Lightning eMotors’ EVs, equipment up for bids

LOVELAND — Fleet operators, repair shops, carmakers and other potential buyers will have the chance this month to bid on $10 million in electric vehicles, parts, tools and other equipment formerly owned by the collapsed Lightning eMotors.

The online auction, to run from Thursday through May 30, will be administered by Tiger Group, which has offices in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto.

Loveland-based Lightning converted conventional, fossil-fuel-burning vehicles into zero-emission EVs for fleet-operating customers that included municipalities, school systems and medical businesses. Its operations were not continued after it entered receivership, and its assets were acquired by Gerco LLC, a subsidiary of Livermore, California-based Gillig LLC. The receivership sale was finalized Feb. 16 in Larimer County District Court, and Gillig, a manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses, set out to launch a “Colorado Technology Center” in part of the space that Lightning had occupied at the Forge campus in Loveland.

More than 100 EVs including Chevrolet Express 4500 Cutaways, Ford F450 box trucks, Ford F350 transit cargo vans and GMC 4500 box trucks, as well as school and shuttle buses and trailers will be available via the online auction.

“Lightning eMotors developed an efficient process for adding new drivetrains, electric motors and battery packs to existing chassis,” Chad Farrell, managing director of Tiger’s commercial and industrial division, said in a prepared statement. “Fleet operators can achieve their ESG goals or just run cleaner by acquiring select groupings of assets in this sale. It’s a great opportunity.”

ESG, or Environmental, Social and Governance, is a framework used to evaluate a company’s sustainability and ethical impact.

Bidding will open at 10 a.m. Thursday for the timed online auction of assets from the 250,000-square-foot Loveland facility and will close at 10 a.m. May 30. All assets will be sold “as-is, where-is” without representations or warranties, Tiger said in a news release.

Besides the EVs, also available will be two dynamometers — a 2021 MAE Mustang MD-250-HD-AC-200HP 10K EOL chassis dynamometer with pop-up restraints that is still in its crate, and a 2021 MAE Mustang advanced engineering two-wheel drive chassis dynamometer.

“We anticipate strong interest in these pieces among automotive dealers and repair shops, any potential buyer with a need to test engines,” Farrell said.

Other items up for auction include:

• Large quantities of electric motors, gearboxes, batteries, wiring harnesses, connectors and other automotive parts.
• An advanced machine shop with pieces that include a Bescutter Fly Pro 3015 fiber laser metal sheet and pipe cutter, along with welders, bandsaws, floor and jib cranes, jack stands and dozens of tools.  
• Plant support and office equipment including pallet racking, utility shelving, furniture, computers, filing cabinets, a key card system and more.

Inspections will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 29 and can be arranged by emailing auctions@tigergroup.com or calling 805-497-4999.

Marcie Willard, acting economic-development director for the city of Loveland, confirmed to BizWest in February that Gillig had leased 55,000 square feet on the south side of Forge’s 140,000-square-foot Building A at 815 14th St. SW in Loveland. Willard and Mike Staheli, managing director at the Denver office of court-appointed receiver Cordes & Co., said 40 to 50 employees would continue developing the electronic drive trains there that Lightning eMotors had been creating.

Cordes & Co., appointed as receiver in December, had selected Gerco as the purchaser. Lightning’s business operations were not part of the purchase, and it discontinued them before  Gerco’s purchase, including the sale and servicing of commercial vehicles.

Lightning had unveiled a mobile DC charging station in 2022, partnered with Ricardo in the United Kingdom to produce electric trucks and last June had begun producing its ZEV4 platform for light electric-powered commercial vehicles. It had been retrofitting conventional commercial vehicles with electric powertrains and partnered with companies such as General Motors and Blue Bird.

According to an 8-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a filing in Larimer County District Court, receiver Cordes & Co. entered into an agreement with Gerco to sell all Lightning’s assets for $12.6 million in cash.

Lighting eMotors on Dec. 14 told the SEC that its assets would be sold, with proceeds going to creditors. That filing came a day after Greenwood Village-based private-equity firm Cupola Infrastructure Income Fund LLLP, which in October 2019 had provided Lightning with a $3 million working-capital line of credit as well as a $3 million term loan, sued in Larimer County District Court seeking appointment of a receiver to sell the company’s assets. Lightning said in its SEC filing that it “stipulated and agreed to the motion and proposed order to appoint Cordes and Co. as the receiver.”

Cupola was the plaintiff in the court case that was settled Feb. 16 with approval of the sale of assets to Gerco.

According to court documents, proceeds from the sale of assets of the company would be distributed by Cordes & Co. to the creditors of Lightning eMotors (OTC: ZEVY)  and its subsidiary, Lightning Systems Inc., “pursuant to their applicable priorities and as ordered by the court.” 

Lightning’s 15-year journey was marked by rapid growth, pioneering innovations, major contracts, global acclaim and emergence into public trading using an alternative business tactic. In the final miles its underpinnings were damaged by supply-chain challenges, the failure of a pair of battery makers, massive losses and a bevy of lawsuits that all led to the collapse of its share prices and delisting by the New York Stock Exchange.

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