A Proterra charging system. The company also makes EV batteries and electric buses. (Proterra)
Proterra Inc., which makes heavy-duty electric vehicle components like chargers and batteries, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 7.
The Burlingame, Calif.-based company listed assets and liabilities of at least $500 million each in a Chapter 11 petition in Delaware. The filing gives Proterra protection from creditors while it finds a way to repay them. Shares of the company fell as much as 65% in premarket trading on Aug. 8.
Proterra plans to either recapitalize its businesses or sell them off, according to a statement. The firm will continue operating as normal by using existing money to fund its business operations.
“While our best-in-class EV and battery technologies have set an industry standard, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to efficiently scale all of our opportunities simultaneously,” Proterra CEO Gareth Joyce said in the statement.
Most of the company’s revenue has come from selling electric buses. (Proterra)
The firm has business units that make EV batteries and chargers for original equipment manufacturers as well as a division that produces entire buses, according to regulatory filings. Through the end of 2022, most of the company’s revenue came from selling electric buses.
The company went public by merging with a blank-check company in June 2021. Since then, its shares have fallen from more than $15 to less than $2.
