Lightning eMotors, Inc. - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

For The Transition Period FromTo

Commission file number: 001-39283

LIGHTNING eMOTORS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (800) 233-0740

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:  None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☐   No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ☐   No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant:  (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically; every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.0405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).   Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 232.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

Based on the closing price as reported on the New York Stock Exchange, the aggregate market value of the Registrant’s Common Stock held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2021 (the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately $232.6 million. Shares of Common Stock held by each executive officer and director and by each shareholder of more than 10% of any class of voting equity securities of the Registrant have been excluded from this calculation because such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes. The number of outstanding shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock as of March 14, 2022 was 75,153,199.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

None.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The discussions in this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements reflecting our current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning expectations and other forward looking statements relating to our business, supply chain constraints, our strategy, competition, future operations and production capacity, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, results of operations, profitability, cost reductions, capital adequacy, demand and acceptance for our technologies, growth opportunities and trends in the market in which we operate, and other prospects, plans and objectives of management. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the risks set forth in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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PART I

Item 1. Business

Overview

Lightning eMotors, Inc. (the “Company”, “Lightning”, “we”, “our” or “us”), is a leading electrification solutions provider committed to enabling the eradication of commercial vehicle emissions, one of the top contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We design and manufacture zero-emission vehicles (“ZEVs”), including battery electric vehicles (“BEV”) and fuel cell electric vehicles (“FCEV”), and charging infrastructure solutions for commercial fleets, large enterprises, original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and governments. Our product offerings range from Class 3-5 cargo and passenger vehicles and school buses to Class 5 and 6 work trucks, and Class 7 city buses and motorcoaches.

Our customers represent some of the largest global fleet operators and logistics providers in the world, as well as a variety of other large enterprises, OEMs and governments across a variety of commercial vehicle categories. Our customers include DHL Express, Forest River, ABC Companies, California State Hospitals, and Collins Bus. We continue to expand and deepen our customer base as evidenced by our 69 fleet customers who have placed purchase orders, 17 of which have placed repeat orders. As of March 14, 2022, we had $169.3 million of order backlog, which we define as primarily non-binding agreements and purchase orders from customers which can be cancelled or delayed without penalty.

We started in 2008 as a manufacturer of hybrid systems for commercial vehicles, and in 2017, customer feedback led us to understand that hybrid systems did not adequately address the growing issue of urban air pollution from commercial vehicle fleets. In 2017 we redirected our efforts to focus exclusively on the attractive market opportunity in ZEVs. We leveraged nearly 10 years of extensive knowledge and production infrastructure from developing and implementing hybrid commercial vehicles to successfully adapt to ZEVs. Our 13 year track-record of research and development, significant customer engagement and validation, and focus on building highly customized vehicles has allowed us to create an electric solution that we believe remains ahead of the competition in terms of technology, reliability, and versatility. We believe our modular software, which can be used in multiple platforms and applications, and hardware solution enables us to serve a variety of attractive niche markets in a cost-effective and scalable manner. With over 200 vehicles on the road as of December 31, 2021, we believe we are the only full-range manufacturer of Class 3 to 7 BEV and FCEV in the United States providing end-to-end electrification solutions including advanced analytics software and mobile charging solutions to our customers.

Our manufacturing facility has the capacity to produce 1,500 ZEVs per year on one eight-hour shift. The same facility and equipment can produce 3,000 ZEVs annually by increasing labor to two eight-hour shifts. We believe that with full utilization of our facilities combined with our ability to lease more space on our current campus, and with our OEM customers’ installation capacities, we will be able to scale production to 20,000 vehicle or powertrain units per year. Over the long term, we believe that we will be able to leverage our significant investment in manufacturing capacity to increase production output, leverage our fixed overhead and improve profitability from the sale of our products. In addition, we have also built an ecosystem of supply-chain partners and specialty vehicle partners which are instrumental to our growth.

Based on the recent growth of our sales pipeline and order backlog, we believe the commercial ZEV space is at an inflection point with strong trends of supportive regulation, corporate mandates and government incentives to accelerate the transition to ZEVs globally. In addition, we believe ZEVs already provide a lower total cost of ownership (“TCO”) than internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles with state and federal grants made available to offset the higher upfront cost of commercial ZEVs. We believe that the TCO of ZEVs will continue to decrease as we drive down costs through our research and development efforts, supply chain maturity and scale.

Products and Technologies

We believe our complementary suite of products, software and services are designed to deliver highly reliable and cost-effective solutions to our customers operating vehicles in a wide range of commercial applications. The know-how gathered over the course of our 13-year operating history, combined with the data from our telematics we have aggregated

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from every vehicle we have on the road for the last three years, have enabled us to customize our offerings to increase reliability and reduce total cost of ownership, driving repeat purchase behavior across our customer base.

Customers

We sell primarily to large-scale enterprises, making our sales process Business-to-Business focused and our products bespoke to our customers’ needs. Because we work directly with our customers, we are able to assess and meet their needs in a cost-effective manner. We believe our customers choose to partner with us because we are a one-stop shop for ZEVs and charging and energy infrastructure, across Classes 3 to 7 in the United States. We aim to take the complexity out of the EV purchasing process by helping customers to specify the vehicles that suit their individual needs based on our in-depth telematics/analytics while also providing them with charging solutions for their fleets. Our head start in the commercial ZEV space led to significant progress in customer validation with over 200 vehicles on the road and an order backlog of approximately 1,500 units of ZEVs, powertrains and/or charging systems as of March 14, 2022. Our vehicles currently on the road benefit from extensive validation with customers and end-users, ranging between 3 and 30 months, and are deployed in real working conditions, gathering real-time data. Our customers represent some of the largest global fleet operators and logistics providers in the world, as well as a variety of other large enterprises and governments across a variety of commercial vehicle categories.

We have also developed partnerships with specialty vehicle OEMs, who are critical to our rapid growth strategy and enable us to apply our modular technology to an expanding range of markets including recreational vehicles, ambulances, school buses, coaches, etc. We work closely with partners including Forest River, Rev Group and ABC Companies to electrify vehicles in their target markets that they manufacture. For example, we are the exclusive motorcoach RePower electrification solution provider to ABC Companies, a leading motorcoach distributor in the United States. Our electric RePower solution (replacing ICE with EV in older buses) has an 18-month shorter delivery time and has a compelling TCO advantage compared to many new electric buses and coaches manufactured by other OEMs.

Supply Chain Partners

Since 2008, we have built an ecosystem of supply-chain partners and specialty vehicle partners. Our suppliers are instrumental to the performance and reliability of our vehicles and enable us to scale in a relatively cost-effective manner. Our key suppliers include Ford, Dana, Danfoss, BorgWarner, Hino, ABB, Siemens and Proterra, among others, all of which are industry leading manufacturers of critical components like chassis, bodies, batteries and chargers. Plug Power, a leading hydrogen solution manufacturer, is one of our key supply chain partners with which we have established a multidimensional strategic partnership.

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We aim to optimize our supply chain for quality, reliability, and cost. We believe our long-term relationships with supply chain partners will be a key driver in our ability to scale without unduly sacrificing quality or delivery times and serve as a foundation for our growth. We are building relationships with multiple suppliers for each core component of our vehicles.

Sales and Marketing

Our education-focused, technically sophisticated sales force markets and sells a complete range of end-to-end electrification solutions directly to urban commercial fleets, which include commercial ZEVs, powertrains and charging services.

Research and Development

Our primary areas of focus for research and development include, but are not limited to (i) ZEV development and system integration; (ii) software and algorithms for our electrification solutions; (iii) data analytics; (iv) accelerated lifetime testing processes to improve reliability, maintainability and system-level robustness; (v) sub-systems enhancement; and (vi) mobile charging solutions.

Intellectual Property (“IP”)

We protect our growing intellectual property portfolio through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection, as well as confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. We seek to control access to, and distribution of, our proprietary information through non-disclosure agreements with our vendors and business partners. Unpatented research, development, know-how, and engineering skills make a vital contribution to our business, and we pursue patent protection when we believe it is possible and consistent with our overall strategy for safeguarding intellectual property. While we currently are in the process of applying for patent protection for some of our inventions, trade-secrets, particularly with respect to our software, are our primary form of IP protection. We regularly review our development efforts to assess the existence and patentability of new intellectual property. To that end, we are prepared to file additional patent applications as we consider appropriate under the circumstances relating to the new technologies that we develop.

Government Regulations and Incentives

In the automotive space in which we operate, we are subject to numerous regulations. A brief summary of material government and environmental regulations and incentives is set forth below.

Motor Vehicle Safety

Our vehicles are subject to compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”) and other regulatory obligations established by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (“NHTSA”). Lightning is a registered USDOT Intermediate Stage Manufacturer, Final Stage Manufacturer, Incomplete Vehicle Manufacturer, and Vehicle Alterer. Any chassis or body modifications performed by us must be designed, manufactured, and tested to ensure that the final ZEV remains certified to meet all FMVSS when deployed to the customer, including crash-worthiness requirements, crash-avoidance requirements, and ZEV-specific requirements, as well as, bumper standards and theft prevention standards affected by the alterations. Failure to comply with safety regulations could result in substantial adverse impact to the Company. These could include recalls, loss of USDOT registration, judicial enforcement, civil liability and reputational harm.

EPA and CARB Emissions Compliance and Certification

Under the U.S. Clean Air Act, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and powertrains are required to obtain a Certificate of Conformity issued by the EPA, and a California Executive Order issued by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”). This regulatory process is designed to ensure that all vehicles comply with applicable emission standards for both criteria pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) and particulate matter (“PM”), and greenhouse gases (“GHG”), such as CO2 and nitrous oxide (“N2O”). A Certificate of Conformity is required for vehicles sold in all states, and an Executive Order is required for vehicles sold in California and states that have adopted the California standards. CARB sets more stringent standards for emissions control for certain regulated pollutants for new vehicles and engines sold in California and must obtain a waiver of preemption from the EPA before implementing and enforcing such standards. California’s waiver of preemption with regard to GHG emission standards is currently the subject of legal challenges, and the authority of

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California to implement and enforce GHG emission standards for vehicles and engines in the future is uncertain. Currently, states that have adopted the California standards, as approved by the EPA, also require a CARB Executive Order for sales of vehicles in those states. There are currently fourteen additional states (in addition to the District of Columbia) that have adopted the California emissions standard for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles. In these states, an EPA Certificate of Conformity and CARB Executive Order must be obtained for each model year for each class of vehicle. Failure to obtain or comply with the terms of a Certificate of Conformity or Executive Order is subject to civil penalty and administrative or judicial enforcement. We currently utilize EPA certified chassis from major OEM’s (meaning that we do not require an alternative fuel vehicle certification from the EPA for our ZEV’s), and maintain five active CARB EOs for model year 2021.

Pursuant to its authority under the Clean Air Act, the EPA adopted Phase 1 fuel efficiency and GHG standards for medium-duty vehicles and engines on September 15, 2011. The EPA adopted more stringent fuel efficiency and GHG standards for medium-duty vehicles and engines on October 25, 2016. Manufacturers of vehicles and engines may comply with the GHG standards by selling increasing percentages of ZEVs. CARB also has adopted GHG and fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Regulation approved by CARB in June 2020 requires medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to produce and offer for sale in California increasing numbers of ZEVs. These regulatory standards increase annually beginning in 2024, and will require that 30%-50% of new truck sales in California (depending on Class) be ZEVs by 2030, and 55%-75% (depending on Class) be ZEVs by 2035.

CARB projects that the ACT regulation will result in sales of approximately 30,000 ZEVs by 2027, approximately 100,000 by 2030, and more than 250,000 by 2035. Offset credits for early production of heavy-duty ZEVs became available in model year 2021. We registered for these credits which can be banked and sold to truck OEMs that are not in compliance with the ACT regulation for a period of 5 years.

Additional CARB regulations mandating ZEV deployment in specific vocations are in various stages of development or implementation. These include the Zero Emission Fleet Rule, Innovative Clean Transit Regulation, and the Zero Emission Airport Shuttle Regulation. We expect these or similar programs to be put in place over the next decade.

Receipt of an EPA Certificate of Conformity and CARB Executive Order obligates the holder to ensure that the covered engine or vehicle is capable of complying with applicable standards throughout the full useful life of the product, which for medium-duty vehicles may be ten years or from 120,000 to 185,000 miles, whichever comes first and depending on the engine and vehicle size. Emissions control system warranty coverage must be provided for a period of five years or 50,000 to 100,000 miles (CARB warranty obligations increasing to up to 110,000, 150,000 and 350,000 miles in 2022), whichever comes first and depending on the engine and vehicle size. During this time, manufacturers must repair emission-related defects at no cost to the customer. Throughout the full useful life of the engine or vehicle, manufacturers are required to remedy in-use problems that cause engines or vehicles to exceed emission standards for criteria pollutants or GHGs.

Manufacturers may have to conduct recalls, service campaigns or other field actions, or provide extended warranties to address any such in-use issues that may arise. The EPA is considering extending the warranty period, including by adopting the CARB warranty obligations of 110,000, 150,000, or 350,000 miles, depending on the engine size. Manufacturers of medium-duty engines and vehicles also must ensure that their products comply with On Board Diagnostics (“OBD”) requirements. The OBD system is intended to identify and diagnose malfunctions within the engine, aftertreatment and emission control systems and alert the driver to the underlying issue so the vehicle can be brought in for service. CARB issues approval of the OBD system as part of its issuance of an Executive Order; the EPA deems demonstration of compliance with CARB OBD requirements to satisfy the EPA’s requirements. As with emissions compliance, manufacturers are required to ensure that the OBD system functions as designed and is able to identify component malfunctions throughout the full useful life of the vehicle or engine.

Many customers of EVs utilize state and Federal incentive programs to offset the higher initial costs of electric vehicles. Our customers have historically leveraged the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (“HVIP”) as well as Volkswagen Emissions Mitigation Trust Fund (“VW EMTF”) funding that is allocated to each state to purchase our vehicles and charging systems. The HVIP program, which California has allocated approximately $235 million in 2021, represents the most utilized of the subsidy programs to our customers due to its ease of access and amount of funding per vehicle (approximately 30% of a Lightning Systems FT3-43/86 Cargo Van). For the year ended

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December 31, 2021, we derived approximately 11% of our revenue from HVIP funding. Of the order backlog as of March 14, 2022, which is primarily comprised of non-binding agreements and purchase orders, approximately 28% of the orders by volume, and approximately 35% of the orders by value, had contingencies for 2021 HVIP funding that have not yet been satisfied and may not be secured. Any material problem with the HVIP program or delays in payment by the HVIP program for 2021 or 2022 could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Dislocations under the HVIP in June 2021 and August 2021, whereby the demand exceeded the availability of funds, caused delays in our customer’s ability to receive sufficient funding under the HVIP for their orders. See “Risk Factors — We may not be able to obtain or agree on acceptable terms and conditions for all or a significant portion of the government grants, loans and other incentives for which we may apply, and our customers could fail to effectively execute on governmental funding programs, including HVIP, which potentially represents a large portion of our revenues” for more information.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard Credits (“LCFS”)

California adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in 2009 and began implementation in 2011. A comparable agency in Oregon and Washington adopted the similar Clean Fuels Program. Other states have proposed similar clean fuels programs, or are conducting initial studies at present. In 2018, the LCFS program introduced significant new LCFS credit mechanisms in connection with deployment of ZEV infrastructure.

LCFS credits for charging infrastructure are specifically tied to the owner/operator of the electric vehicle supply equipment (“EVSE”), which gives Lightning eMotors the incentive to grow the charging rental business model. There is no regulatory limit to the number of credits which can be accumulated and banked. Credit deficits under the LCFS have frequently exceeded credit generation since 2017, and there continues to be significant (and growing) requirements for producers of fossil fuels to offset the carbon intensity of their fuels. LCFS credit demand is expected to continue to grow as regulatory carbon intensity benchmark requirements already in place mandated increases from 7.5% reduction in 2020 to 20% reduction by 2030.

GHG Credits—U.S. EPA

The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule requires all manufacturers of medium-duty engines and vehicles to comply with fleet average GHG standards. Manufacturers may comply with the standards by producing engines or vehicles, all of which comply with the standards, or by averaging, banking and trading GHG credits within vehicle or engine categories. Manufacturers may also comply with GHG standards by purchasing credits from manufacturers with a surplus of credits. The failure to comply with GHG standards can lead to civil penalties or the voiding of a manufacturer’s EPA Certificate of Conformity. In connection with the delivery and placement into service of zero-emission and low-emission vehicles, we may earn tradable GHG credits that can be sold to other manufacturers. Under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule, plug-in hybrid, all-electric and fuel cell vehicles earn a credit multiplier of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5, respectively, for use in the calculation of GHG emission credits.

Commercial engine and vehicle manufacturers are required to meet the NOx emission standard for each type of engine or vehicle produced. Typical diesel engine emission control technology limits the fuel economy and GHG improvements that can be made while maintaining compliance with the NOx standard. As the fleet average GHG standards continue to decrease over time, compliance with the NOx standard may increase the difficulty for conventional diesel vehicles to meet the applicable GHG standards. Accordingly, manufacturers of diesel trucks may need to purchase GHG credits to cover their emission deficit. The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule provides the opportunity for the sale of excess credits to other manufacturers who require such credits to comply with these regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the regulation currently does not limit the number of GHG credits sold within the same commercial vehicle categories.

GHG Credits—California Air Resources Board

California also has a GHG emissions regulatory program that is similar to the EPA requirements. Like the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule, the CARB rule allows for averaging, banking and trading of credits to comply with the fleet-average GHG standard and the failure to comply with the California GHG standard may lead to the imposition of civil penalties. The delivery and placement into service of our zero-emission vehicles in California may earn us tradable credits that can be sold. Under CARB GHG regulations, advanced technology vehicles also earn a credit multiplier of for use in the calculation of emission credits in the same amounts as under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rule.

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Examples of other existing or potential future incentives and grant programs that either we or our customers can apply for include:

Competition

As the penetration of electric commercial vehicles in the market is currently well under 1%, we believe that our primary competition today is with legacy OEM ICE-based vehicles. As the ZEV regulatory requirements accelerate over the next several years, and as the TCO of electric vehicles versus ICE vehicles continues to improve, we expect to face more competition from manufacturers of electric commercial vehicles. There are both traditional automotive OEMs and an increasing number of newer companies that have announced offerings of commercial electric and/or fuel cell vehicles. We currently have limited competitors in the medium-duty electric vocational truck and shuttle bus space, including GreenPower Motor Company, XL Fleet, XOS Trucks, Sea Electric, Workhorse and Motiv. We believe the primary competitive factors in our markets are talent and culture, technological innovation, product performance and quality, product availability, customization options, service options, customer experience, brand differentiation, product design and style, pricing and TCO, and manufacturing scale and efficiency. We believe that we have a head start and compete efficiently with our competitors (including the large OEMs) on the basis of these factors; however, our current and potential competitors may have greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to deploy greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sales, marketing and support of their electric commercial fleet programs. Additionally, our competitors may also have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, more traditional sales and distribution strategies, broader customer and industry relationships and other tangible and intangible resources than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions in the EV market may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors.

Human Capital

Our employees are critical to our success. As of March 14, 2022, we had 205 full-time employees and 29 contractors. To date, we have not experienced any work stoppages and consider our relationship with our employees to be in good standing. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement or represented by a labor union.

We strive to maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce and are committed to a culture which values equality and respect. Our employees are offered competitive compensation and benefits programs, as well as opportunities for career growth and development. We are committed to a safe workplace and an ethical environment in which employees can continually develop their skills and expertise to advance their careers.

Formation

On May 6, 2021 (the "Closing Date"), GigCapital3, Inc. ("Gig"), consummated the previously announced merger pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated December 10, 2020 (the "Business Combination Agreement"), by and among Project Power Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gig incorporated in the State of Delaware ("Merger

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Sub"), and Lightning Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Lightning Systems"). Pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement, a business combination between Gig and Lightning Systems was effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Lightning Systems, with Lightning Systems surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gig (the "Business Combination").

On the Closing Date, and in connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Gig changed its name to Lightning eMotors, Inc. Lightning Systems was deemed the accounting acquirer in the Business Combination based on an analysis of the criteria outlined in Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 805, Business Combinations. This determination was primarily based on Lightning Systems’ stockholders prior to the Business Combination having a majority of the voting interests in the combined company, with Lightning Systems’ operations comprising the ongoing operations of the combined company and Lightning Systems senior management comprising the senior management of the combined company. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Business Combination was treated as the equivalent of Lightning Systems issuing stock for the net assets of Gig, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of Gig are stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded.

While Gig was the legal acquirer in the Business Combination, Lightning Systems was deemed the accounting acquirer. Therefore, the historical financial statements of Lightning Systems became the historical financial statements of the combined company, upon the consummation of the Business Combination. As a result, the financial statements included in this report reflect (i) the historical operating results of Lightning Systems prior to the Business Combination; (ii) the combined results of the Company and Lightning Systems following the closing of the Business Combination; (iii) the assets and liabilities of Lightning Systems at their historical cost; and (iv) the Company’s equity structure for all periods presented.

In accordance with guidance applicable to these circumstances, the equity structure has been restated in all comparative periods up to the Closing Date, to reflect the number of shares of the Company's common stock, $0.0001 par value per share ("Common Stock") issued to Lightning Systems stockholders in connection with the recapitalization transaction. As such, the shares and corresponding capital amounts and earnings per share related to Lightning Systems redeemable convertible preferred stock and Lightning Systems common stock prior to the Business Combination have been retroactively restated as shares reflecting the exchange ratio of approximately 0.9406 shares (the “Exchange Ratio”) established in the Business Combination Agreement. Activity within the statement of stockholders' equity for the issuances and repurchases of Lightning Systems convertible redeemable preferred stock, were also retroactively converted to Lightning Systems common stock. For more details on the reverse recapitalization, see Note 3 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Available Information

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), are available free of charge on our website at www.lightningemotors.com or directly through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) at www.sec.gov. Reports filed with or furnished to the SEC will be available on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC.

We announce material information to the public through a variety of means, including filings with the SEC, our website, press releases, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos and social media, including our Twitter account (twitter.com/LightningeMtrs), our LinkedIn page (linkedin.com/company/lightningemotors/about/) and our Facebook account (facebook.com/LightningeMotors) to communicate with investors and the public about our Company, products, technologies, services, development activities and other matters. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our Company to review the information we make public in these locations, as such information could be deemed to be material information. Information on, or that can be accessed through, our websites or these social media channels is not part of this Form 10-K, and references to our website addresses and social media channels are inactive textual references only.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our business involves significant risks, some of which are described below. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the financial statements and the related notes. If any of the following risks actually occur, it could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition and future prospects. In such event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of factors that are described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Risk Factor Summary

This summary should be read in conjunction with the risk factors contained herein and should not be relied upon as an exhaustive summary of the material risks we face.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Risks Related to Manufacturing and Supply Chain

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Risks Related to Intellectual Property, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation

Risks Related to Our Employees and Human Resources

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We are an early-stage company with a limited operating history and a history of losses, and we expect to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future.

We are an early-stage company with a limited operating history and a history of losses. We incurred a net loss of $100.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and have incurred net losses of approximately $181.6 million since our inception through December 31, 2021. We believe that we will continue to incur operating and net losses each quarter until at least the time we begin significant production of our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains, which will leverage our production capacity and reduce the per unit cost of manufacturing. There are no assurances that we will be able to secure future business with the major trucking companies or bus companies, including city transit companies. Even if we are able to successfully develop and sell our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains, there can be no assurance that they will be commercially successful. Our potential profitability is dependent upon the successful development and successful commercial introduction and acceptance of fleets of electric medium-duty vehicles, which may not occur. We cannot guarantee we will become profitable or achieve the levels of profit anticipated. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.

We expect to continue to incur significant losses in future periods as we:

Because we will incur the costs and expenses from these efforts before we receive incremental revenues with respect thereto, our losses in future periods will be significant and may continue to grow until we become profitable. In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or these efforts may not result in revenues, which would further increase our losses. Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult. It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. In the event that actual results differ from our expectations, our operating results and financial position could be materially affected.

Our financial results may vary significantly from period to period due to fluctuations in our operating costs and other factors.

Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:

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As a result of these factors, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our financial results, especially in the short term, are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Moreover, our financial results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts, ratings agencies or investors, who may be focused only on quarterly financial results. If any of this occurs, the trading price of our Common Stock could fall substantially, either suddenly or over time.

We may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance or other expectations about our business and future operating results, which would cause our stock price to decline.

From time to time, we issue earnings guidance in our quarterly earnings conference calls, quarterly earnings releases, or otherwise, regarding our future performance that represents our management’s estimates as of the date of release. Guidance is forward-looking, and some or all of the assumptions underlying the guidance furnished by us may not materialize or may vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results may vary from our guidance and the variations may be material. For example, on August 16, 2021, as a result of events which temporarily limited our ability to accurately forecast precise dates for vehicles and powertrains, we withdrew our prior guidance for the 2021 fiscal year. These events included, without limitation:

Any guidance we provide qualifies as forward-looking based on projections prepared by our management. Projections are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates (including, for example on our receipt of a sufficient supply of critical components for the manufacture of our vehicles) that, while presented with numerical specificity, are subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies relating to our business, many of which are beyond our control.

Analysts and investors may develop and publish their own projections of our business, which may form a consensus about our future performance. Our actual business results may vary significantly from such consensus due to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine on our counterparties which could impact, among other things, our ability to receive a sufficient supply of critical components for the manufacture of our vehicles, and the impacts of reduced movement (including from extended work-from-home policies) or the removal of restrictions on movement, which could adversely affect our business, our customers and future operating results. We are relying on the reports and models of economic and medical experts in making assumptions relating to the duration of these crises and market uncertainties, and predictions as to the timing and pace of any future economic recovery. If these models are incorrect or incomplete, or if we fail to accurately predict the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic, its abatement, the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine or other market uncertainties will have on all aspects of our business, our counterparties and our customers or the duration of those impacts, the guidance and other forward-looking statements we provide may also be incorrect or incomplete. Furthermore, if we make downward revisions of our previously announced guidance, or if our publicly announced guidance of future operating results fails to meet expectations of securities analysts, investors, or other interested parties, the price of our common stock could decline.

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In light of the foregoing, investors are urged not to unduly rely upon our guidance in making an investment decision regarding our common stock. Any failure to successfully implement our operating strategy or the occurrence of any of the events or circumstances set forth in this Risk Factors section in this report could result in the actual operating results being different from our guidance, and the differences may be adverse and material.

We may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with our operations.

We will require significant capital to develop and grow our business, including developing and manufacturing our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains and building our brands. We expect to incur significant expenses which will impact our profitability, including research and development expenses, raw material procurement costs, lease costs, sales and distribution expenses as we build our brand and market our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains, and general and administrative expenses as we scale our operations. In addition, we may incur significant costs in connection with our services. Our ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on our ability to successfully market our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains and other products and services, but also to control our costs. If we are unable to cost efficiently design, manufacture, market, sell, distribute and service our ZEVs, zero-emission powertrains and services, our margins, potential profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.

We have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the duration and economic, governmental and social impact of which is difficult to predict, which may significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Since the first quarter of 2020, there has been a worldwide impact from the COVID-19 pandemic which has had and may continue to have an adverse impact on our business and financial performance. Production and supply chain delays resulted in industry-wide shortages of raw materials utilized in manufacuting our ZEVs and powertrains. In addition, the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 resulted in return to office delays for numerous customers from the fall of 2021 into 2022, which caused a delay of some of our orders for campus coach and shuttle buses from 2021 to 2022.

A resurgence of the virus in certain regions or the emergence of variants of the virus for which existing vaccines could be less effective may cause future delays or shutdowns of medium-duty commercial vehicle OEMs or our suppliers and could impact our ability to meet customer orders. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in extreme volatility in the global financial markets, which could increase our cost of capital or limit our ability to access financing. Difficult macroeconomic conditions, such as decreases in per capita income and level of disposable income, increased and prolonged unemployment or a decline in consumer confidence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced spending by businesses, could continue to have a material adverse effect on the demand for ZEVs. Under difficult economic conditions, potential customers may seek to reduce spending by foregoing ZEVs for other traditional options. Decreased demand for ZEVs, particularly in the United States, and higher costs could negatively affect our business.

Global trade disruptions and consumer trends that originated during the pandemic continue to persist and may also have long-lasting adverse impact on us and our industries independently of the progress of the pandemic. For example, pandemic-related issues have exacerbated port congestion and intermittent supplier shutdowns and delays, resulting in additional expenses to expedite delivery of critical parts. In addition, labor shortages resulting from the pandemic, including worker absenteeism, may lead to increased difficulty in hiring and retaining manufacturing and service workers, as well as increased labor costs. Sustaining our production trajectory will require the ongoing readiness and solvency of our suppliers and vendors and a stable and motivated production workforce.

We cannot predict the duration or direction of current global trends and economic disruptions or their sustained impact. Ultimately, we continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate, and we will have to accurately project demand and infrastructure requirements and deploy our production, workforce and other resources accordingly. If we experience unfavorable global market conditions, or if we cannot or do not maintain operations at a scope that is commensurate with such conditions or are later required to or choose to reduce or suspend such operations, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

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Our business model has yet to be tested and any failure to commercialize our strategic plans would have a material adverse effect on our operating results and business, harm our reputation and could result in substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.

Investors should be aware of the difficulties normally encountered by a new enterprise, many of which are beyond our control, including substantial risks and expenses in the course of establishing or entering new markets, organizing operations and undertaking marketing activities. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of these risks, expenses, complications, delays and the competitive environment in which we operate. Therefore, there is nothing at this time upon which to base an assumption that our business plan will prove successful, and we may not be able to generate significant revenue, raise additional capital or operate profitably. We will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by early commercial stage companies, including scaling up our infrastructure and headcount, and may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties or delays in connection with our growth. To the extent that we do not effectively scale our operations to meet the needs of our customer base and maintain performance as our customers expand the use of our vehicles, we may not be able to grow as quickly as we anticipate or compete as effectively. In addition, as a result of the capital-intensive nature of our business, we can be expected to continue to sustain substantial operating expenses without generating sufficient revenues to cover expenditures. Any failure to commercialize our strategic plans would have a material adverse effect on our operating results and business, harm our reputation and could result in substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.

Our business plans require a significant amount of capital. We expect to need to raise additional funds and these funds may not be available to us when we need them. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected.

The design, manufacture, sale and servicing of our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains is capital-intensive. In the near term our capital will be deployed for the projected operating expenses to execute on our business plan and provide necessary working capital for accounts receivable and inventory. In the future, we will require additional capital to fund the growth and scaling of our manufacturing facilities and operations; further develop our products and services, including those for orders in our order backlog; and fund possible acquisitions. In addition, we may raise capital earlier on an opportunistic basis. These additional funds may be raised through additional public offerings, debt financings or other capital markets transactions, collaborations or licensing arrangements. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our development efforts and our ability to scale our operations. Additional capital will be necessary in the future to fund ongoing operations, continue research, development and design efforts and improve infrastructure. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to obtain the necessary financing to carry out our business plan is subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions and investor acceptance of our business model. These factors may make the timing, amount, terms and conditions of such financing unattractive or unavailable to us. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds, we will have to significantly reduce our spending, delay or cancel our planned activities or substantially change our corporate structure. We might not be able to obtain any funding, and we might not have sufficient resources to conduct our business as projected, both of which could mean that we would be forced to curtail or discontinue our operations.

In addition, our future capital needs and other business reasons could require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities could dilute our stockholders, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our Common Stock. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital, pay dividends to our stockholders or pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions.

If we cannot raise additional funds when we need or want them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected.

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We may not be able to obtain, or there may be a substantial delay in obtaining, all or a significant portion of the government grants, loans and other incentives for which we may apply, and our customers could fail to effectively execute on governmental funding programs, including HVIP, which potentially represents a large portion of our revenues.

We anticipate applying for federal and state grants, loans and tax incentives under government programs designed to stimulate the economy and support the production of electric vehicles and related technologies. With new legislation such as the Biden Infrastructure Bill, we anticipate that in the future there will be new opportunities for us to apply for grants, loans and other incentives from the federal, state and foreign governments. Our ability to obtain funds or incentives from government sources is subject to the availability of funds under applicable government programs and approval of our applications to participate in such programs. The application process for these funds and other incentives will likely be highly competitive. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining any of these additional grants, loans and other incentives. If we are not successful in obtaining any of these additional incentives and we are unable to find alternative sources of funding to meet our planned capital needs, our business and prospects could be materially adversely affected.

For example, many of our customers have historically leveraged the California HVIP as well as VW EMTF funding that is allocated to each state to purchase our vehicles and charging systems. The HVIP program, to which California allocated approximately $235 million in 2021, represents the most utilized of the subsidy programs to our customers due to its ease of access and amount of funding per vehicle (approximately 30% of the cost of one of our electric vehicles). For the year ended December 31, 2021, we derived approximately 11% of our revenue from HVIP funding. Of the order backlog as of March 14, 2022, which is primarily comprised of non-binding agreements and purchase orders, approximately 28% of the orders by volume, and approximately 35% of the orders by value, had contingencies for 2021 HVIP funding that have not yet been satisfied and may not be secured. Any material problem with the HVIP program or any delays in obtaining funding under HVIP could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, if the demand exceeds the availability of funds, then our customers may elect to cancel orders. For example, dislocations under the HVIP in June 2021 and August 2021 whereby the demand exceeded the availability of funds, are causing delays in our customer’s ability to receive sufficient funding under the HVIP.

Amounts included in order backlog may not result in actual revenue and are an uncertain indicator of our future revenue.

Backlog is generally comprised of non-binding agreements and purchase orders from customers. In addition, some of our order backlog have contingencies including completing a successful pilot program, obtaining third-party financing or obtaining government grants such as HVIP. Although the order backlog, in most cases, does not constitute a legal obligation and, in some cases, may contain contingencies, we believe the amounts included in our order backlog are firm, even though the non-binding orders may be cancelled or delayed by customers without penalty. For more information regarding obtaining government grants and other incentives, see the risk factor titled “We may not be able to obtain, or there may be a substantial delay in obtaining, all or a significant portion of the government grants, loans and other incentives for which we may apply, and our customers could fail to effectively execute on governmental funding programs, including HVIP, which potentially represents a large portion of our revenues." The determination of our order backlog includes, among other factors, our subjective judgment about the likelihood of an order becoming revenue. Our judgments in this area have been, and in the future, may be, incorrect and we cannot assure you that we will recognize revenue with respect to each order included in order backlog. In addition, orders can be delayed for a number of reasons, many of which are beyond our control, including supplier delays, which may cause delays in our manufacturing process, and delays associated with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We may not be aware of these delays affecting our suppliers and as a result may not consider them when evaluating the contemporaneous effect on order backlog. Further, our order backlog could be reduced due to cancellation of orders by customers without penalty, or we also may elect to permit cancellation of orders without penalty where management believes it is in our best interest to do so. On a case-by-case basis and at our sole discretion, we have held partial deposits for purchase orders from customers. Should a cancellation occur, our order backlog and anticipated revenue would be reduced unless we are able to replace the cancelled order. As a result, the order backlog may not be indicative of future sales and can vary significantly from period to period. Reductions in our order backlog could negatively impact our future results of operations.

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We evaluate our order backlog at least quarterly to determine if the orders continue to meet our criteria for inclusion in order backlog. We may adjust our reported order backlog to account for any changes in: customer or distributor plans or financial conditions; the customer’s or distributor’s continued intent and ability to fulfill the order contract; regulatory requirements; or due to changes in our ability, or the methodology used, to determine whether an order contract is likely to be completed; and whether there are contingencies for HVIP or other government incentives. Because revenue will not be recognized until control of the vehicle transfers to the customer, there may be a significant amount of time from signing a contract with a customer to shipping a system and revenue recognition. We cannot assure you that our order backlog will result in revenue on a timely basis or at all, or that any cancelled contracts will be replaced.

The realization and timing of the recognition of our order backlog is dependent, among other things, on our ability to obtain and secure a steady supply of components used in our manufacturing process. Accordingly, revenue estimates and the amount and timing of work expected to be performed at the time the estimate of order backlog is developed is subject to change. As a result, the order backlog may not be indicative of future sales and can vary significantly from period to period. In addition, it is possible that the methodology for determining the order backlog may not be comparable to methods used by other companies.

The automotive market is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry.

We currently face intense competition in bringing our ZEVs to market. Both the automobile industry generally, and the ZEV segment in particular, are highly competitive, and we will be competing for sales with both ZEV manufacturers and traditional automotive companies. Many of our current and potential competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their products, including their ZEVs.

We believe the primary competitive factors in our markets are talent and culture, technological innovation, product performance and quality, product availability, customization options, service options, customer experience, brand differentiation, product design and style, pricing and total cost of ownership, and manufacturing scale and efficiency. We believe that we have a head start and compete efficiently with our competitors (including the large OEM’s) on the basis of these factors; however, our current and potential competitors may have greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to deploy greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sales, marketing and support of their electric commercial fleet programs. Additionally, our competitors may also have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, more traditional sales and distribution strategies, broader customer and industry relationships and other tangible and intangible resources than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions in the EV market may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors.

Some of our competitors have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales forces, broader customer and industry relationships and other resources than we do. They also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified research and development, sales, marketing and management personnel, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our products. Additional mergers and acquisitions may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. There are no assurances that customers will choose our ZEVs over those of our competitors, or over internal combustion engines vehicles.

Additional competitors may enter the industry as well. Historically, large legacy OEMs have not been attracted to our market because it is comprised of multiple, specialized sub-markets, each of which does not have sufficient volume to support their high-capital manufacturing models. We believe the return on investment in the medium-duty EV markets has not been sufficient for large legacy OEMs to justify the research and development and capital expenditures necessary to innovate and compete in our market. Additionally, traditional vocational OEMs have not entered the powertrain market for medium-duty trucks. However, given the anticipated increase in market demand for clean energy solutions and general decrease in the cost of manufacturing such solutions over time, both large legacy OEMs and traditional vocational OEMs may transition into our market and become our direct competitors. We expect competition in our industry to intensify in the future in light of increased demand and regulatory push for alternative fuel and electric vehicles. If and when this

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occurs, the resulting increase in competition is likely to reduce our market share and could negatively impact our business and prospects.

We may fail to qualify or continue to qualify to sell our vehicles in one or more states or foreign jurisdictions.

The California Air Resources Board oversees ZEV use in the state through the use of certificates qualifying vehicles to be sold within the state based on compliance with certain emission and other standards. There are currently fourteen additional states (in addition to the District of Columbia) that have adopted California emission standards for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles. In these states, an EPA Certificate of Conformity and CARB Executive Order must be obtained for each model year for each class of vehicle. Failure to obtain or comply with the terms of a Certificate of Conformity or Executive Order is subject to civil penalty and administrative or judicial enforcement. We currently utilize EPA-certified chassis from major OEM’s (meaning that we do not require an alternative fuel vehicle certification from EPA for our ZEV’s), and maintain five active CARB Executive Orders for model year 2022, with one renewal application under review by CARB staff. Although the certification process is well known to us and has been successfully exercised across the product line for both new and repowered vehicles, there can be no assurance that we will continue to qualify for CARB Executive Orders or that we will be qualified to sell our vehicles under other regulatory schemes in other jurisdictions. If we fail to qualify to sell our ZEVs in any state, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.

Our future growth and success is dependent upon commercial fleets’ willingness to adopt electric and ZEV and specifically our vehicles. We operate in the automotive industry, which is generally susceptible to cyclicality and volatility.

Our growth is highly dependent upon the worldwide adoption by consumers of alternative fuel vehicles in general and our ZEVs in particular. The market for alternative fuels, hybrid and ZEVs is new and untested and is characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, numerous competitors, evolving government regulation and incentives, industry standards and uncertain customer demands and behavior.

Moreover, the target demographics for our vehicles, in particular the mass market demographic for medium-duty trucks, are highly competitive. Some potential customers may already use products similar to what we currently offer and similar to what we may offer in the future and may be reluctant to replace those products with what we currently offer or which we may offer in the future. Our success will depend on our ability to develop and market products that are recognized and accepted as reliable, enabling and cost-effective and our ability to convince potential customers that our products and technology are an attractive alternative to existing products and technology. Prior to adopting our products and technology, some potential customers may need to devote time and effort to testing and validating our systems. Any failure of our systems to meet these customer benchmarks could result in potential customers choosing to retain their existing systems or to purchase systems other than ours. Although we have successfully grown demand for our vehicles thus far, there is no guarantee of such future demand, or that our vehicles will not compete with one another in the market.

If the market for electric vehicles in general and our ZEVs in particular, does not develop as we expect, develops more slowly than we expect, or if demand for our vehicles decreases in our markets, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.

We are still at an early stage and have limited resources relative to our competitors. Moreover, the market for alternative fuel vehicles is rapidly evolving. As a result, the market for our vehicles could be affected by numerous factors, such as:

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We may fail to attract new customers in sufficient numbers or at sufficient rates or at all or to retain existing customers. We are subject to substantial customer concentration.

We must continually add new customers both to replace departing customers and to expand our current customer base. We may not be able to attract new customers in sufficient numbers to do so. In addition, we may not be able to quickly replace the quantity of orders from departing customers with orders from new customers, as the customer validation cycle typically takes 3 to 24 months. Even if we are able to attract new customers to replace departing customers, these new customers may not maintain the same level of commitment. In addition, we may incur marketing or other expenses, including referral fees, to attract new customers, which may further offset revenues from customers. For these and other reasons, we could experience a decline in revenue growth, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

If consumers do not perceive our product offerings to be of value or our ZEV offerings are not favorably received by them, we may not be able to attract and retain customers. If our efforts to satisfy and retain our existing customers are not successful, we may not be able to attract customers, and as a result, our ability to maintain and/or grow our business will be adversely affected. Customer retention will also be largely dependent on the quality and effectiveness of our customer service and operations, which may be handled internally by our personnel and also by third-party service providers. If we are unable to successfully compete with current and new competitors in both retaining existing customers and attracting new customers, our business will be adversely affected.

In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected by declines in demand for our product offerings. Demand for our product offerings may be negatively affected by a number of factors, including geopolitical uncertainty, competition, cybersecurity incidents, decline in our reputation and saturation in the markets where we operate.

Our three largest customers accounted for approximately 29%, 13% and 10% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021. As a result, our revenue could fluctuate materially and could be disproportionately impacted by purchasing

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decisions of these customers or any other significant future customer. Most of our customers are not contractually committed to purchase a specified number of vehicles or powertrains, rather they purchase vehicles on a purchase order basis. Any of our significant customers may decide to purchase less than they have in the past, alter their purchasing patterns at any time with limited notice, or decide not to continue to purchase our products at all, any of which could cause our revenue to decline and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. If we are unable to diversify our customer base, maintain our existing strategic partnerships and expand our supply network with other partners, we will continue to be susceptible to risks associated with customer concentration.

The ZEV industry has significant barriers to entry, and if we cannot successfully overcome those barriers, our business will be negatively impacted.

The ZEV industry has traditionally been characterized by significant barriers to entry, including the ability to meet performance requirements or industry specifications, acceptance by end users, large capital requirements, investment costs of design and production, long lead times to bring ZEVs to market from the concept and design stage, the need for specialized design and development expertise, regulatory requirements, establishing a brand name and image and the need to establish sales capabilities. If we are not able to overcome these barriers, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be negatively impacted and our ability to grow our business will be harmed.

Our ZEVs make use of lithium-ion battery cells, which, if not appropriately managed and controlled, have occasionally been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flames. If such events occur in our ZEVs, we could face liability associated with our warranty, for damage or injury, adverse publicity and a potential safety recall, any of which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Lithium-ion battery cells, including those used in the battery packs in our ZEVs, have caught fire in certain circumstances. On occasion, if not appropriately managed and controlled, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials. There can be no assurance that a field failure of our battery packs will not occur, which could damage the vehicle or lead to personal injury or death and may subject us to lawsuits. Furthermore, there is some risk of electrocution if individuals who attempt to repair battery packs on our vehicles do not follow applicable maintenance and repair protocols. Any such damage or injury would likely lead to adverse publicity and potentially a safety recall. Any such adverse publicity could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our Lightning chargers, which, if not appropriately managed and controlled, can cause damage or injury, adverse publicity and a potential safety recall, any of which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

There can be no assurance that a field failure of our charging infrastructure will not occur, which would damage the vehicle or lead to personal injury or death and may subject us to lawsuits. Furthermore, there is some risk of electrocution if our customers attempt to repair or service charging infrastructure we have provided or if our customers do not follow applicable maintenance and repair protocols. Any such damage or injury would likely lead to adverse publicity and potentially a safety recall. Any such adverse publicity could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could harm us.

In connection with the audit of our financial statements, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, we found that we did not have in place an effective control environment with formal policies and procedures to allow for a detailed review of accounting transactions that would identify errors in a timely manner. In addition, due to our small size, we did not have proper segregation of duties in certain areas of the financial reporting process, including

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but not limited to cash receipts and disbursements, journal entry processing and IT general controls, and did not maintain sufficient personnel with an appropriate level of technical accounting knowledge, experience, and training in the application of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) commensurate with our complexity and financial accounting and reporting requirements.

During fiscal 2021, we completed the remediation measures related to these material weaknesses and concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2021. Completion of remediation does not provide assurance that our remediation or other controls will continue to operate properly. If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures, our ability to record, process and report financial information accurately, and to prepare financial statements within required time periods could be adversely affected, which could subject us to litigation or investigations requiring management resources and payment of legal and other expenses, negatively affect investor confidence in our financial statements and adversely impact our stock price. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or when required in the future, if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected and we could become subject to litigation or investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, including failing to attract and integrate qualified personnel, we may not be able to develop, produce, market and sell our electrified powertrain solutions successfully.

Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. We intend to expand our operations significantly. We expect our future expansion to include:

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We have recently hired, and intend to continue to hire, a significant number of additional personnel, including software engineers, design and production personnel and service technicians for our electrified powertrain solutions. Because our electrified powertrain solutions are based on a different technology platform than traditional internal combustion engines, individuals with sufficient training in alternative fuel and electric vehicles may not be available to hire, and as a result, we will need to expend significant time and expense training any newly hired employees. Competition for individuals with experience designing, producing and servicing electrified vehicles and their software is intense, and we may not be able to attract, integrate, train, motivate or retain additional highly qualified personnel. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. If we fail to manage our growth effectively, such failure could result in negative publicity and damage to our brand and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

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If we are unable to establish and maintain confidence in our long-term business prospects among customers and analysts within our industry, then our financial condition, operating results, business prospects and access to capital may suffer materially.

Customers may be less likely to purchase our commercial ZEVs if they are not convinced that our business will succeed or that our service and support and other operations will continue in the long term. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they are not convinced that our business will succeed. Accordingly, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among customers, suppliers, analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in our ZEVs, long-term financial viability and business prospects. Maintaining such confidence may be particularly complicated by certain factors including those that are largely outside of our control, such as our limited operating history, customer unfamiliarity with our ZEVs, any delays in scaling production, delivery and service operations to meet demand, competition and uncertainty regarding the future of hybrid electric and ZEVs, including our ZEVs and our production and sales performance compared with market expectations.

Our business and prospects depend significantly on our ability to build our brand. We may not succeed in continuing to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand and reputation could be harmed by negative publicity regarding us or our ZEVs.

Our business and prospects are heavily dependent on our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen our brand. If we do not continue to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a critical mass of customers. Promoting and positioning our brand will likely depend significantly on our ability to provide high quality ZEVs and engage with our customers as intended, and we have limited experience in these areas. In addition, our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen our brand will depend heavily on the success of our customer development and branding efforts. Such efforts may be non-traditional and may not achieve the desired results. To promote our brand, we may be required to change our customer development and branding practices, which could result in substantially increased expenses. If we do not develop and maintain a strong brand, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.

In addition, if incidents occur or are perceived to have occurred, whether or not such incidents are our fault, we could be subject to adverse publicity. In particular, given the popularity of social media, any negative publicity, whether true or not, could quickly proliferate and harm consumer perceptions and confidence in our brand. Our ability to successfully position our brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our competitors’ vehicles.

In addition, from time to time, our ZEVs may be evaluated and reviewed by third parties. Any negative reviews or reviews which compare us unfavorably to our competitors could adversely affect consumer perception about our ZEVs.

Developments in alternative technology improvements in the internal combustion engine may adversely affect the demand for our products.

Significant developments in alternative technologies, such as advanced diesel, ethanol, or compressed natural gas or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we do not currently anticipate. Other fuels or sources of energy may emerge as customers’ preferred alternative to our zero-emission powertrains for medium-duty trucks platform. Any failure by us to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay our development and introduction of new and enhanced zero-emission powertrains, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our powertrains, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors. Our research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in electric powertrain technology. As technologies change, we plan to upgrade or adapt our zero-emission powertrains and introduce new models in order to continue to provide vehicles with the latest technology. However, our electrified powertrain solutions may not compete effectively with alternative systems if we are not able to source and integrate the latest technology into our electrified powertrain solutions.

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We have limited experience servicing our vehicles. If we are unable to address the service requirements of our customers, our business will be materially and adversely affected.

Because we have only recently begun production and delivery of our ZEV medium-duty trucks, we have limited experience servicing or repairing our vehicles. In addition, drivers often have less familiarity with ZEVs and their charging and servicing needs, and thus require greater support and servicing than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Servicing alternative fuel and electric vehicles is different than servicing vehicles with internal combustion engines and requires specialized skills, including high voltage training and servicing techniques. We currently partner with third-party service providers to perform some or all of the maintenance on our trucks, and there can be no assurance that these third-party service providers have enough technical knowledge and experience to appropriately and/or timely service our vehicles. Our customers will also depend on our customer support team to resolve technical and operational issues relating to the integrated software underlying our electrified powertrain solutions. Our ability to provide effective customer support is largely dependent on our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel with experience in supporting customers on platforms such as ours. As we continue to grow, additional pressure may be placed on our customer support team, and we may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for technical support. We also may be unable to modify the future scope and delivery of our technical support to compete with changes in the technical support provided by our competitors. Increased customer demand for support, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and negatively affect our operating results. If we are unable to successfully address the service requirements of our customers or establish a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support, we may be subject to claims from our customers, including loss of revenue or damages, and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, the motor vehicle industry laws in many states require that service facilities be available to service vehicles physically sold from locations in their state. While we anticipate developing a service program that would satisfy regulators in these circumstances, the specifics of our service program are still in development, and at some point may need to be restructured to comply with state law, which may impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may engage in transactions, including acquisitions, that could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our stockholders, reduce our financial resources, or prove not to be successful.

We have entered into, and may in the future enter into additional, strategic alliances, including joint ventures or minority equity investments with various third parties to further our business purpose. These alliances could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the third party and increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffer negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third party.

Strategic business relationships will be an important factor in the growth and success of our business. However, there are no assurances that we will be able to continue to identify or secure suitable business relationship opportunities in the future or our competitors may capitalize on such opportunities before we do. Moreover, identifying such opportunities could require substantial management time and resources, and negotiating and financing relationships involves significant costs and uncertainties. If we are unable to successfully source and execute on strategic relationship opportunities in the future, our overall growth could be impaired, and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

When appropriate opportunities arise, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. In addition to possible stockholder approval, we may need approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may disrupt our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of

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significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant.

There can be no assurance that we will undertake or successfully complete any acquisitions. Any transactions that we do complete may be subject to the foregoing or other risks and have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Conversely, any failure to pursue any acquisition or other strategic transaction that would be beneficial to us could delay the development and potential commercialization of our products.

If we fail to introduce or acquire new products or services that achieve broad market acceptance on a timely basis, or if our products or services are not adopted as expected, we will not be able to compete effectively.

We operate in a highly competitive, quickly changing environment, and our future success depends on our ability to develop or acquire, and introduce new products and services that achieve broad market acceptance. Our ability to successfully introduce and market new products is unproven. Because we have a limited operating history and the market for our products, including newly acquired or developed products, is rapidly evolving, it is difficult to predict our operating results, particularly with respect to any new products that we may introduce. Our success will depend in large part upon our ability to identify demand trends in the market in which we operate and quickly develop or acquire, and design, manufacture and sell, products and services that satisfy these demands in a cost-effective manner.

In order to differentiate our products and services from competitors’ products, we need to increase focus and capital investment in research and development, including software development. If any products currently sold by, and services offered by, us do not continue, or if our new products or services fail to achieve widespread market acceptance, or if we are unsuccessful in capitalizing on opportunities in the market in which we operate, our future growth may be slowed and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Successfully predicting demand trends is difficult, and it is very difficult to predict the effect that introducing a new product or service will have on existing product or service sales. It is possible that we may not be successful with our new products and services, and as a result our future growth may be slowed and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Also, we may not be able to respond effectively to new product or service announcements by competitors by quickly introducing competitive products and services.

In addition, we may acquire companies and technologies in the future. In these circumstances, we may not be able to successfully manage integration of the new product and service lines with our existing suite of products and services. If we are unable to effectively and successfully further develop these new product and service lines, we may not be able to increase or maintain sales, and our gross margin may be adversely affected.

Furthermore, the success of our new products will depend on several factors, including, but not limited to, market demand costs, timely completion and introduction of these products, prompt resolution of any defects or bugs in these products, our ability to support these products, differentiation of new products from those of our competitors, market acceptance of these products, delays and quality issues in releasing new products and services. The occurrence of one or more of the foregoing factors may result in lower quarterly revenue than expected, and we may in the future experience product or service introductions that fall short of our projected rates of market adoption.

We will face risks associated with potential international operations, including unfavorable regulatory, political, currency, tax, and labor conditions, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Our business plan includes operations in international markets, including initial manufacturing and supply activities, and sales into other international markets. We will face risks associated with any potential international operations, including possible unfavorable regulatory, political, tax and labor conditions, which could harm our business. We may have international operations and subsidiaries that are subject to the legal, political, regulatory and social requirements and economic conditions in these jurisdictions. Furthermore, conducting and launching operations on an international scale requires close coordination of activities across multiple jurisdictions and time zones and consumes significant management resources. We have minimal experience to date selling or leasing and servicing our vehicles internationally and such

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expansion would require us to make significant expenditures, including the hiring of local employees and establishing facilities, in advance of generating any revenue. We will be subject to a number of risks associated with international business activities that may increase our costs, impact our ability to sell or lease our vehicles and require significant management attention. These risks include:

If we fail to successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially harmed.

Risks Related to Manufacturing and Supply Chain

We have experienced and may in the future experience significant delays in the design, manufacture, launch and financing of our ZEVs and zero-emission powertrains, which could harm our business and prospects.

Any delay in the financing, design, manufacture and launch of our ZEVs or zero-emission powertrains, could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Vehicle manufacturers often experience delays in the design, manufacture and commercial release of new products. To the extent we delay or interrupt the launch of our ZEVs or zero-emission powertrains, our growth prospects could be adversely affected as we may fail to grow our market share. Furthermore, we rely on third-party suppliers for the provision and development of many of the key components and materials used in our products. See the risk factor titled “We are dependent on our suppliers, some of which are single or limited source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to deliver the necessary components of our vehicles at prices, volumes, and specifications acceptable to us, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.” To the extent our suppliers experience any delays in providing us with or developing necessary components, we could experience delays in delivering on our timelines, or be forced to seek alternative suppliers.

We are dependent on our suppliers, some of which are single or limited source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to deliver the necessary components of our vehicles at prices, volumes, and specifications acceptable to us, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We expect to purchase various types of equipment, raw materials and manufactured component parts from our suppliers. We rely on third-party suppliers for the provision and development of many of the key components and materials used in our electrified powertrain solutions. While we plan to obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, some of the components used in our vehicles will be purchased by us from a single source. If our suppliers experience substantial

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financial difficulties, cease operations, or otherwise face business disruptions, we may experience production disruptions, which would have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations. We occasionally have disagreements, including related to timing or quality issues, with our suppliers, which can and have resulted in disputes, including litigation.

We have experienced disruptions to our supply chain, including our access to critical components, including batteries, motors, wire harness connectors and chassis. Many of these products are novel products for our suppliers and therefore the supply chain is fragile and many of these products require substantial lead time. These supply issues have caused, and we expect them to continue to cause, further disruptions to our operations, delays in our revenues, and an adverse impact on our revenue forecasts. In particular, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been experiencing significant delivery delays from our suppliers since April 2020. In addition, we often do not get informed of delivery delays until or after the expected delivery dates, which does not allow for timely mitigation plans. We increased our raw material inventories and added new suppliers to attempt to manage and mitigate this risk. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the Company integrated batteries from a new supplier resulting in higher manufacturing costs and delays in the manufacturing and shipping of our products. There can be no assurance that new suppliers will not similarly experience delays in production or delivery. Without being able to complete the final vehicle commissioning due to these supply chain constraints, the lack of visibility from suppliers on shipments, and ramp time required to integrate new suppliers into our operations, our ability to forecast precise ship dates for completed vehicles is limited. Any disruption could affect our ability to deliver vehicles and could increase our costs and margin and negatively affect our liquidity and financial performance.

We have experienced an industry-wide shortage in chassis, a critical component in our vehicles. Major OEMs such as Ford and GM have publicly spoken to limited chassis availability, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. We are currently working on a path to address the industry chassis shortage with our own Lightning-branded stripped chassis and cab-chassis. Additionally, we are exploring adding additional suppliers to our network; however, there can be no assurance that any alternate supply arrangements will be finalized on terms that are favorable to us, or at all or that we will not encounter supply disruptions under any such agreements.

Our third-party suppliers may not be able to meet their product specifications and performance characteristics or our desired specifications, performance and pricing, which would impact our ability to achieve our product specifications and performance characteristics as well. Additionally, our third-party suppliers may be unable to obtain required certifications for their products for which we plan to use or provide warranties that are necessary for our solutions. If we are unable to obtain necessary components and materials used in our ZEV trucks or electrified powertrain solutions from our suppliers at prices, volumes, performance and specifications acceptable to us, or if our suppliers decide to create or supply a competing product, our business could be adversely affected.

We face risks associated with a high concentration of suppliers.

As of and for the year ended December 31, 2021, three suppliers accounted for 20%, 19% and 11% of the Company’s total accounts payable and one supplier accounted for 10% of inventory purchases. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, one supplier accounted for 12% of the Company’s total accounts payable and one supplier accounted for 33% of purchases. If any one of our suppliers is unable to timely deliver our required materials due to labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, entry into exclusivity agreements with our competitors or for any other reason, our business will be negatively impacted. There can be no assurance that our suppliers will continue to supply the materials necessary for our vehicle operations.

Increases in costs, global and regional economic conditions, disruption of supply or shortage of raw materials could harm our business.

We may experience increases in the cost of or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of raw materials, which may particularly affect our commercial production of zero-emission vehicles and powertrains. Any such cost increase, supply interruption or shortage could materially negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We use various raw materials and commodities for components and parts including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, non-ferrous metals (such as copper), cobalt, aluminum and rubber. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate

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depending on global and regional market conditions, including inflation, and global demand and could adversely affect our business and operating results. Inflation may continue in the future to be rampant, resulting in higher commodity costs.

Furthermore, fluctuations or shortages in petroleum from market uncertainties, the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges and raw material costs. Increases in the prices for our raw materials would increase our operating costs to the extent that we do not have firm pricing from our suppliers or our suppliers are not able to honor such prices, and could reduce our margins if the increased costs cannot be recouped through increased ZEV truck prices. Any disruption in the supply of necessary components could temporarily disrupt production of our ZEV medium-duty trucks or our zero-emission powertrains until a different supplier is fully qualified. There can be no assurance that we will be able to recoup increasing costs of raw materials by increasing truck prices.

If our ZEV medium-duty trucks fail to perform as expected, our ability to develop, market and sell or lease our alternative fuel and electric trucks could be harmed.

Because we have only recently begun production and delivery of our ZEV medium-duty trucks, we are attempting to build brand recognition, establish relationships with commercial fleets and fleet managers and gain customer loyalty. Therefore, it is very important that our vehicles and our service and support meet the expectations of our customers. Our ZEV trucks and our zero-emission powertrains may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or may require repair. We currently have limited frame of reference by which to evaluate the performance of our zero-emission powertrains upon which our business prospects depend. For example, our powertrains will use a substantial amount of software to operate which will require modification and updates over the life of the vehicle. Software products are inherently complex and often contain defects and errors when first introduced. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in the powertrains’ hardware or software prior to commencing customer sales. Although we have not experienced any recalls to date, we may experience recalls in the future, which could adversely affect our brand in our target markets and could adversely affect our business, prospects and results of operations. Our zero-emission powertrains may not perform consistent with customers’ expectations or consistent with other powertrains which may become available. Although we have warranties on critical components of our vehicles from our suppliers, we may, in the future, have to pay for the cost of repairs or customer-service intervention on our vehicles on the road. Any product defects or any other failure of our zero-emission powertrains to perform as expected could harm our reputation and result in adverse publicity, lost revenue, delivery delays, product recalls, product liability claims and significant warranty and other expenses, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects. Additionally, problems and defects experienced by other alternative fuel truck companies or electric consumer vehicles could by association have a negative impact on perception and customer demand for our electrified powertrain solutions.

Insufficient warranty reserves to cover future warranty claims could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We provide a manufacturer’s warranty on all vehicles and powertrain components and systems we sell. We maintain warranty reserves to cover warranty-related claims. If our warranty reserves are inadequate to cover future warranty claims on our zero-emission powertrains, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected. We may become subject to significant and unexpected warranty expenses. There can be no assurances that then-existing warranty reserves will be sufficient to cover all claims.

Our ZEVs are subject to motor vehicle standards and the failure to satisfy such mandated safety standards would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

All vehicles sold must comply with international, federal and state motor vehicle safety standards. In the United States, vehicles that meet or exceed all federally mandated safety standards are certified by the manufacturer under the federal regulations. Rigorous design, testing and the use of approved materials and equipment are among the requirements for achieving federal certification. Failure by us to have our ZEVs or other altered vehicles satisfy all applicable motor vehicle standards would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

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We, our outsourcing partners and our suppliers rely on production facilities with complex machinery for our production, which involves a significant degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of operational performance and costs.

We, our outsourcing partners and our suppliers may rely on complex machinery for the production, assembly and installation of our electrified powertrain solutions, which will involve a significant degree of uncertainty and risk in terms of operational performance and costs. Our production facilities and the facilities of our outsourcing partners and suppliers consist of large-scale machinery combining many components. These components may suffer unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will depend on repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. For example, our production facility has had and may in the future experience a temporary outage. Outages at production facilities or unexpected malfunctions of these components may significantly affect the intended operational efficiency. In June 2021, a drivetrain supplier shifted production to a new international factory which resulted in production startup issues and delays on delivery of parts. Operational performance and costs can be difficult to predict and are often influenced by factors outside of our control, such as, but not limited to, scarcity of natural resources, environmental hazards and remediation, costs associated with decommissioning of machines, labor disputes and strikes, difficulty or delays in obtaining governmental permits, damages or defects in electronic systems, industrial accidents, fire, seismic activity and natural disasters. Should operational risks materialize, it may result in personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment, damage to production facilities, monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production, environmental damage, administrative fines, increased insurance costs and potential legal liabilities, all which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

We may need to defend ourselves against patent or trademark infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may own or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent or limit our ability to make, use, develop or sell our zero-emission powertrains, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. We have received, and may in the future receive, inquiries from patent or trademark owners inquiring whether we infringe their proprietary rights. Companies owning patents or other intellectual property rights relating to zero-emission powertrains may allege infringement of such rights. In response to a determination that we have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:

A successful claim of infringement against us could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. Any litigation or claims, whether valid or invalid, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources.

We license software and other technology from time to time. Our use of licensed technology may infringe on the rights of one or more third parties. In such cases, we will seek indemnification from our licensors. However, our rights to indemnification may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses. In such cases, we will seek indemnification from our licensors. However, our rights to indemnification may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses.

Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights from unauthorized use by third parties.

Failure to adequately establish and protect our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue which would

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adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we will rely on a combination of trade secrets (including know-how), patents, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyright, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to establish and protect our rights in our technology.

The protection of our intellectual property rights will be important to our future business opportunities. However, the measures we take to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others may not be effective for various reasons, including the following:

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Patent, trademark, and trade secret laws vary significantly throughout the world. Some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Further, policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property in foreign jurisdictions may be difficult. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the United States.

Also, while we have registered trademarks in an effort to protect our investment in our brand and goodwill with customers, competitors may challenge the validity of those trademarks and other brand names in which we have invested. Such challenges can be expensive and may adversely affect our ability to maintain the goodwill gained in connection with a particular trademark.

Our patent applications may not issue as patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.

We cannot be certain that we are the first inventor of the subject matter to which we have filed a particular patent application, or if we are the first party to file such a patent application. If another party has filed a patent application to the same subject matter as we have, we may not be entitled to the protection sought by the patent application. Further, the scope of protection of issued patent claims is often difficult to determine. As a result, we cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications we may own or license in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents we may own or license in the future will be useful in protecting our technology. In addition, our competitors may design around our issued patents, which may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results.

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Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

Breaches in data security, failure of information security systems and privacy concerns could adversely impact our financial condition, subject us to penalties, damage our reputation and brand, and harm our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

We expect to face significant challenges with respect to information security and privacy, including in relation to the collection, storage, transmission and sharing of information. We collect, transmit and store confidential and personal and sensitive information of our employees and customers, including names, accounts, user IDs and passwords, vehicle information, and payment or transaction related information. We are also subject to certain laws and regulations, such as “Right to Repair” laws, that require us to provide third-party access to our network and/or vehicle systems.

Increasingly, companies are subject to a wide variety of attacks on their networks and information technology infrastructure on an ongoing basis. Traditional computer “hackers,” malicious code (such as viruses and worms), phishing attempts, employee theft or misuse, denial of service attacks, ransomware attacks and sophisticated nation-state and nation-state supported actors engage in intrusions and attacks that create risks for our (and our suppliers’) internal networks, vehicles, infrastructure, and cloud deployed products and the information they store and process. Although we have implemented security measures to prevent such attacks, our networks and systems may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, employee error, malfeasance, a combination of these, or otherwise, and as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to our systems, networks, or data.

We may face difficulties or delays in identifying or otherwise responding to any attacks or actual or potential security breaches or threats. A breach in our data security could create system disruptions or slowdowns and provide malicious parties with access to information stored on our networks, resulting in data being publicly disclosed, altered, lost, or stolen, which could subject us to liability and adversely impact our financial condition. Further, any breach in our data security could allow malicious parties to access sensitive systems, such as our product lines and the vehicles themselves. Such access could adversely impact the safety of our employees and customers.

In addition, we may incur significant financial and operational costs to investigate, remediate and implement additional tools, devices and systems designed to prevent actual or perceived security breaches and other security incidents, as well as costs to comply with any notification obligations resulting from any security incidents. Any of these negative outcomes could adversely impact the market perception of our products and customer and investor confidence in our company, and would materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Any unauthorized control or manipulation of our zero-emission powertrains’ systems could result in loss of confidence in us, ZEVs and our powertrains and harm our business.

We have designed, implemented and tested security measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology networks, our zero-emission powertrains and related systems. However, hackers have attempted and may attempt to gain unauthorized access to modify, alter and use such networks, powertrains and systems to gain control of or to change our powertrains’ functionality, user interface and performance characteristics, or to gain access to data stored in or generated by the powertrain. Future vulnerabilities could be identified and our efforts to remediate such vulnerabilities may not be successful. Any unauthorized access to or control of our powertrains or their systems, or any loss of customer data, could result in legal claims or proceedings. In addition, regardless of their veracity, reports of unauthorized access to our powertrains, systems or data, as well as other factors that may result in the perception that our powertrains, systems or data are capable of being “hacked,” could negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We intend to retain certain personal information about our customers, employees or others and may be subject to various privacy laws.

We are subject to or affected by a number of federal, state and local laws and regulations, as well as contractual obligations and industry standards, that impose certain obligations and restrictions with respect to data privacy and security, and govern our collection, storage, retention, protection, use, processing, transmission, sharing and disclosure of personal information

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including that of our employees, customers and others. Most jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals, regulatory authorities and others of security breaches involving certain types of data. Such laws may be inconsistent or may change or additional laws may be adopted. In addition, our agreements with certain customers may require us to notify them in the event of a security breach. Such mandatory disclosures are costly, could lead to negative publicity, result in penalties or fines, result in litigation, may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures and require us to expend significant capital and other resources to respond to and/or alleviate problems caused by the actual or perceived security breach.

The global data protection landscape is rapidly evolving, and implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. We may not be able to monitor and react to all developments in a timely manner. For example, California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which became effective in January 2020. The CCPA establishes a privacy framework for covered businesses, including an expansive definition of personal information and data privacy rights for California residents. The CCPA includes a framework with potentially severe statutory damages and private rights of action. The CCPA requires covered businesses to provide new disclosures to California residents, provide them new ways to opt-out of certain disclosures of personal information, and allow for a new cause of action for data breaches. Moreover, California voters approved the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”) which amends the CCPA and goes into effect on January 1, 2023. Among other things, the CPRA gives California residents additional rights with respect to data pertaining to them, expands the types of data breaches subject to the CCPA’s private right of action, and establishes a new California Privacy Protection Agency to implement and enforce the new law. As we expand our operations, the CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. Both Virginia and Colorado recently passed privacy laws that become effective on January 1 and July 1, 2023, respectively, and other states have considered similar laws. Compliance with any applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms to comply with such laws and regulations.

We plan to collect, store, transmit and otherwise process data from customers, employees and others as part of our business and operations, which may include personal data or confidential or proprietary information. We also work with partners and third-party service providers or vendors that collect, store and process such data on our behalf and in connection with our ZEVs. There can be no assurance that any security measures that we or our third- party service providers or vendors have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats. If a compromise of data were to occur, we may become liable under our contracts with other parties and under applicable law for damages and incur penalties and other costs to respond to, investigate and remedy such an incident. Our systems, networks and physical facilities could be breached or personal information could otherwise be compromised due to employee error or malfeasance, if, for example, third parties attempt to fraudulently induce our employees or our customers to disclose information or user names and/or passwords. Third parties may also exploit vulnerabilities in, or obtain unauthorized access to, platforms, systems, networks and/or physical facilities utilized by our service providers and vendors.

We intend to use our trucks’ electronic systems to log information about each vehicle’s use in order to aid us in vehicle diagnostics, repair and maintenance. Our customers may object to the use of this data, which may increase our vehicle maintenance costs and harm our business prospects. Possession and use of our customers’ information in conducting our business may subject us to legislative and regulatory burdens in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions that could require notification of data breaches, restrict our use of such information and hinder our ability to acquire new customers or market to existing customers. The regulatory framework for data privacy and security is rapidly evolving, and we may not be able to monitor and react to all developments in a timely manner. As legislation continues to develop, we will likely be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures and internal processes to comply with such legislation. Non-compliance or a major breach of our network security and systems could have serious negative consequences for our business and future prospects, including possible fines, penalties and damages, reduced customer demand for our vehicles, and harm to our reputation and brand.

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Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation

We, our outsourcing partners and our suppliers are or may be subject to substantial regulation and unfavorable changes to, or failure by us, our outsourcing partners or our suppliers to comply with, these regulations could substantially harm our business and operating results.

Our ZEVs, our zero-emission powertrains, and the sale of electric motor vehicles in general, are subject to substantial regulation under international, federal, state, and local laws. For example, we currently maintain Executive Orders issued by the California Air Resources Board, which is a requirement to sell ZEVs in California as well as various other states. We continue to evaluate requirements for licenses, approvals, certificates and governmental authorizations necessary to manufacture, sell or service our electrified powertrain or commercial vehicle solutions in the jurisdictions in which we plan to operate and intend to take such actions necessary to comply. We may experience difficulties in obtaining or complying with various licenses, approvals, certifications and other governmental authorizations necessary to manufacture, sell or service their electrified powertrain solutions in any of these jurisdictions. For instance, our electrified powertrain solutions and our upfitting of medium duty trucks may not be readily classified into categories by governmental agencies. If we, our outsourcing partners or our suppliers are unable to obtain or comply with any of the licenses, approvals, certifications or other governmental authorizations necessary to carry out our operations in the jurisdictions in which we currently operate, or those jurisdictions in which we plan to operate in the future, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. For example, if the battery packs installed in our electrified powertrain solutions are deemed to be transported, we will need to comply with the mandatory regulations governing the transport of “dangerous goods,” and any deficiency in compliance may result in us being prohibited from selling our electrified powertrain solutions until compliant batteries are installed. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. Regulations related to the electric vehicle industry and alternative energy are currently evolving and we face risks associated with changes to these regulations, including but not limited to:

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To the extent that laws or regulations change, our electric powertrains may not comply with applicable international, federal, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected. Further, delays, reduction, or elimination of applicable international, federal, or state laws or regulations requiring or incentivizing reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases or other pollutants from internal combustion engines or requiring or incentivizing manufacturers to offer for sale increasing numbers of ZEVs may result in the diminished competitiveness of the alternative fuel and electric vehicle industry generally. This could materially and adversely affect the growth of the alternative fuel automobile markets and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may not have adequate insurance coverage for possible claims, lawsuits, product recalls or other damages claims made against us.

We may not have adequate insurance coverage. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim. As a recently public company with limited operating history we may find it

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difficult to obtain and maintain certain categories of insurance such as adequate D&O insurance, product liability insurance, garage keepers insurance, cybersecurity insurance, etc.  

The unavailability, reduction or elimination of government and economic incentives could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Any reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of government subsidies and economic incentives because of policy changes, the reduced need for such subsidies and incentives due to the perceived success of the electric vehicle or other reasons may result in the diminished competitiveness of the electric vehicle industry generally. This could materially and adversely affect the growth of our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

While certain tax credits and other incentives for alternative energy production and electric vehicles have been available in the past, there is no guarantee these programs will be available in the future. If current tax incentives are not available in the future, our financial position could be harmed. As federal, state, or local legislation related to electric vehicles or data protection continues to develop, we will likely be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our products, protective measures and internal processes to comply with such legislation.

In particular, we are influenced by federal, state and local tax credits, rebates, grants and other government programs. These include various government programs such as LCFS programs, which encourage low carbon “compliant” transportation fuels (including CNG) in the California or Oregon marketplaces by allowing producers of these fuels to generate LCFS credits that can be sold to noncompliant regulated parties. Additionally, we are influenced by laws, rules and regulations requiring or incentivizing reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases or other pollutants from internal combustion engines or requiring or incentivizing manufacturers to offer for sale increasing numbers of ZEVs. Lawmakers, regulators, policymakers, environmental or advocacy organizations, OEMs, trade groups, suppliers or other groups may invest significant time and money in efforts to delay, repeal or otherwise negatively influence regulations and programs that promote electric vehicles. Many of these parties have substantially greater resources and influence than we do. Further, changes in federal, state or local political, social or economic conditions, including a lack of legislative focus on these programs and regulations, could result in their modification, delayed adoption or repeal. Any failure to adopt, delay in implementation, expiration, repeal or modification of these programs and regulations, or the adoption of any programs or regulations that encourage the use of other alternative fuels or alternative vehicles over electric vehicles, would reduce the market for electrified powertrains or ZEVs and harm our operating results, liquidity and financial condition. For instance, California lawmakers and regulators have implemented various measures designed to increase the use of electric, hydrogen and other zero-emission vehicles, including establishing firm goals for the number of these vehicles offered for sale or operated within the state by specified dates and enacting various laws and other programs in support of these goals. Although the influence and applicability of these or similar measures on our business and electrified powertrain and ZEV adoption in general remains uncertain, a reduction in focus by these groups on, or loss of legal authority to incentivize or require the sale of, ZEVs or vehicles with an overall net carbon negative emissions profile, could adversely affect the market for our electrified powertrain solutions. The state of California’s legal authority to develop and implement greenhouse gas emission standards is currently the subject of legal challenges, and the authority of California to implement and enforce GHG emission standards for vehicles and engines in the future is uncertain. Additionally, the Biden administration recently announced an effort by the EPA and NHTSA to reverse rollbacks in GHG and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (“CAFE”) standards enacted by the previous administration. The Biden administration also announced a goal of 50% EV sales by 2030. The Biden administration’s new GHG and CAFE standards, if and when finalized, will mandate fleetwide increases in fuel economy and decreases in GHG emissions from internal combustion equipped vehicles produced by all manufacturers. If these economic incentives or regulatory programs are reduced, eliminated or never finalized and enacted, there could be a reduction in demand for our electrified powertrain solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

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We have been, and may in the future be, subject to lawsuits or indemnity claims in the ordinary course of business, including product liability claims and securities litigation resulting in possible class action and derivative lawsuits, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.

From time to time, we have been and may be named as a defendant in lawsuits, government investigations, indemnity claims and other legal proceedings involving alleged product liability, personal injury, intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection, securities, tax, labor and employment, environmental, commercial disputes and other matters that may harm our business, financial conditions and results of operations. For example, on October 15, 2021, a purported stockholder of the Company filed a putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado alleging that, among other things, we and certain senior members of our management team violated federal securities laws. Product liability claims, even those without merit or those that do not involve our ZEVs, could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. The automobile industry in particular experiences significant product liability claims, and we face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our ZEVs do not perform or are claimed to not have performed as expected. As is true for other ZEV suppliers, we expect in the future that our ZEVs will be involved in crashes or other events (including fires, explosions and malfunctions) resulting in death or personal injury. Additionally, product liability claims that affect our competitors or suppliers may cause indirect adverse publicity for us and our ZEVs.

Lawsuits, including a product liability claim, could result in substantial damages and be costly and time-consuming for us to defend. Moreover, a product liability claim against us or our competitors could generate substantial negative publicity about our ZEVs and business and could have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We may self-insure against the risk of product liability claims for vehicle exposure, meaning that any product liability claims will likely have to be paid from company funds, not by insurance.

Future product recalls could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.

Any product recall in the future may result in adverse publicity, damage our brand and materially adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. In the future, we may voluntarily or involuntarily, initiate a recall if any of our electric powertrain components (including the fuel cell or batteries) prove to be defective or noncompliant with applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. If a large number of vehicles are the subject of a recall or if needed replacement parts are not in adequate supply, we may not be able to re-deploy recalled vehicles for a significant period of time. Such recalls involve significant expense and diversion of management attention and other resources, which could adversely affect our brand image in our target markets, as well as our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs upon us and cause delays in building our manufacturing facilities.

Our operations are and will continue to be subject to international, federal, state, and/or local environmental laws and regulations, including laws relating to water use; air emissions; use of recycled materials; energy sources; the protection of human health and the environment, natural resources; and the use, handling, storage, disposal and human exposure to hazardous materials. Environmental and health and safety laws and regulations can be complex, and we expect that we will be affected by future amendments to such laws or other new environmental and health and safety laws and regulations which may require us to change our operations, potentially resulting in a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. We have been required to obtain and comply with the terms and conditions of multiple environmental permits, certificates, or registrations, many of which are difficult and costly to obtain and could be subject to legal challenges. Violations of these laws, regulations, and permits, certificates and registrations can give rise to liability for administrative oversight and correction costs, clean-up costs, property damage, bodily injury and fines and penalties. In some cases, violations may result in suspension or revocation of permits, certificates or registrations. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with environmental laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties, third party damages, suspension of production or a cessation of our operations, and reputational harm.

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Contamination at properties we currently own or operate, will own or operate, we formerly owned or operated or to which hazardous substances were sent by us, may result in liability for us under environmental laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which can impose liability for the full amount of remediation-related costs without regard to fault, for the investigation and clean-up of contaminated soil and ground water, for vapor intrusion and other exposure pathways or impacts to human health or the environment and for damages to natural resources. The costs of complying with environmental laws and regulations and any claims concerning noncompliance, or liability with respect to contamination in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results. As we continue to expand our facilities, we may face unexpected delays in obtaining the required permits and approvals that could require significant time and financial resources and delay our ability to expand these facilities, which would adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could expose us to greater than anticipated tax liabilities.

The tax laws applicable to our business, including the laws of the United States, and other jurisdictions, are subject to interpretation and certain jurisdictions may aggressively interpret their laws in an effort to raise additional tax revenue. The tax authorities of the jurisdictions in which we operate may challenge our methodologies for valuing developed technology or intercompany arrangements or our revenue recognition policies, which could increase our worldwide effective tax rate and harm our financial position and results of operations. It is possible that tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken, and any adverse outcome of such a review or audit could have a negative effect on our financial position and results of operations. Further, the determination of our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities requires significant judgment by management, and there are transactions where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe that our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate tax outcome may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements and may materially affect our financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made.

In addition, tax laws are dynamic and subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the law are issued or applied. For example, the Biden administration has proposed several corporate tax increases, including raising the U.S. corporate income tax rate and greater taxation of international income, which, if enacted, could adversely affect our tax liability, and governmental tax authorities are increasingly scrutinizing the tax positions of companies. Many countries in the European Union, as well as a number of other countries and organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are actively considering changes to existing tax laws that, if enacted, could increase our tax obligations in countries where we do business. If U.S. or other foreign tax authorities change applicable tax laws, our overall tax liabilities could increase, and our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely impacted.

Risks Related to Our Employees and Human Resources

If we are unable to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical and engineering personnel, our ability to compete could be harmed.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to retain our key personnel. The unexpected loss of or failure to retain one or more of our key employees could adversely affect our business. Our success also depends, in part, on our continuing ability to identify, hire, attract, train and develop other highly qualified personnel.

Competition for these employees can be intense, and our ability to hire, attract and retain them depends on our ability to provide competitive compensation. We may not be able to attract, assimilate, develop or retain qualified personnel in the future, and our failure to do so could adversely affect our business, including the execution of our global business strategy. Any failure by our management team to perform as expected may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

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In particular, we are highly dependent on the services of Timothy Reeser, our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Reeser is the source of many, if not most, of the ideas and execution driving our growth. If Mr. Reeser were to discontinue his service to us due to death, disability or any other reason, we would be significantly disadvantaged.

Our employees and independent contractors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, which could have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees and independent contractors may engage in misconduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless or negligent conduct or other activities that violate laws and regulations, including production standards, U.S. federal and state fraud, abuse, data privacy and security laws, other similar non-U.S. laws or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. In addition, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results, including, without limitation, the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, integrity oversight and reporting obligations to resolve allegations of non-compliance, imprisonment, other sanctions, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

The market price of our securities may fluctuate and may decline.

Fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Since the Business Combination our stock price has ranged from $4.16 to $11.60 through March 14, 2022. The trading price of our securities has been volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on the market value of our securities.

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Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general has experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for automotive stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public markets by our existing stockholders, or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline significantly, even if our business is doing well.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock in the public market could occur at any time. If our stockholders sell, or the market perceives that we or our stockholders intend to sell, a substantial amount of our common stock in the public market, the market price of our Common Stock could decline significantly. Pursuant to the registration statement on Form S-1, filed with the SEC on June 21, 2021 and subsequently declared effective on July 6, 2021 (File No. 333-257237) (the “Resale Registration Statement”), certain of our stockholders are permitted to resell shares of our Common Stock, which includes some of the shares of Common Stock issued as part of the Business Combination, the shares of Common Stock into which the Convertible Note will convert and are issuable upon exercise of the Convertible Note, and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants.

Additionally, certain holders of shares of our Common Stock have rights, subject to conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. Pursuant to these rights, we registered these shares under the Resale Registration Statement which resulted in the shares becoming freely tradeable in the public market, subject to the restrictions of Rule 144 in the case of our affiliates. We also expect that Rule 144 will become available for the resale of shares of our Common Stock that are not registered for resale beginning on May 12, 2022. In the future, we may offer to sell shares of our Common Stock. Any sales of securities or the perception of such sales by these stockholders or us could have a material adverse effect on the market price for our Common Stock.

The issuance of additional shares of our Common Stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our share incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 250,000,000 shares of our Common Stock and up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such rights and preferences as included in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Subject to compliance with applicable rules and regulations, we may issue Common Stock or securities convertible into Common Stock from time to time in connection with a financing, acquisition, investment, our equity incentive plans or otherwise. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline.

Concentration of ownership among our existing executive officers, directors and their affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.

Our officers, directors and our affiliates beneficially own a significant percentage of our Common Stock. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exercise a significant level of control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This control could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company or changes in management and will make the approval of certain transactions difficult or impossible without the support of these stockholders.

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We do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.

We do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, holders of our Common Stock may need to rely on sales of their shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.

If we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will only be able to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.”

If we do not maintain as current and effective the prospectus relating to the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of Common Stock that holders will receive upon exercise of the warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Warrant Agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to have filed a registration statement relating to the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and have agreed to maintain its effectiveness until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. There are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the warrants upon exercise of the warrants If we are not able to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in Lightning eMotors may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless.

There is no guarantee that the warrants will ever be in the money, and they may expire worthless and the terms of warrants may be amended.

The exercise price for the warrants is $11.50 per share of Common Stock. There is no guarantee that the warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and as such, the warrants may expire worthless.

In addition, the warrants were issued in registered form under the Amended and Restated Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The Amended and Restated Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants to make any other change. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, modify the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares and their respective affiliates and associates have of Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

We may redeem the unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to warrant holders, thereby making their warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force warrant holders (i) to exercise their warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for them to do so, (ii) to sell their warrants at the then-current market price when they might otherwise wish to hold their warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of the warrants. None of the private placement warrants and warrants underlying the units issuable upon conversion of working capital loan will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.

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We have registered the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants are not registered under the Securities Act at the time of exercise, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis. However, no public warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their public warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Common Stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the public warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the public warrants under applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the public warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such public warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such public warrant and such public warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their public warrants as part of a purchase of public units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Common Stock included in the public units. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our private warrants may be able to exercise such private warrants.

Warrants will become exercisable for our Common Stock, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.

The public warrants issued as part of our Business Combination are exercisable for 14,999,970 shares of Common Stock at $11.50 per share. The Placement Warrants issued as part of our Business Combination are exercisable for 670,108 shares of Common Stock at $11.50 per share. We also issued the warrants related to the Convertible Note to purchase up to 8,695,652 shares of Common Stock for a per share exercise price of $11.50. The additional shares of Common Stock issued upon exercise of these warrants will result in dilution to our holders of Common Stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.

Certain of our warrants are accounted for as a warrant liability and are recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

We had 670,108 warrants that were issued in private placements that occurred concurrently with the Business Combination. These private warrants and the shares of our Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the private warrants are exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the private warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the private warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in our Business Combination, in which case the 670,108 private warrants could be redeemed by us for $6,701. Under GAAP, we are required to evaluate contingent exercise provisions of these warrants and then their settlement provisions to determine whether they should be accounted for as a warrant liability or as equity. Any settlement amount not equal to the difference between the fair value of a fixed number of our equity shares and a fixed monetary amount precludes these warrants from being considered indexed to its own stock, and therefore, from being accounted for as equity. As a result of the provision that the private warrants, when held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, will be redeemable by us, the requirements for accounting for these warrants as equity are not satisfied. Therefore, we are required to account for these private warrants as a warrant liability and record (a) that liability at fair value, which was determined as the same as the fair value of the warrants included in the units sold in the Business Combination, and (b) any subsequent changes in fair value as of the

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end of each period for which earnings are reported. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock.

A market for our securities may not continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly due to general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities are not listed on, or become delisted from, the NYSE for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board (an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange), the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if our securities were quoted or listed on the NYSE or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our securities adversely, the price and trading volume of our securities could decline.

The trading market for our securities is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. If any of the analysts who cover us, change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our securities would likely decline. If any analyst who covers us were to cease covering us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities. These provisions include:

These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of us or changes in our Board and management.

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the DGCL, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding Common Stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of our Common Stock. Any provision of the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring

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a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our Common Stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Common Stock.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States of America is the sole and exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between Lightning eMotors and its stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with Lightning eMotors or its directors, officers, or employees.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or employees which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. However, there is no assurance that a court would enforce the choice of forum provision contained in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. If a court were to find such provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

General Risk Factors

We have incurred and will continue to incur significant additional costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, and particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The SEC rules and regulations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Exchange Act as well as the listing requirements of NYSE and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. We have hired, and expect that we will need to continue to hire, additional accounting, finance, and other personnel in connection with our becoming, and our efforts to comply with the requirements of being, a public company, and our management and other personnel have devoted and will continue to devote a substantial amount of time towards maintaining compliance with these requirements. These requirements have increased and will continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that the rules and regulations applicable to us as a public company may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to maintain director and officer liability insurance, which could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board. We are currently evaluating these rules and

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regulations and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

Our exemption from certain public company requirements, including sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, will end once we are no longer considered an emerging growth company at the earliest of (i) December 31, 2025, which is the last day of our first fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering, (ii) the last date of our fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a "large accelerated filer" under the rules of the SEC with at least $700.0 million of our common equity held by non-affiliates or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the previous three-year period.

Our management has limited experience operating a public company.

Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of our management’s time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of our business. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the U.S. may require costs greater than expected. We are in the process of expanding our employee base and hiring additional employees to support our operations as a public company, which will increase our operating costs in future periods.

The JOBS Act permits “emerging growth companies” like us to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

We are an emerging growth company (“EGC”), as defined in the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act permits companies with EGC status to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards, delaying the adoption of these accounting standards until they would apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period to enable us to comply with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting standards as of public company effective dates.

In addition, we intend to rely on the other exemptions and reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an EGC, we intend to rely on such exemptions, we are not required to, among other things: (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation-related items such as comparisons of the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation to median employee compensation.

We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

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We are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations. We can face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations, which can harm our business.

We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and possibly other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, contractors and other collaborators from authorizing, promising, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to recipients in the public or private sector. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees, agents, contractors and other collaborators, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities. Any violations of the laws and regulations described above may result in substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, imprisonment, the loss of export or import privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm and other consequences.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

We are subject to laws, regulations and rules enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC, NYSE and other legal or regulatory requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws, regulations and rules may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws, regulations and rules and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations and rules, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

We lease our 236,000 square foot, multi-building headquarters located in Loveland, Colorado. At this facility, we design, manufacture, assemble and test our ZEVs, powertrains and charging solutions. We currently operate a single 8-hour shift with capacity to manufacture and assemble 1,500 ZEVs and/or powertrain units per year in a facility updated in October 2021 that now has over 140,000 square feet of manufacturing space between three buildings. The same facility and equipment can produce 3,000 ZEVs annually by increasing labor to two eight-hour shifts. Our headquarters (with lease expiration of February 28, 2027) is situated on a one million square foot campus, and we believe we can extend capacity when needed.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

The information with respect to this Part I, Item 3 can be found in Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

​

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our Common Stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ZEV.”

Holders

As of March 14, 2022, there were 95 stockholders of record of our Common Stock. Because many of our shares of Common Stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, this number is not representative of the total number of beneficial owners of our stock.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock to date. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be within the discretion of our Board and will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. Our Board is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

For information regarding our equity-based incentive plans, please refer to Part III, Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters, of this Form 10-K.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

Item 6.

Reserved.

Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis provide information that we believe is relevant to an assessment and understanding of our results of operations and financial condition. The discussion and analysis should be read together with the financial statements and related notes that are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” or in other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Overview

We are a leading electric, commercial fleet vehicle designer and manufacturer with over 200 vehicles on the road as of December 31, 2021. We provide electrification solutions (both battery electric and fuel cell electric) for commercial fleets, including but not limited to, Class 3-5 cargo and passenger vehicles and school buses, Class 5 and 6 work trucks and Class 7 city buses and motorcoaches. We are focused on eradicating commercial fleet emissions without compromising safety or efficiency in our commercial fleets. We help our customers to optimize their businesses while limiting their carbon footprint. Commercial fleets are one of the top contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector according to the EPA, making Class 3 to 7 BEV, FCEV and charging infrastructure solutions to commercial fleet customers one of the most critical levers in the worldwide campaign against climate change. Our ongoing focus has been on providing a broad range of ZEV platforms and charging solutions to help fleets reduce emissions, lower operating costs and improve energy efficiency.

We started in 2008 as a manufacturer of hybrid systems for commercial vehicles, and in 2017, customer feedback led us to understand that hybrid systems did not adequately address the growing issue of urban air pollution from commercial vehicle fleets. In 2017 we redirected our efforts to focus exclusively on the attractive market opportunity in ZEVs. We leveraged nearly 10 years of extensive knowledge and production infrastructure from developing and implementing hybrid commercial vehicles to successfully adapt to ZEVs. To date, all of our platforms have been fully certified as ZEVs by the California Air Resource Board, the clean air agency that defines vehicle emission standards. We currently maintain five Executive Orders (with one renewal application under review), which are required to sell ZEVs in California as well as various other states.

We believe we are the only full-range manufacturer of Class 3 to 7 BEV and FCEV in the United States, and we provide end-to-end electrification solutions including advanced analytics software and mobile charging solutions. We combine an internally developed optimized modular software, which can be used in multiple platforms and applications, with hardware designs that we believe allows us to address a diverse range of opportunities in the markets in which we operate in a cost-effective manner with a significant time-to-market advantage. Our manufacturing facility has the capacity to produce 1,500 ZEVs per year on one eight-hour shift. The same facility and equipment can produce 3,000 ZEVs annually by increasing labor to two eight-hour shifts. We believe that with full utilization of our facilities combined with our ability to lease more space on our current campus, and with our OEM customers’ installation capacities, we will be able to scale production to 20,000 vehicles and powertrains per year. Over the long term, we believe that we will be able to leverage our significant investment in manufacturing capacity to increase production output, leverage our fixed overhead and improve profitability from the sale of our products. In addition, we have also built an ecosystem of supply-chain partners and specialty vehicle partners which are instrumental to our growth.

Closing of Business Combination

Lightning Systems entered into the Business Combination Agreement with Gig and its wholly owned subsidiary Merger Sub, on December 10, 2020. Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the stockholders of Gig approved the transaction on April 21, 2021, and the deal was consummated on May 6, 2021. As a result, Merger Sub, a newly formed subsidiary of Gig, was merged with and into Lightning Systems and the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceased, and Lightning Systems continued as the surviving corporation of the Business Combination. Lightning Systems was deemed the accounting predecessor and the combined entity became the successor SEC registrant, meaning that Lightning Systems’ financial statements for previous periods are disclosed in the registrant’s periodic reports filed with the SEC after the Closing. On the Closing Date, and in connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Gig changed its name to Lightning eMotors, Inc. (the "Company", "Lightning", “we”, “our” or “us”).

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization. Under this method of accounting, Gig was treated as the acquired company for financial statement reporting purposes. The most significant change in our future reported financial position and results was the increase in cash of approximately $268.3 million, after stockholder redemptions of $58.8 million permitted under the Business Combination Agreement and prior to the payment of non-recurring transaction costs and other payments that totaled approximately $51.5 million.

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As a result of the Business Combination, Lightning Systems became one of our wholly owned subsidiaries. We are  a NYSE-listed company with our Common Stock registered under the Exchange Act.

Recent Developments and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The global impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic are ongoing, including challenges and increases in costs for logistics and supply chains, such as supplier delays and/or shortages of battery cells, motors and chassis.

We will continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate, and we will have to accurately project demand and infrastructure requirements and deploy our production, workforce and other resources accordingly.

Although we have made our best estimates based upon current information, actual results could materially differ from the estimates and assumptions developed by management. Accordingly, it is reasonably possible that the estimates made in the financial statements have been, or will be, materially and adversely impacted in the near term as a result of these conditions, and if so, we may be subject to future impairment losses related to long-lived assets as well as changes to valuations.

Possible Impairments. No impairments were recorded for years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, as no triggering events or changes in circumstances had occurred as of such dates. However, due to significant uncertainty surrounding the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition could be impacted, and the extent of such impact cannot be reasonably estimated.

Supply-Chain Delays. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been experiencing significant delivery delays from our suppliers since April 2020. In addition, we often do not get informed of delivery delays until or after the expected delivery dates, which does not allow for timely mitigation plans. We increased our raw material inventories and added new suppliers to attempt to manage and mitigate this risk. Although we have been focused on addressing supply chain constraints by increasing raw material inventories and adding new suppliers, supply chain delays adversely impacted our 2021 revenue, and we expect supply chain delays will continue for the foreseeable future.

Comparability of Financial Information

Our results of operations and statements of assets and liabilities may not be comparable between periods as a result of our ongoing evolution, refinement, and growth of our business operations within the electric commercial vehicle industry. While historically we developed hybrid systems for commercial vehicles, during 2017, we refocused our business to produce the ZEV powertrains and phased-out the production of hydraulic hybrid upfit systems. During 2019, we increased the physical and production capabilities of our Loveland, Colorado facility, in preparation of the installation and integration of ZEV powertrains into vehicles beginning in 2020. This change significantly reduced the use and reliance on certified installer or dealers. In conjunction with the transition to using the Loveland plant for comprehensive production, we have continually improved our production technology, processes, and productivity and have invested in the supporting personnel and other infrastructure.

Key Factors Affecting Operating Results

We believe that our performance and future success depend on several factors, including those set forth below, that present significant opportunities for us. These factors pose risks and challenges, including those set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors”.

Commercial Launch of medium-duty trucks and other products

In 2020, we attained revenue commercialization of our ZEVs, with 72 customer-ordered Class 3 to Class 7 ZEVs sold during the year ended December 31, 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we sold 146 Class 3 to 5 ZEVs. We will require additional capital to fund the growth and scaling of our manufacturing facilities and operations; further develop our products and services, including those for orders in our order backlog; and fund possible acquisitions. Until we can

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generate sufficient cash flow from operations, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of the merger proceeds we received from the Business Combination as well as from additional public offerings, debt financings or other capital markets transactions, collaborations or licensing arrangements. Any delay in the financing, design, manufacture and launch of our ZEVs or zero-emission powertrains, could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Vehicle manufacturers often experience delays in the design, manufacture and commercial release of new products. To the extent we delay or interrupt the launch of our ZEVs or zero-emission powertrains, our growth prospects could be adversely affected as we may fail to grow our market share. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our development efforts and our ability to scale our operations.

Customer Demand/Order Backlog

As of March 14, 2022, we had an order backlog of $169.3 million comprised of ZEVs, zero-emission powertrains and charging systems of approximately 1,500 units. Our order backlog is generally comprised of non-binding agreements and purchase orders from customers. In addition, some of our order backlog have contingencies including completing a successful pilot program, obtaining third-party financing or obtaining government grants such as HVIP. Although the order backlog, in most cases, does not constitute a legal obligation or, in some cases, may have contingencies, we believe the amounts included in our order backlog are firm, even though the non-binding orders may be cancelled or delayed by customers without penalty. We may elect to permit cancellation of orders without penalty where management believes it is in our best interest to do so. On a case-by-case basis and at our sole discretion, we have held partial deposits for purchase orders from customers. See “Risk Factors — Amounts included in order backlog may not result in actual revenue and are an uncertain indicator of our future revenue” for more information.

The realization and timing of the recognition of our order backlog is dependent, among other things, on our ability to obtain and secure a steady supply of components used in our manufacturing process. Accordingly, revenue estimates and the amount and timing of work expected to be performed at the time the estimate of order backlog is developed is subject to change. As a result, the order backlog may not be indicative of future sales and can vary significantly from period to period. In addition, it is possible that the methodology for determining the order backlog may not be comparable to methods used by other companies.

Regulatory Landscape

We operate in an industry that is subject to and currently benefits from environmental subsidies. Government policies can increase the demand for our products by providing market participants with incentives to purchase ZEVs and charging solutions. These government policies are continuously being modified, and adverse changes in such policies could have the effect of reducing the demand for our products. Complying with any new government regulations may result in significant additional expenses or related development costs for us. For more information, see our risk factor titled “We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs upon us and cause delays in building our manufacturing facilities.”

Public Company Costs

We are incurring additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not previously incur, including costs associated with SEC reporting and corporate governance requirements. These requirements include compliance with the rules implemented by the SEC and the NYSE. Our financial statements reflect the impact of these expenses.

Basis of Presentation

Currently, we conduct business through one operating segment, the ZEV market. All long-lived assets are maintained in, and all losses are attributable to, the United States of America. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for more information about our operating segment.

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Components of Results of Operations

Revenues

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, revenue was primarily derived from the sale of ZEVs.

We anticipate deriving future revenue from the following business lines:

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues includes direct costs (parts, material, and labor); indirect manufacturing costs (manufacturing overhead, depreciation, plant operating lease expense, and rent); shipping, field services, logistics and warranty costs.

Research and Development Expense

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the discovery and development of our BEV and FCEV powertrain solutions and the production thereof, which principally include personnel-related expenses including salaries, benefits, travel and stock-based compensation, for personnel performing research and development activities; expenses related to materials, supplies and testing; and consulting and occupancy expenses.

We expect our research and development expense to increase for the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development activities to achieve our operational and commercial goals.

Selling, General, and Administrative Expense

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of personnel-related expenses for our corporate, executive, engineering, finance, sales, marketing, program management support, and other administrative functions, expenses for outside professional services, including legal, audit and accounting services, as well as expenses for information technology, facilities, depreciation, amortization, travel, and sales and marketing costs. Personnel-related expenses consist of salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, and stock-based compensation.

We expect our selling, general and administrative expenses to increase for the foreseeable future as we increase headcount and expenses with the growth of our business, drive for productivity improvements, acquisition of new and retention of existing customers and the additional costs associated with being a public company, which include, among other things, increases in headcount for administration and increases in legal and professional services, accounting and audit fees and liability insurance.

Interest Expense

Interest expense consists of interest paid on notes payable, the amortization of debt issuance costs, the amortization of debt discounts attributable to the bifurcation of warrants issued, and amortization of an embedded beneficial conversion feature. The notes payable included, over the periods presented, the Convertible Note, a related party term loan and working capital

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facility, (the “Facility”), a third party unsecured promissory note and various convertible notes payable. For a description and terms of our notes payable, see Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Results of Operations

Comparison of Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021 to Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020

The following table sets forth our historical operating results for the periods indicated:

* not meaningful

Revenues

Our total revenue increased by $11.9 million, or 131%, from $9.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 to $21.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in revenue was principally related to the sale of 146 ZEVs during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the sale of 72 ZEVs during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues increased by $15.2 million, or 137%, from $11.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 to $26.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in the cost of revenues was primarily related to an increase in revenue as well as higher factory overhead and warranty expenses during the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses increased by $1.8 million or 136% from $1.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2020 to $3.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in our engineering headcount year-over-year, as we continue to advance the development and design of our vehicles, refine and improve our production processes and enhance our in-house engineering capabilities.

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Selling, General, and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $32.4 million or 310% from $10.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 to $42.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily due to an increase in professional services associated with the Business Combination process in the amount of $9.1 million as well as an overall increase in costs associated with being a public company which included, among other things, increases in headcount for administration and increases in legal and professional services, accounting and audit fees and liability insurance.

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased by $10.4 million from $3.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 to $13.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was mainly due to $9.9 million of accrued interest and amortization of the discount related to the Convertible Note not present in the prior year and $0.9 million for the early payment of interest associated with loans paid off in the Business Combination, offset by $0.4 million reduction in amortization of the discount associated with the short-term convertible notes converted at the close of the Business Combination.

Change in Fair Value of Warrant Liabilities

The change in fair value of warrant liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2021 included (1) a loss of $27.9 million associated with the outstanding common and preferred warrants, which were converted to common stock as a result of the Business Combination and (2) a loss of $0.9 million associated with the Gig private warrants assumed in the Business Combination. The change in fair value of warrant liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2020 included a loss of $20.8 million associated with the outstanding common and preferred warrants, which were converted to common stock as a result of the Business Combination. These losses reflect the impact of the marking-to-market of the warrant liability.

Change in Fair Value of Derivative Liability

The loss from change in fair value of the derivative liability totaled $5.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 and reflected the impact of the marking-to-market of the underlying derivative embedded in the Convertible Note.

Change in Fair Value of Earnout Liability

The loss from change in fair value of the earnout liability totaled $4.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 and reflected the impact of the marking-to-market of the earnout shares.

Gain on Extinguishment of Debt

The gain on extinguishment of debt of $2.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 was associated with the conversion of $12.1 million of Convertible Notes into 1,055,388 shares of the Company’s common stock. The gain represents the difference between the fair value of the common stock and the sum of the carrying amount of the converted debt and the fair value of the convertible note derivative liability at the time of conversion.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe the following non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operational performance. We use the following non-GAAP financial information among other operational metrics to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors in assessing our operating performance.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Loss

We define EBITDA as net loss before depreciation and amortization and interest expense. We define adjusted EBITDA as net loss before depreciation and amortization, interest expense, stock-based compensation, gains or losses related to the

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change in fair value of warrant, derivative and earnout share liabilities, gains or losses on extinguishment of debt and other non-recurring costs determined by management, such as Business Combination related expenses. We define adjusted net loss as net loss adjusted for stock-based compensation expense, gains or losses related to the change in fair value of warrant, derivative and earnout share liabilities, gains or losses on extinguishment of debt and certain other non-recurring costs determined by management, such as Business Combination related expenses. We believe EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss are meaningful metrics intended to supplement measures of our performance that are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. We believe that using EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss provide an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends while comparing our financial measures with those of comparable companies, which may present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. However, you should be aware that when evaluating EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss we may incur future expenses similar to those excluded when calculating these measures. In addition, our presentation of these measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Our computation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures computed by other companies, because all companies may not calculate EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss in the same fashion.

Because of these limitations, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss on a supplemental basis. You should review the reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and reconciliation of net loss to adjusted net loss below and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

The following table reconciles net loss to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

The following table reconciles net loss to adjusted net loss for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity

Since inception, we have financed our operations primarily from debt financing and the sales of common and convertible preferred shares. We closed the Business Combination on May 6, 2021 pursuant to which we added $216.8 million of cash, net of redemptions, to the balance sheet.

As of December 31, 2021, our principal sources of liquidity were our cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $168.5 million. We believe our cash and cash equivalents balance will be sufficient to continue to execute our business strategy over the next twelve-month period from the date the financial statements were available to be issued.

Liquidity Requirements

In the near and long-term, we will require additional capital to fund the growth and scaling of our manufacturing facilities and operations; further develop our products and services, including those for orders in our order backlog; and fund possible acquisitions. Until we can generate sufficient cash flow from operations, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of the merger proceeds we received from the Business Combination as well as from additional public offerings, debt financings or other capital markets transactions, collaborations or licensing arrangements. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements depend on many factors, including the pace and results of our development efforts and our ability to scale our operations.

Material Cash Requirements

From time to time in the ordinary course of business, we enter into agreements with vendors for the purchase of components and raw materials to be used in the manufacture of our products. To provide flexibility in our development and production plan and opportunities to renegotiate pricing, we generally do not have binding and enforceable purchase orders beyond the near term. However, in order to secure raw materials vital to our products, we have entered into multi-year minimum purchase commitments with some of our suppliers. If the Company fails to meet the minimum purchase commitments, the Company must pay a penalty. The minimum purchase commitment for 2022 is $21.9 million under these agreements. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information.

Our capital expenditures are typically difficult to project beyond the short term given potential supply chain constraints and market conditions. We estimate our capital expenditures to be between $10 million and $15 million for the year 2022 for development and production activities.

Debt

As of December 31, 2021, we had outstanding $87.9 million of principal indebtedness associated with our Convertible Notes, which mature on May 15, 2024. We are obligated to make semi-annual interest payments through maturity of $3.3 million based on an annual interest rate of 7.5%. We also had outstanding $3.0 million of principal indebtedness associated with our Facility, which matures on October 21, 2024. We are obligated to make quarterly interest payments of 0.1 million through maturity based on an annual interest rate of 15%. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information.

Leases

We have one material lease commitment, an operating lease covering our manufacturing center, distribution center and office space. We also have finance leases for manufacturing equipment. As of December 31, 2021, our total minimum lease commitments were $15.2 million, with $2.7 million due in the next twelve months. See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information.

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Cash Flows

The following table provides a summary of cash flow data:

Cash Flows Used In Operating Activities

Our cash flows from operating activities are significantly affected by our cash investments to support the growth of our business in areas such as research and development and selling, general and administrative. Our operating cash flows are also affected by our working capital needs to support growth in personnel-related expenditures and fluctuations in accounts payable and other current assets and liabilities. Our operating cash inflows include cash from sales and customer deposits. These cash inflows are offset by our payments to suppliers for production materials and parts used in our manufacturing process, operating expenses, operating lease payments and interest payments on our financings.

With respect to the year ended December 31, 2021, significant increases in net cash used in operating activities, in comparison to the corresponding prior period, were principally driven by increases in cost of revenues and selling, general and administrative expenses, as described in more detail above.

Cash Flows Used In Investing Activities

The increase in net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021, in comparison to the corresponding prior period, was due to an increase in capital expenditures to support revenue growth as we invest in and expand our business and infrastructure.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily included net proceeds of $142.8 million from the Business Combination and PIPE Financing, proceeds of $95.0 million from the issuance of the Convertible Note (See Note 8 to our Consolidated Financial Statements), proceeds from Facility borrowings of $7.0 million, proceeds from the exercise of warrants of $3.3 million and proceeds of $0.6 million from the exercise of common stock options, offset by payments on our Facility borrowings of $11.5 million.

Net cash from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily consisted of proceeds from convertible notes of $9.7 million, proceeds from the redemption of convertible notes payable and Series C redeemable convertible preferred stock and warrants of $3.0 million, proceeds for the issuance of Series C redeemable convertible preferred stock and warrants of $3.2 million and proceeds from Facility borrowings of $1.0 million.

Backlog

As of March 14, 2022, we had $169.3 million of order backlog comprised of ZEVs, zero-emission powertrains and/or charging systems of approximately 1,500 units. Our order backlog is generally comprised of non-binding agreements and purchase orders from customers. In addition, some of our order backlog have contingencies including completing a successful pilot program, obtaining third-party financing or obtaining government grants such as HVIP. Although the order backlog, in most cases, does not constitute a legal obligation and, in some cases, may have contingencies, we believe the amounts included in our order backlog are firm, even though the non-binding orders may be cancelled or delayed by customers without penalty. We may elect to permit cancellation of orders without penalty where management believes it is in our best

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interest to do so. On a case-by-case basis and at our sole discretion, we have held partial deposits for purchase orders from customers.

The realization and timing of the recognition of our order backlog is dependent, among other things, on our ability to obtain and secure a steady supply of components used in our manufacturing process. Accordingly, revenue estimates and the amount and timing of work expected to be performed at the time the estimate of order backlog is developed is subject to change. As a result, the order backlog may not be indicative of future sales and can vary significantly from period to period. In addition, it is possible that the methodology for determining the order backlog may not be comparable to methods used by other companies.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have not engaged in any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. These principles require us to make certain estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, as of the balance sheet date, as well as reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our most significant estimates and judgments involve deferred income taxes, allowance for doubtful accounts, warranty liability, write downs and write offs of obsolete and damaged inventory, valuation of share-based compensation, warrants and warrant liabilities, the value of the convertible note derivative liability and the value of the earnout share liability. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and such differences could be material to the Company’s financial statements.

While our significant accounting policies are described in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements, we believe that the following accounting policies are most critical to understanding our financial condition and historical and future results of operations.

Fair Value

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The Company uses market data or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. These inputs can be readily observable, market corroborated or generally unobservable. Any global economic changes, changes to our stock price or other future events could materially impact the Company’s fair value measurements. In addition, our assumptions could change or actual circumstances could differ from those utilized in our assumptions.

The Company’s recurring fair value measurements categorized within Level 3 discussed below contain significant unobservable inputs. A change in those significant unobservable inputs could result in a significantly higher or lower fair value measurement at the reporting date.

As a result of the Business Combination, we recognized additional earnout shares with performance conditions as a liability measured at fair value with subsequent changes in fair value recorded in the consolidated statement of operations for each reporting period. The earnout shares are valued using our stock price as of the valuation date. The valuation methodology used is a Monte Carlo Simulation model (“MCS”) utilizing a Geometric Brownian motion process to capture meeting the various performance conditions. MCS is a technique that uses a stochastic process to create a range of potential future outcomes given a variety of inputs. Stochastic processes involve the use of both predictive assumptions (e.g., volatility, risk-free rate) and random numbers to create potential outcomes of value. MCS assumes that stock prices take a random walk and cannot be predicted; therefore, random number generators are used to create random outcomes for stock prices. The fair value measurements are considered Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy.

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As a result of the Business Combination, we assumed the liability associated with the Gig warrants. We account for the warrants as liabilities at fair value with subsequent changes in fair value recorded in the consolidated statement of operations for each reporting period. The fair value is determined using the Black-Scholes-Merton (“BSM”) option-pricing model where the share price input represents our stock price as of  the valuation date. The BSM is a commonly-used mathematical model for pricing an option or warrant. In particular, the model estimates the variation in value over time of financial instruments. The fair value measurements are considered Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy.

We estimate the fair value of our derivative liability associated with the Convertible Note at each reporting date, as well as at each conversion date. The Convertible Note and embedded conversion option are valued using a Binomial Lattice Model designed to capture incremental value attributed to the conversion options in addition to the value of the Convertible Note. The value of the Convertible Note without the conversion feature is valued utilizing the income approach, specifically the discounted cash flow method. Cash flows are discounted utilizing the U.S. Treasury rate and the credit spread to estimate the appropriate risk-adjusted rate. The conversion feature utilizes our stock price as of the valuation date as the starting point of the valuation. A Binomial Lattice Model is used to estimate our credit spread by solving for a premium to the U.S. Treasury rate that produces a fair value of the Convertible Note. As of issuance, the value of the Convertible Note and warrants related to the Convertible Note are set to equal $100.0 million to solve for the credit spread which is then updated quarterly. The fair value measurements are considered Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For further information on the effects of recently adopted accounting pronouncements and the potential effects of recent accounting pronouncements not yet adopted, refer to the Recent accounting pronouncements issued and adopted and Recent accounting pronouncements issued not yet adopted sections in Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We are an EGC, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As an EGC, we are permitted to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards, delaying the adoption of these accounting standards until they would apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period to enable us to comply with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting standards as of public company effective dates.

In addition, we intend to rely on the other exemptions and reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an EGC, we intend to rely on such exemptions, we are not required to, among other things: (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation-related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation to median employee compensation.

We will remain an EGC under the JOBS Act until the earliest of (i) December 31, 2025, which is the last day of our first fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering, (ii) the last date of our fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” under the rules of the SEC with at least $700.0 million of our common equity held by non-affiliates, or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the previous three-year period.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risks

We are exposed to a variety of market and other risks, including the effects of changes in interest rates, inflation, and foreign currency exchange rates.

Interest Rate Risk

The market risk inherent in our financial instruments and our financial position represents the potential loss arising from adverse changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $168.5 million, consisting of operating and interest-bearing money market accounts, for which the fair market value would be affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. However, due to the short-term maturities and the low-risk profile of our investments, an immediate 10% change in interest rates would not have a material effect on the fair market value of our cash and cash equivalents.

Commodity Price Risk

We purchase certain product components and commodities including steel, aluminum, composites, rubber and others which are integrated into our end products that are subject to price volatility caused by market conditions, potential cross-border taxes and tariffs and other factors which are not considered predictable or within our control. We generally buy these product components and commodities based upon market prices that are established with the vendor as part of the purchase process. We do not use commodity financial instruments to hedge commodity prices.

We generally attempt to obtain firm pricing from most of our suppliers, consistent with order backlog requirements and/or forecasted annual sales. In many cases, we believe we will be able to address material commodity and product component cost increases through sale price adjustments. To the extent that commodity prices increase and we are not able to increase the selling prices of our products, and we do not have firm pricing from our suppliers, or our suppliers are not able to honor such prices, we may experience margin declines.

Foreign Currency Risk

We do not believe that foreign currency risk currently poses a material threat to our business.

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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Board of Directors and Stockholders

Lightning eMotors, Inc.

Opinion on the financial statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Lightning eMotors, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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LIGHTNING EMOTORS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

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See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

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LIGHTNING EMOTORS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

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See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

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LIGHTNING EMOTORS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

(in thousands, except share data)

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