousand charging stations, so very clear commitment to adding more resources towards this market, so really will help the market grow quickly.
And one of the big advantages that XL Fleet has, is that when you see these types of stimulus programs come in, theyre really looking for shovel-ready projects. Were already producing, weve got thousands of units on the road, most of our competitors dont have hundreds. So you know, were really in a leadership position in the commercial fleet electrification market, and well be in a great position to take advantage of any programs that come down the road next year.
Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg TV:
This year, next yearbut, Tod, what about in ten years time? How long is the lifespan of XL Fleet to be retrofitting, if suddenly we actually have fully electric vehicles on our roads?
Tod Hynes, XL Fleet:
Good question. Our focus is fleet electrification solutions for customers, and were really focused on the larger vehicles. So class two and three is kind of medium-duty or sorry light-duty truck vehicles, but the heavy-duty trucks, medium-duty truckstheres a tremendous horizon there for hybrid and plug-in hybrid, as well as electric, and so were providing the range of solutions.
And these vehicles are really built using multiple parties, so if you were to buy a box truck today, there are multiple companies that are making that system. So XL is right in the mix with existing customers, suppliers, and partners for production. And then when you start getting into solving the charging infrastructure problemwrapping up the vehicle, the powertrain, the charging infrastructure, and offering it as a service to customerswe see that as a very long-term play. And theres a lot of infrastructure investors that want to finance clean assets, and so we are in a great position to bring those assets to market faster than others and also with more attractive economics.
Romaine Bostick, Bloomberg TV:
Tod, I really appreciate you taking the time to be with us. Of course thats Tod Hynes XL Fleet Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, joining us here to talk about EVs.