Ideanomics Completes VIA Motors Acquisition

Ideanomics, a company focused on accelerating commercial adoption of electric vehicles, including school buses, has finished acquiring EV manufacturer VIA Motors.

The news comes just months after VIA received a purchase order for 2,000 Class 3 electric cutaway chassis cabs from Pegasus Specialty Vehicles to build Type A school buses, electric shuttles, and paratransit buses.

“Our acquisition of VIA Motors brings significant revenue generation potential to Ideanomics and its shareholders,” said Shane McMahon, executive chairman of Ideanomics.

Ideanomics and VIA plan to begin collaborating to pair VIA’s electric work trucks with Ideanomics Energy’s turnkey charging solutions. Ideanomics Energy will become VIA’s preferred charging solutions provider. According to a news release, this will enable “customers to unleash the full potential of their new VIA work trucks with AC and DC chargers, advanced wireless charging, and containerized charging.”

“Together, Ideanomics and VIA will introduce a cost-efficient, integrated EV and charging solution for commercial fleets, which has been sorely lacking in the market,” said Alf Poor, CEO of Ideanomics.

VIA will offer a full range of fit-for-purpose configurations with its chassis cab, including last-mile delivery vans, box and stake trucks, school buses, shuttles, and more. BloombergNEF projects that more than 1 million battery-electric light and medium commercial vehicles will be on U.S. roads by 2030.

“Closing this transaction marks a great day for all of us,” said Bob Purcell, CEO of VIA Motors. “VIA Motors is changing last and mid-mile delivery with innovative and affordable electric commercial vehicles, which we can do even better by leveraging Ideanomics’ charging solutions and financing.”

Since June 2021, Ideanomics has provided financing for VIA’s technology research and development, facility expansion, and hiring of staff to enable full OEM capabilities.