Tevva Files Suit Against ElectraMeccanica in Arizona
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Tevva Motors Ltd. filed suit against ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. in a United States District Court in Arizona on Nov. 3, a spokesman said Nov. 6, as the dispute between the onetime partners in building a Class 8 hydrogen-powered truck escalates.
U.K.-based truck maker Tevva is “seeking redress for the improper and unmerited purported termination” of the proposed merger with Burnaby, British Columbia-based ElectraMeccanica, which owns a facility in Arizona where the Class 8 truck was set to be built.
The suit accuses ElectraMeccanica of “spurious, defamatory allegations in a thinly-veiled attempt to justify its abrupt termination of a binding merger agreement with Tevva.”
Tevva is also suing ElectraMeccanica CEO Susan Docherty.
ElectraMeccanica declined to comment when contacted by Transport Topics.
Docherty
Tevva has not served ElectraMeccanica in the suit, giving the company until Nov. 17 to meet the original equipment manufacturer’s demands, the spokesman said.
Tilbury, England-based Tevva, which Oct. 23 was promising legal action after it said ElectraMeccanica ended their marriage without any notice, first and foremost wants $75 million in damages and an injunction blocking ElectraMeccanica from entering into an alternative merger agreement.
The company also wants a “protective order preventing [ElectraMeccanica] from dissipating its cash (which will be needed to pay Tevva’s damages) through dividends, executive compensation, and similar wasteful actions.”
ElectraMeccanica ended the merger Oct. 4, citing “multiple incurable breaches” of the companies’ merger agreement by Tevva, including failing to disclose material information. ElectraMeccanica promised Oct. 4 to seek legal recourse as a result of the alleged breaches and wants $6 million lent to Tevva plus any interest repaid by Jan. 2.
The two companies had planned to build a hybrid electric and hydrogen-powered Class 8 truck in Arizona.
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ElectraMeccanica owns a 235,000-square-foot facility in Mesa, Ariz., where Docherty in September told Transport Topics that serial production of a 19-metric-ton or 41,888-pound truck would commence in 2027.
The proposed vehicle was expected to be based on a 7.5-ton truck that Tevva manufactures.
Tevva is looking for new partners in serial production of the company’s existing truck, and said in a Nov. 3 statement that current production was not dependent on any damages it was seeking from ElectraMeccanica.
ElectraMeccanica also is hunting for new partners. In an Oct. 12 letter to shareholders, Docherty said a number of companies already had reached out to ElectraMeccanica about partnerships, including some it held talks with before the short-lived merger with Tevva was unveiled.
