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He sees opportunities in autonomous technology, telematics and infotainment. Power sports and motorcycles are just being electrified, which also present early opportunities. There is less competition, so plug-in bikes that serve Asia could be a strong play, he said. There are also emerging companies that will build small electric aircraft for short-haul flights or to ferry people in congested cities.
“It’s amazing how much is happening in mobility and investors are rightfully excited about that,” Engle said. “Stand-alone, EV companies are the poster child for that opportunity. We believe that view is overly simplistic.”
Part of Engle’s attraction to a SPAC is that he has been at young, developing companies before. He ran Ford Motor Co.’s businesses in Brazil and Canada and then left to be CEO of New Holland Agricultural Equipment for CNH Industrial NV in 2008. After working long hours in the corporate world, he left in 2010 for Think Holdings, an EV startup that went bankrupt after Engle left. He said the company was ahead of its time trying to sell plug-ins before consumers were ready. Many EV startups from the 2000s went bust, with Tesla being a rare survivor.
Then Engle ran Agility Fuel Systems as CEO. Agility makes hydrogen and natural gas burning systems for heavy-duty trucks, giving them diesel power but cleaner emissions. While he was there, Engle got the company a deal with Cummins Inc., which makes engines for the trucking industry, to help make its own clean propulsion systems more efficient. Cummins also took a stake in Agility. That’s where Engle met Qell co-founder Sam Gabbita, who was a managing director at Element Partners, which owned a piece of Agility, and later ran the San Francisco office of OGCI Climate Investments, a $1 billion clean energy investment fund. Gabbita is now chief finance officer at Qell.
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December 19, 2020 at 10:05PM
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Why a Former GM Executive Quit to Start a Blank-Check Company - Financial Post
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