Lion Electric (LEV) crosses 10 million miles driven with nearly 1,000 EVs on the road

Lion Electric ($LEV) has officially crossed 10 million miles driven, according to the commercial EV manufacturer’s fourth-quarter earnings released Friday. The electric bus, truck, and school bus maker doubled revenue in a record quarter as its total EVs on the road approached 1,000.

Lion surpasses 10 million electric miles driven

The Quebec-based medium and heavy-duty EV maker has been a pioneer in the commercial electric vehicle industry long before it became a trend.

Lion’s over 12 years’ worth of determination is paying off, as its vehicles, totaling 950, have now driven over 10 million miles.

The EV company has signed deals with several major clients across North America, including for its electric trucks (Amazon, Ikea) and buses (First Student, LA USD, STA, National Express, ZUM).

To make it easy for businesses to go electric, Lion Electric offers a complete turnkey solution, which includes the electric bus or truck, charging infrastructure, grants assistance, financing, training, maintenance, and more.

After manufacturing its first LionC all-electric school bus in the US at its Joliet Factory and producing its first battery pack at its Mirabel facility in December, Lion said it was entering the “ramp-up phase of production.”

Lion (LEV) Q4 and full-year 2022 results

Lion Electric delivered 174 vehicles in the fourth quarter, generating $46.8 million in revenue, more than doubling YOY from $22.9 million in Q4 2021 as the company scales its manufacturing capabilities.

The 174 vehicles delivered consisted of 139 electric school buses and 35 trucks, 160 of which were in Canada, while the remaining 14 were in the US.

The surging revenue is due to the additional 103 vehicle sales, compared to just 71 in the same period last year.

Despite the rising sales, Lion posted a net loss of $4.8 million in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the company achieved net earnings of $17.8 million in 2022, compared to a net loss of $43.3 million in 2021.

Lion says it has a vehicle order book of 2,468 all-electric vehicles, consisting of 301 trucks and 2,167 buses. The EV manufacturer estimates the value of these orders is around $575 million.

CEO and founder of Lion Electric, Marc Bedard, commented on the progress, saying:

We are pleased with our 2022 performance, as once again, despite external challenges, we delivered a record number of electric vehicles. In parallel, we produced our first electric school bus at our Joliet, IL manufacturing plant and we produced our first battery pack at our Mirabel, QC battery manufacturing facility, while efficiently managing our cash position throughout the year.

In 2023, Bedard says Lion will carefully manage liquidity to focus on where best to invest resources in order to support its ramp-up.