ElectricBrands gear up for production

As ElectricBrands prepare the way for the launch of the XBUS, they have formed a new company XBUS GmbH to focus on the production and sales of the XBUS, and have recruited experienced figures from the automotive, finance and production sectors to bolster their management team.

Former Daimler boss, Ulrich Walker, joins as the new supervisory board chairman. Walker will be supported by Kai Andersen and Mirko Konta, who hail from the fields of assurance and product pre-development. Hans Lamprecht joins as Chief Financial Officer, providing the necessary financial expertise for the growing business, and Tom Anliker becomes Chief Marketing & Revenue Officer.

Founder Ralf Haller, CMRO Tom Anliker, CEO Martin Henne and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Ulrich Walker

The inevitable production delay

The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on ElectricBrands and its supply chain, creating delays at every step of the development of the XBUS. As the world began to emerge from the pandemic, we then saw the global semi-conductor shortage, along with shipping and distribution bottlenecks and labour shortages. All these issues are also being experienced by ElectricBrand's supply chain, thereby limiting the ability to increase production capacities.

As a result, we are no longer expecting our demonstrators until late in 2023, with the first customer orders arriving shortly after that.

This is as disappointing as it was inevitable.

The good news is that, having successfully completed two fully-functional prototypes, ElectricBrands are now more accurately able to assess their production timetable, which should minimise the risk of further significant delays.

XBUS-1 and XBUS-2 prototypes

Further improvements to the XBUS

ElectricBrands have used the additional time to make further improvements to the XBUS, including to the overall quality, drivetrain, chassis and safety systems. We understand for example that the production XBUS will have significantly improved high-speed driveability.

ElectricBrands have also been able to improve active and passive safety systems in the XBUS, such as a crash box, roll bar and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) system.

Finally, ElectricBrands have decided to use the extra time to perform significantly more tests than are prescribed in the L7e homologation class, including crash-testing, and are committing to publish the results afterwards.

The eagerly awaited third prototype, the Camper, is now under construction, and we look forward to announcing its completion soon.