Another EV Startup Goes Public - Mullen Meets Net Element

Electric-vehicle startups seem to be everywhere these days. And more than a few have used a “reverse merger” with an established company that’s already listed on Nasdaq as a way to go public.

Lordstown Motors, Fisker, and Canoo have announced deals like this, and Nikola has already done this type of deal.

In this case, Mullen Technologies, which is based in Southern California, will pair with Net Element, a company that works on mobile payment tech.

Funding from the agreement will be used by Mullen to build and sell EVs in the U.S. The first models the company plans to build are the MX-05, an SUV/crossover, and a sports car called the Dragonfly K50.

Originally shown as the Qiantu K50 by a Chinese design firm named CH-Auto Technology, the Qiantu/Dragonfly K50 is already available for purchase in China.

The car isn’t cheap: It has a $124,999 price tag. That gets you a range over 200 miles, and a dual-motor setup that makes up to 375 horsepower. Aluminum and carbon fiber are key components for construction.

As for the MX-05, no specs have been released, but pricing has been announced at $55,000.

You can make a reservation for either vehicle now, but neither has been certified for sale in America. This means it could be quite some time before you see your car, if ever.

The company does claim that it could deliver vehicles by the second quarter of 2022, if it succeeds in converting its research and development center in Monrovia, California, into a plant. It will attempt to build its first MX-05 units there in 2021 so that the company can get them certified for sale.

Construction on the plant is scheduled to be finished by April, with the first prototypes rolling off the line in July. Mullen expects homologation to take 16 months, with May 2022 being the target date for the first production units for delivery.

As for the Dragonfly, Mullen hasn’t given a date for production. The company had previously said it planned to build the car in Spokane County, Washington, but recent statements suggest it will be imported from China.

Two other models, dubbed MX-03 and MX-07, are planned. Details are scarce, but based on the nomenclature, they are likely SUVs that will be smaller and larger, respectively, than the MX-05.

The introduction of those models may be contingent on the MX-05 and Dragonfly being successful.

[Image: Mullen]