Hyliion Q1 Results Lack Revenue, but Product Development Accelerates
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Hyliion Holding Corp. reported no revenue in the first quarter ended March 31, but mentioned progress with its product development, as it also noted in its first-ever earnings report for the third quarter and again in Q4.
The company announced in its results it is restating its 2020 financial statements and would not comment on them until that has occurred.
Chief Financial Officer Sherri Baker said the Securities and Exchange Commission released a public statement in mid-April highlighting the potential accounting implications of certain terms common to warrants issued and specialty acquisition companies (SPAC) transactions, especially related to the balance sheet classification of these instruments as equity or an asset or liability.
Baker
Hyliion went public after a SPAC transaction in October.
“In response to this guidance, similar to nearly 80 other SPACs, we are in the process of restating our 2020 financial statements to change the accounting treatment of our warrants,” she said. “Hyliion now plans to restate its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 financial statements to account for the warrants as liabilities that will be mark-to-market with noncash fair value adjustments. We expect to file the amended Form 10-K for 2020 and the Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2021 by May 24.”
Meanwhile, in the quarter, Hyliion hired an additional 43 employees with expertise in automotive engineering, advanced algorithms, controls engineering, supply chain and operations, and other core business functions, founder and CEO Thomas Healy said during an earnings call.
He said the hires were slightly less than he had been hoping for.
“But it’s still a significant growth for the organization,” Healy said.
Healy
He also said the company was expanding and redesigning its headquarters in Austin, Texas. The intent is to accommodate the growing number of employees and anticipated customer demand for its two products, a hybrid electric axle and the HyperTruck ERX.
Hyliion reported it installed its hybrid electric product — electric axle, proprietary battery pack, controller, APU and in-cab display with optional aerodynamic devices — on an additional 10 trucks during the quarter. In its Q4 release, the company noted it installed seven hybrid electric units in the fourth quarter and 20 for the full year 2020.
“By continuing to ship these hybrid products to fleets, we are laying a strong foundation to be able to ramp up our product volumes,” Healy said.
The company, during the quarter, put its hybrid system into cold- weather testing at a proving grounds in Minnesota. The same method of testing will take place on the Hypertruck ERX next winter.
“We’ll be implementing major enhancements to the hybrid product beginning in the second half of this year, followed by future rolling improvements,” Healy said, and forecast an improved iteration of the hybrid system will lead to revenue in the second half of this year.
On the Hypertruck Electric Range Extender side, he said Hyliion is intending to make the prototype units available to fleets in the later part of 2022.
Hyliion's next-generation proprietary battery pack is intended to achieve longer battery life, higher charging rates and improved safety. (Businesswire)
“And then after that is when we’ll start that scale up,” Healy said. “Revenue recognition would follow after we complete the launches of those demo units.”
Logistics provider Agility placed pre-orders for up to 1,000 trucks equipped with the ERX powertrain in 2020, according to earlier reports. With the ERX platform, under the hood of any Class 8 model from any truck maker is a downsized natural gas-fueled engine with a generator to charge the batteries as you go, Healy told Transport Topics earlier. Dana is supplying the inverter and electric motors to drive the rear axles. The Class 8 truck can run solely on battery power for about 25 miles, such as in urban areas.
“I think the market sees this as a really practical and logical way to start moving into electrification,” Healy said during the call, “and one that they can do with producing costs and not having a disruption and needing a bunch of [new] infrastructure within their operations in order to deploy it. So a lot of strong customer interest has been coming forward over this past quarter.”
Also, in April, Hyliion formed the Hypertruck Innovation Council to advance commercial vehicle electrification, including Agility Logistics, American Natural Gas, Anheuser-Busch, GreenPath Logistics, NFI, Penske Truck Leasing, Ruan Transportation Management Systems, Ryder System Inc., Schneider, Wegmans Food Markets and Werner Enterprises.
Peterbilt Motors Co. will manufacture the first Hypertruck ERXs.
An inside look at the build progression of our @PeterbiltMotors Model 579, which will be upfitted with the Hypertruck ERX powertrain, on its way to becoming one of our demo units. pic.twitter.com/TslhX8WswH — Hyliion (@hyliion) May 12, 2021
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