Key Takeaways
- This week, Fuell Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
- Customers are unlikely to receive their pre-ordered items.
- Fuell is the second electric motorcycle startup to go out of business this week, following Energica, an Italian company.
Fuell Inc. has filed for bankruptcy, becoming the latest electric motorcycle manufacturer to fail as a result of difficult market conditions.
We revealed earlier this week that Energica, an Italian maker of electric motorcycles, was having severe financial difficulties. Since then, the company has acknowledged that it is officially declaring bankruptcy.
Erik Buell, a pioneer in the motorcycle industry, founded Fuell with the goal of upending the market with a line of electric bikes and the revolutionary full-size Fuell Flow motorcycle, which was expected to produce 47 horsepower from its potent electric motor and travel more than 150 miles on a single charge.
Customers could sign up for the sci-fi-inspired machine’s waitlist by paying a $100 deposit; $13,995 would be due upon delivery. However, the end-of-September shipping date has already passed, and it appears that the machine will never be put into production.
Similar criticism followed the brand’s Flluid-2 and Flluid-3 e-Bike models, which never saw mass production despite raising over $1.5 million in crowd fundraising through an Indiegogo campaign.
Fuell lacks the funds to cover labor costs and other necessary services to assemble and ship products to its customers, and more money could not be raised to pay the company’s outstanding current liabilities or to pay for the assembly and shipment of pre-ordered electric bicycles, according to a letter that Electrek received from attorneys involved in the chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding.
The letter continues by saying that the company has the parts needed to assemble the majority, if not all, of the electric bikes that were pre-ordered. However, because the company has little to no funding and no staff, it is possible that some of the customers who made deposits for pre-orders will not receive their e-bikes or be able to get their money back.
This most recent insolvency and possible liquidation comes after several well-known electric motorcycle manufacturers have not turned a sufficient profit to stay in business.
A general downturn in the automotive market and supply chain problems were making life difficult for “small and medium-sized enterprises,” according to Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica, it blamed the electric market crisis and the drop in sector investments for its demise.
