ElectraMeccanica, a Canadian startup that sold three-wheeled electric vehicles exclusively in the U.S. will now buy back all of the three-wheeled electric vehicles it sold since 2019. The buyback follows a recall for a sudden loss of motive power.
The company first announced the recall of the single-passenger vehicle, called the Solo, in February. Although the cause of the defect remains unknown, ElectraMeccanica estimates that the buyback will cost it $8.9 million, according to a Form 10-K filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seen by Autonews Canada.
The Solo was a three-wheeled electric commuter vehicle and, between 2019 and 2023, 429 found their way onto the road. ElectraMeccanica also has another 800 unsold units that, with an MSRP of $18,500 each, have a total value of $13.8 million in unrealized sales.
Read: Three-Wheeled ElectraMeccanica Solo Unveiled
ElectraMeccanica turned to China’s Zongshen for early production help with the Solo and has said it may raise claims against it due to production-related defects. It’s unclear if those issues specifically led to the recall, though.
Despite the financial outlay, ElectraMeccanica still has enough cash flow to get it through the next 12 months. It also plans to produce vehicles for Volcon at its Mesa, Arizona facility, which will help give it a steady form of income.
It will also work on introducing a four-wheel model to its lineup. The new design should help get around issues owners had with insuring their vehicles, and should make them qualify for federal EV tax credits, something the three-wheel Solo was excluded from.
“The mission of the company when I started it was to close the last gas station,” said Jerry Kroll, ElectraMeccanica’s co-founder and director. “If it has two wheels, three wheels, four wheels or 18 wheels, if it’s electric and not a fossil-fuel combustion engine, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
The company will also shut down InterMeccanica, a related company that made high-quality replicas of the Porsche 356 in British Columbia, Canada. It was rolled into ElectraMeccanica in 2015, but will now shut down, cutting 98 jobs, and further concentrating the company’s resources in Mesa, Arizona.
