I thought this whole green energy push would create lots of profits. No?
Electric Bus Company Proterra Backed Heavily by Biden Administration Files for Bankruptcy
Proterra, an electric bus company that received heavy backing from President Joe Biden’s administration, filed for bankruptcy on Monday.
The Burlingame, California-based EV company has been a source of controversy for the Biden administration because Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm hyped the company in her official capacity despite the fact that she previously served on Proterra’s board and held over a million dollars worth of stock in the company even after she was confirmed as the head of Biden’s Energy Department.
Proterra was founded in 2004 and, according to Canary Media, had raised “about $682 million in venture capital from investors including Daimler, Generation Investment Management, Kleiner Perkins, Tao Capital Partners, Soros Fund Management, Cowen Sustainable Advisors and GM Ventures to build electric buses that gained a foothold in early North American deployments.”
Biden has heavily promoted Proterra throughout his presidency, at one point saying the company would help America own “the future” if it kept on track. Three months into his presidency, Biden held a virtual tour of the electric bus company’s South Carolina factory to promote his $1.9 trillion infrastructure plan.
What happens now? Will they reorganize and continue forward? If not, what of the 1,300 electric buses they’ve sold? What about parts for them? Was Proterra losing way more money despite selling 1,300 buses?
Despite this massive push from the Biden administration, Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, citing “various market and macroeconomic headwinds” that have impacted its business.
“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,” Joyce said in a statement. “As commercial vehicles accelerate toward electrification, we look forward to sharpening our focus as a leading EV battery technology supplier for the benefit of our many stakeholders.”
Well, a big problem is that green energy is expensive, and, sooner or later the true costs overrun the venture capital. Further, Proterra’s buses have been shown to have a lot of “downtime and performance issues”, as a Michigan school district stated. Not surprising in a cold climate.