Volcon, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2023 March (Form 10-Q)

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023

OR

For the transition period from ________ to__________

Commission file number: 001-40867

Volcon, Inc.

 (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(512) 400-4271

(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

(Former Name, Former Address and Former Fiscal Year, if Changed Since Last Report)

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

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 (§232.405 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 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 definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The registrant had 123,456 shares of common stock outstanding at May [_], 2023.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

VOLCON, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

VOLCON, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 AND 2022
(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

VOLCON, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023

(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

VOLCON, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2022
(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

VOLCON, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 AND 2022
(Unaudited)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

VOLCON, INC.

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(Unaudited)

NOTE 1 – ORGANIZATION, NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND GOING CONCERN

Organization and Nature of Operations

Volcon, Inc. (“Volcon” or the “Company”) was formed on February 21, 2020, as a Delaware corporation, under the name Frog ePowersports, Inc. The Company was renamed Volcon, Inc. on October 1, 2020. Volcon designs and sells all-electric off-road powersport vehicles.

On January 5, 2021, the Company created Volcon ePowersports, LLC (“Volcon LLC”), a Colorado wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, to sell Volcon vehicles and accessories in the United States. Volcon LLC is no longer used for selling vehicles and accessories.

Going Concern

The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company has recurring losses and has generated negative cash flows from operations since inception.

In August 2022, the Company ceased manufacturing the Grunt motorcycle in Round Rock, Texas and has outsourced all manufacturing of its vehicles to third-parties. Further, the Company has, or plans to, outsource the manufacturing of all its future vehicles to third-parties for the foreseeable future. The Company has also outsourced certain design and prototype services of its vehicles to third-parties. In September 2022, management reduced headcount and employee related costs in its product development and administrative departments to reduce operating costs.

Also in August 2022, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $22.3 million for the issuance of convertible notes due February 2024 (“Convertible Notes”) and warrants (see Note 6). The Convertible Notes require the Company to have unrestricted and unencumbered cash on deposit of $10,000,000 if the outstanding principal (and interest, if any) of the Convertible Notes is $15,000,000 or greater as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023. The cash on deposit requirement is reduced dollar for dollar to the extent the outstanding principal (and interest, if any) of the Convertible Notes is less than $15,000,000 on each of these dates.

Management anticipates that our cash on hand as of March 31, 2023 plus the cash expected to be generated from operations will not be sufficient to fund planned operations and maintain required cash balances for the Convertible Notes beyond one year from the date of the issuance of the financial statements as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2023. There can be no assurance that such additional funding, if needed, would be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. Due to these conditions, this raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.

Impact of COVID-19

The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, and the related responses by public health and governmental authorities to contain and combat its outbreak and spread, has severely impacted the U.S. and world economies. Economic recessions, including those brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, may have a negative effect on the demand for the Company’s products and the Company’s operating results. The range of possible impacts on the Company’s business from the coronavirus pandemic could include: (i) changing demand for the Company’s products; (ii) potential disruption to the Company’s supply chain and distribution network; and (iii) disruption in the production of the Company’s vehicles by third parties due to employee illness or government regulations regarding social distancing and workplace requirements.

Impact of Russia and Ukraine Conflict

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could impact the availability of nickel, an element used in the production of lithium ion cells used in batteries that power our vehicles. The shortage of these cells could have an impact on our ability to produce vehicles to meet our customers’ demands. In addition, sanctions against Russia could impact the price of elements, including nickel, that are used in the production of batteries which would result in higher costs to produce our vehicles. These sanctions have also impacted the U.S. and global economies and could result in an economic recession which could cause a broader disruption to the Company’s supply chain and distribution network and customer demand for our products.

NOTE 2 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Interim Unaudited Financial Information

The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 7, 2023. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted from this report on Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Results for the interim periods in this report are not necessarily indicative of future financial results and have not been audited by our independent registered public accounting firm. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments necessary to present fairly our interim consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2023, and for the three ended March 31, 2023 and 2022. These adjustments are of a normal recurring nature and consistent with the adjustments recorded to prepare the annual audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary. All intercompany accounts, transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of any contingent assets and liabilities as of the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods.

Making estimates requires management to exercise judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash and cash equivalents include short-term investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase. The recorded value of our cash and cash equivalents approximates their fair value. There were no cash equivalents as of March 31, 2023 or December 31, 2022. Restricted cash includes cash restricted as collateral for the Company’s corporate credit cards and a letter of credit with the Company’s bank. Cash at March 31, 2023 is $4,220,884 and restricted cash was $551,250.

Revenue Recognition

For sales of the Grunt motorcycle directly to consumers, revenue was recognized when the Company transferred control of the product to the customer and the 14-day acceptance period had expired, or earlier acceptance had been received from the customer. Sales directly to consumers were completed as of June 1, 2022. Beginning in February 2023 the Company began selling the Brat EBike directly to consumers in addition to dealers, revenue for direct to consumer sales is recognized when transfer of control of the product is made to the consumer.
 

For sales to dealers or distributors revenue is recognized when transfer of control of the product is made as there is no acceptance period or right of return. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring control of vehicles, parts, and accessories. Consideration that is received in advance of the transfer of goods is recorded as customer deposits until delivery has occurred or the customer cancels their order and the consideration is returned to the customer. Sales and other taxes the Company collects concurrent with revenue-producing activities are excluded from revenue. The Company’s sales do not have a financing component.

Sales promotions and incentives. The Company provides for estimated sales promotions and incentives, which are recognized as a component of sales in measuring the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Examples of sales promotion and incentive programs include rebates, distributor fees, dealer co-op advertising and volume incentives. Sales promotions and incentives are estimated based on contractual requirements. The Company records these amounts as a liability in the balance sheet until they are ultimately paid. Adjustments to sales promotions and incentives accruals are made as actual usage becomes known to properly estimate the amounts necessary to generate consumer demand based on market conditions as of the balance sheet date.

Shipping and handling charges and costs. The Company records shipping and handling amounts charged to the customer and related shipping costs as a component of cost of sales when control has transferred to the customer.

Product Warranties

The Company provides a one-year warranty on vehicles, and a two-year warranty on the battery pack. The Company accrues warranty reserves at the time revenue is recognized. Warranty reserves include the Company’s best estimate of the projected cost to repair or to replace any items under warranty, based on actual warranty experience as it becomes available and other known factors that may impact the evaluation of historical data. The Company reviews its reserves quarterly to ensure that the accruals are adequate to meet expected future warranty obligations and will adjust estimates as needed. Factors that could have an impact on the warranty reserve include the following: changes in manufacturing quality, shifts in product mix, changes in warranty coverage periods, product recalls and changes in sales volume. Warranty expense is recorded as a component of cost of goods sold in the statement of operations and is recognized as a current liability.

Inventory and Inventory Deposits

Inventories and prepaid inventory deposits are stated at the lower of cost (first-in, first-out method) or net realizable value.

Certain vendors require the Company to pay an upfront deposit before they will manufacture and ship our parts or accessories. These payments are classified as prepaid inventory deposits on the balance sheet until title and risk of loss transfers to the Company, at which time they are classified as inventory.

Raw materials inventory costs include the cost of parts, including duties, tariffs and shipping. Work in process and finished goods include the cost of parts, labor and manufacturing overhead costs associated with the assembly of the vehicle. Finished goods also include accessories for the vehicle and branded merchandise such as hats and shirts.

Through August 2022 the Company assembled the Grunt motorcycle in a leased facility. The Company ceased assembly operations at the end of August and outsourced the assembly of the Grunt to a third-party. Subsequent March 31, 2023, the Company transferred substantially all of its raw materials and work-in-process inventory for the Grunt to the third-party manufacturer. Title to the inventory transferred to the third-party manufacturer and it will provide the Company with a credit towards future purchases of finished goods once it begins production of the Grunt EVO.
 

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are valued at cost. Additions are capitalized and maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Gains and losses on dispositions of equipment are reflected in operations. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter period of their estimated useful life or term of the lease.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets include acquired domain names and software. Domain names are amortized over 15 years and software is amortized over the life of the shorter of the software term or three years.

Long-Lived Assets

The Company’s long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the historical carrying cost value of an asset may no longer be appropriate. The Company assesses recoverability of the asset by comparing the undiscounted future net cash flows expected to result from the asset to the carrying value. If the carrying value exceeds the undiscounted future net cash flows of the asset, an impairment loss is measured and recognized. An impairment loss is measured as the difference between the net book value and the fair value of the long-lived asset.

Leases

Right-of-use (“ROU”) assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the estimated present value of lease payments over the lease term. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; the Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company does not separate non-lease components from the lease components to which they relate, and instead accounts for each separate lease and non-lease component associated with that lease component as a single lease component.

ASC 842 defines initial direct costs as only the incremental costs of signing a lease. Initial direct costs related to leasing that are not incremental are expensed as general and administrative expenses in our statements of operations.

The Company’s operating lease agreements primarily consist of leased real estate and are included within ROU assets – operating leases and ROU lease liabilities – operating leases on the balance sheets. The Company’s lease agreements may include options to extend the lease, which are not included in minimum lease payments unless they are reasonably certain to be exercised at lease commencement. The Company's leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its estimated incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments.

Research and Development Expenses

The Company records research and development expenses in the period in which they are incurred as a component of product development expenses.

Income Taxes

Deferred taxes are determined utilizing the "asset and liability" method, whereby deferred tax asset and liability account balances are determined based on the differences between financial reporting and the tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. The Company provides a valuation allowance, when it's more likely than not that deferred tax assets will not be realized in the foreseeable future. Deferred tax liabilities and assets are classified as current or non-current based on the underlying asset or liability or if not directly related to an asset or liability based on the expected reversal dates of the specific temporary differences.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company discloses fair value measurements for financial and non-financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value. Fair value is based on 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.

The accounting standard establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes observable and unobservable inputs used to measure fair value into three broad levels, which are described below:

Level 1: Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for assets or liabilities. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to Level 1 inputs.

Level 2: Observable prices that are based on inputs not quoted on active markets but are corroborated by market data.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs are used when little or no market data is available. The fair value hierarchy gives the lowest priority to Level 3 inputs.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has a stock-based incentive award plan for employees, consultants and directors. The Company measures stock-based compensation at the estimated fair value on the grant date and recognizes the amortization of stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, or when it is probable criteria will be achieved for performance-based awards. Fair value is determined based on assumptions related to the fair value of the Company common stock, stock volatility and risk-free rate of return. The Company has elected to recognize forfeitures when realized.

Concentration Risk

The Company outsources certain portions of product design and development for its vehicles to third parties. In addition, the Company has outsourced the manufacturing of all of its vehicles to third-party manufacturers, including one manufacturer for three of its vehicles and this third-party is also performing product design and development services on these vehicles.

One supplier provides the battery and drivetrain components for the Company’s utility terrain vehicle, the Stag. The components are critical to the operation of the Stag.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” (“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 requires companies to measure credit losses utilizing a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires a consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. ASU 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted ASU 2016-13 effective January 1, 2023. The Company determined that the update applied to trade receivables, but that there was no material impact to the consolidated financial statements from the adoption of ASU 2016-13.

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standard Board or other standard setting bodies that the Company adopts as of the specified effective date. The Company does not believe that the impact of recently issued standards that are not yet effective will have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations upon adoption.

NOTE 3 – INVENTORY

Inventory consists of the following:

The Company has purchase commitments for future payments due for inventory where initial deposits were paid as of March 31, 2023. The total additional payments due subsequent to March 31, 2023 are $679,646.

NOTE 4 – LONG – LIVED ASSETS

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consist of the following:

Depreciation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 was $50,388 and $111,527, respectively.

NOTE 5 – NOTES PAYABLE

Notes Payable

In December 2020, the Company entered into a financing arrangement for $75,702 with an interest rate of 8.64% for a vehicle. The Company was required to make monthly payments of $1,211 over 72 months. In April 2021, the Company entered into a financing arrangement for $30,942 with an interest rate of 7.64% for a vehicle. The Company was required to make monthly payments of $753 over 48 months. The Company sold both vehicles in the three months ended March 31, 2023 and paid off these notes.

In the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company entered into two financing arrangements to purchase two vehicles. The total principal of these arrangements is $96,057 with interest rates of 11.44% and 8.63% and monthly payments totaling $1,923 are due over 60 and 72 months.  

The following table provides the maturities of notes payable as of March 31, 2023: 

NOTE 6 - CONVERTIBLE NOTES

On August 24, 2022, the Company issued senior convertible notes with an aggregate principal amount of $27,173,913 due February 24, 2024. The Convertible Notes have a conversion price of $2.25 per share of common stock (12,077,295 total shares if fully converted) and were issued with an original issue discount of 8.0% and do not bear interest unless an event of default has occurred, upon which interest accrues at 10% per annum. The holders of the Convertible Notes can convert any portion of the principal at any time during the term of the notes. The holders of the Convertible Notes also received fully vested warrants (the “Note Warrants”) to purchase 9,057,971 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $2.85 per share. The conversion and warrant exercise prices are subject to adjustment if the Company declares a stock dividend, stock split or recapitalization. The Company has reserved shares of common stock for the total number of shares the Convertible Notes can be converted into and the total shares issuable upon the exercise of the Note Warrants. The Company received net cash proceeds, after issuance costs (excluding the value of the warrants issued to the placement agent as discussed below) of $22,300,321.

The Convertible Note and Note Warrant holders (collectively the “Holders”) do not have voting rights to the extent they have not converted their notes or exercised their warrants. The Holders do participate in any dividends or distributions of assets made by the Company to common stockholders based on the number of shares their notes can convert into or the number of shares they would receive if all warrants were exercised.

The Convertible Notes contain certain conversion limitations, providing that no conversion may be made if, after giving effect to the conversion, the holder, together with any of its affiliates, would own in excess of 9.99% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock after giving effect to such conversion. The Company can force conversion of the Convertible Notes at any time if the weighted average price of the Company’s common stock for ten consecutive trading days equals or exceeds $3.50, subject to the share limitations described above. In addition to default interest of 10% accruing on the Convertible Notes, the holders may require the Company to redeem a portion or all of the outstanding Convertible Notes.

Events of default for the Convertible Notes are defined in the note agreements and include the following:

As of March 31,2023, the Company is in compliance with all covenants. The Convertible Notes require the Company to have unrestricted and unencumbered cash on deposit of $10,000,000 if the outstanding principal (and interest, if any) of the Convertible Notes is $15,000,000 or greater as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023. The cash on deposit requirement is reduced dollar for dollar to the extent that the outstanding principal (and interest, if any) of the Convertible Notes is less than $15,000,000 on each of these dates.

The Note Warrants expire on August 24, 2027. The Note Warrants contain certain conversion limitations, providing that a holder thereof may not exercise such Note Warrant to the extent that, if after giving effect to such conversion, the holder or any of its affiliates would beneficially own in excess of 4.99% of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock immediately after giving effect to such exercise. The Note Warrants provide the holders the right to exercise the warrants on a non-cash basis if the Company does not have an effective registration statement for the underlying shares of common stock. The Company evaluated the provisions of the Note Warrants and concluded that they should be classified as equity.

The Company incurred debt issuance costs of $3,316,409, which includes $616,730 for the fair value of the warrants issued to the placement agent of the Convertible Notes as further described in Note 8. The Company allocated the net proceeds received from the issuance of the Convertible Notes and Note Warrants based on the relative fair values of each resulting in net proceeds of $15,122,345 being allocated to the Convertible Notes recorded as a current liability in the balance sheet and net proceeds of $6,561,247 being allocated to the Note Warrants which was recorded in equity. The Company will record non-cash interest expense over the term of the Convertible Notes to accrete the allocated value of the Convertible Notes to the aggregate principal amount of $27,173,913 using the effective interest method and an interest rate of 39.6%. As of March 31, 2023, no conversions of the Convertible Notes or exercise of the Note Warrants or warrants issued to the placement agent had occurred.

The following is a summary of the Convertible Notes as of March 31, 2023:

Interest expense recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $1,776,636.

NOTE 7 – RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

During 2022, the Company issued purchase orders and made prepayments for prototype parts of $21,860 to a vendor that Pink Possum, LLC (“Pink Possum”) an entity controlled by Mr. Okonsky, one of the Company’s founders, Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer, holds an equity interest of 25% as of March 31, 2023. This vendor is expected to provide additional prototype and product parts for a prototype of an upgraded version of the Stag expected to be released in the future.

In November 2020, the Company entered into an operating lease with an entity controlled by the Company’s two founders for its future headquarters and production facility in Liberty Hill, Texas. The lease had a lease term of 5 years, and monthly payments ranging from approximately $15,000 per month to $17,000 per month over the lease term and gave the Company access to the land for use in testing its vehicles prior to the construction of any facilities. In February 2021, the Company entered into an amendment of the lease related to its future headquarters to expand the leased premises. The Company paid an additional security deposit of $139,230 and additional prepaid rent of $315,588. The total minimum lease payments under the amended lease totaled approximately $3,930,170.

In October 2021, the Company began discussions for an additional amendment to the lease, in anticipation of manufacturing the Stag at this location, which would have resulted in the monthly payment increasing to $100,000 for the first year of the lease and increasing annually throughout the term of the lease to $107,000 in the final year. Monthly payments for the initial lease and the amended agreement would have begun at the time a certificate of occupancy was received by the landlord.

The Company evaluated the cost of this facility in relation to other lower cost options, including having a third-party manufacturer the Stag, and determined that it would be in the best interest of the Company to terminate this lease. On April 27, 2022, the Company informed the landlord that we would be terminating the lease. On May 27, 2022, the landlord notified the Company that the landlord would refund $85,756 of the prepaid rent and security deposit balance of $601,818 paid by the Company. This refund would be paid to the Company once the landlord has sold the land and the landlord will release the Company from any remaining obligations under the lease and amendments. The unrefunded portion of the prepaid rent and security deposit relates to some survey, architecture and construction design costs that were incurred by the landlord prior to the Company terminating the lease. The Company has recognized a loss on the termination of this lease of $247,525 in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Total amortization expense for the right-of-use asset recorded for the initial lease for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $27,212.

In June 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with a company controlled by the Company’s Chairman and co-founder to lease office space for $2,000 per month for a period of one year. In May 2022, the Company informed the landlord that it would terminate this lease, and the landlord confirmed that the lease terminated effective September 1, 2022. Total expense recorded for this lease for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $6,000.

On August 28, 2020, the Company entered into consulting agreements with Pink Possum, LLC (“Pink Possum”) an entity controlled by Mr. Okonsky, and Highbridge Consultants, LLC (“Highbridge”), an entity controlled by Mr. Adrian James, a co-founder of the Company, pursuant to which Messrs. Okonsky and James provide the Company with services. In consideration for entering into the consulting agreements, the Company issued the two entities ten-year warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.004 per share. The number of shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the warrants was based on the number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding at the time of exercise and provided that Pink Possum and Highbridge would receive 18.75% and 25%, respectively, of the Company’s shares of common stock outstanding at the time of exercise on a fully diluted basis. On March 26, 2021 and March 25, 2021, respectively, Pink Possum and Highbridge entered into amendments to the consulting agreements agreeing to exchange the original warrants for new ten-year warrants to purchase 4,750,000 and 6,250,000 shares, respectively, of common stock at an exercise price of $0.98. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recognized compensation expenses of $5.6 million and $7.4 million for the warrants issued to Pink Possum and Highbridge, respectively. On December 20, 2021, Highbridge exercised all of its warrants on a cashless basis and the Company issued 5,507,575 shares of common stock to Highbridge.

In addition, pursuant to the consulting agreements, upon the occurrence of a Fundamental Transaction (as defined below) for an aggregate gross sales price of $100.0 million or more, each entity will receive a cash payment equal to 1% of such gross sales price. For the purposes of the consulting agreements, “Fundamental Transaction” means any of the following: (i) a consolidation or merger involving the Company if the holders of the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such consolidation or merger do not, immediately after the consummation of such consolidation or merger, hold voting securities that collectively possess at least a majority of the voting power of all the outstanding securities of the surviving entity of such consolidation or merger or such surviving entity’s parent entity; (ii) a transfer or issuance (in a single transaction or series of related transactions) by one or more of the Company and its stockholders to one person or to any group of persons acting in concert, of shares of the Company’s capital stock then collectively possessing 50% or more of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of the Company’s capital stock (computed on an as-converted to common stock basis); or (iii) any sale, license, lease, assignment or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company. Furthermore, commencing upon the completion of the Company’s initial public offering of the shares of our common stock, if the Company’s market capitalization exceeds $300.0 million for a period of 21 consecutive trading days, each of the entities will receive an additional cash payment equal to $15.0 million; provided that the Company will have the right, in its sole discretion, to make the foregoing $15.0 million payment by the issuance of shares of the Company’s common stock. The foregoing amounts will be payable to the entities if the above milestones occur any time prior to the ten-year anniversary of the original consulting agreements, or August 28, 2030.

In December 2022, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Okonsky whereby Mr. Okonsky became an employee on January 2, 2023 and the consulting agreement with Pink Possum was terminated. However, the warrants to Pink Possum, and the provisions for a Fundamental Transaction and the market capitalization thresholds and related payments owed to Pink Possum if these were to occur remain in effect subsequent to the employment agreement.

 
NOTE 8 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

The Company is authorized to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.00001. The Company is seeking shareholder approval for an increase in the authorized shares of common stock from 100,000,000 to 250,000,000. The shareholders will vote on this proposal at the annual shareholders meeting scheduled for May 24, 2023. In addition, the Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.00001. The specific rights of the preferred stock, when so designated, shall be determined by the board of directors.

Common Stock

On February 1, 2022, the Company sold 6,666,667 shares of its common stock in a public offering at $3.00 per share. The Company received net proceeds of $18,089,117 after underwriter commissions and expenses of $1,910,816. The underwriter was also issued a warrant to purchase 333,334 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $3.75 per share that expires five years from the date of issuance. The underwriter agreement provided the underwriter with a right of first refusal for any additional securities offerings within twelve months of this offering.

As discussed in Note 6 above, the Company issued the Convertible Notes and Note Warrants, along with the warrants to the placement agent in August 2022. The Company received consent from the underwriter to issue such securities. In addition, the Company was required to reserve 21,135,267 shares of common stock for future issuance of shares for the conversion of the Convertible Notes and exercise of the Note Warrants and 603,864 shares for the exercise of the placement agent warrants. The placement agent agreement provided the placement agent with the right of first refusal for any additional securities offerings within twelve months of this offering.

Warrants

As discussed in Note 6, the Company issued the Note Warrants, which are fully vested, to purchase 9,057,971 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $2.85. The Note Warrants expire five years from the issuance date. Also, the Company issued to the placement agent of the Convertible Notes, fully vested warrants to purchase 603,864 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $3.5625. The warrants were not exercisable until February 24, 2023 and expire on February 24, 2028. The Company valued all of these warrants using the closing price of the Company’s common stock on August 24, 2022 of $2.44, volatility of 79.81% based on peer companies, risk free interest rate of 3.03%, no dividends and an estimated life of 2.5 years.

During three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized expense of $0 and $7,302, respectively, related to common stock warrants. No additional expense will be recognized in the future for any warrants outstanding as of March 31, 2023.

The following is the activity related to common stock warrants during the three months ended March 31, 2023:

NOTE 9 – STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

In January 2021, the Company’s board of directors adopted the Volcon, Inc. 2021 Stock Plan, (the “2021 Plan”). The 2021 Plan is a stock-based compensation plan that provides for discretionary grants of stock options, stock awards, and restricted stock unit awards to employees, members of the board of directors and consultants (including restricted stock units issued prior to the adoption of the plan as further discussed below). The Company initially reserved a total of 3,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for issuance under the 2021 Plan. On July 26, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved an increase of 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for issuance under the 2021 plan, which may be adjusted for changes in capitalization and certain corporate transactions. To the extent that an award, if forfeitable, expires, terminates or lapses, or an award is otherwise settled in cash without the delivery of shares of common stock to the participant, then any unpaid shares subject to the award will be available for future grant or issuance under the 2021 Plan. Shares available for issuance under the 2021 Plan as of March 31, 2023, were 2,826,282 shares. Awards vest according to each agreement and as long as the employee remains employed with the Company or the consultant continues to provide services in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Restricted Stock Units

The following is the restricted stock unit activity for the three months ended March 31,2023

In January 2022, the Company modified the vesting terms of 100,000 RSUs that had vested as of December 31, 2021 to extend the vesting through May 15, 2022. The Company granted an additional 25,000 RSUs to the holders of these RSUs that vesting was extended and these additional RSUs vested as of May 15, 2022. The Company recorded additional expense of $1,126,250 during 2022 related to these modifications.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized expenses for RSUs of $53,773 and $316,887, respectively. The Company expects to recognize additional compensation expenses of $67,902 related to RSUs assuming all awards outstanding at March 31, 2023 will vest.

Performance Shares

On March 1, 2022, the Compensation Committee of the board of directors approved a grant of 44,623 shares for the achievement of some of the Company’s 2021 performance milestones, and the Company recognized share-based compensation expenses of $82,050 related to the grant of these shares in the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Certain individuals whose employment terminated subsequent to December 31, 2021 forfeited their share grants totaling 2,876 shares and such shares are available for future issuance under the 2021 Plan.

In 2022 the compensation committee approved reserving 250,000 shares from the 2021 Plan to issue based on achievement of the Company’s 2022 performance milestones to employees who are employed in 2022 and are active employees on the date of approval in 2023 by the compensation committee. On February 6, 2023 the compensation committee of the board of directors approved a grant of 154,983 shares (138,859 were issued due a forfeiture of 661 shares and 15,463 shares withheld for payment of employee withholding taxes) for the achievement of some of the Company’s 2022 performance milestones. The Company recognized share-based compensation expenses of $257,717 related to the grant of these shares in the quarter ended March 31, 2023. The compensation committee also approved reserving the remaining 95,017 not issued for 2022 performance milestones for issuance to active employees on the date the first Stag is shipped to a customer.

In addition, the compensation committee also approved reserving 250,000 shares from the 2021 Plan to issue to employees based on achievement of the Company’s 2023 performance milestones to employees who are employed in 2023 and are active employees on the date of approval in 2024 by the compensation committee.

Stock Options

The following summarizes activity relating to common stock options to employees and consultants for services during the three months ended March 31, 2023:

The Company valued the options using the closing stock price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant, an estimated volatility between 78.5% - 79.5% based on peer companies, risk free interest rate between 3.64% - 3.94%, no dividends and an estimated life of 6 years. During the three ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized share-based compensation expenses of $745,943, and $1,168,926, respectively, related to common stock options. The Company expects to recognize additional compensation expenses of $3,034,245 related to these common stock options assuming all awards will vest.

Total stock-based compensation recorded for the three ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 for all stock based compensation awards, including warrants, has been recorded as follows:

NOTE 10 – LOSS PER COMMON SHARE

The basic net loss per common share is calculated by dividing the Company’s net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares during the year. The diluted net loss per common share is calculated by dividing the Company’s net loss available to common stockholders by the diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. The diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding is the basic weighted number of common shares adjusted for any potentially dilutive debt or equity. Diluted net loss per common share is equal to basic net loss per share due to the Company’s net loss and any potentially issuable shares are anti-dilutive.

Common shares consisting of shares potentially dilutive as of three month ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 are as follows:

NOTE 11 – INCOME TAXES

Deferred taxes are determined by applying the provisions of enacted tax laws and rates for the jurisdictions in which the Company operates to the estimated future tax effects of the differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the Company's financial statements. A valuation allowance is established to reduce deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that the related tax benefits will not be realized.

Due to losses since inception and for all periods presented, no income tax benefit or expense has been recognized as a full valuation allowance has been established for any tax benefit that would have been recognized for the loss in any period presented.

Significant components of the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are as follows:

Management currently believes that since the Company has a history of losses it is more likely than not that the deferred tax regarding the loss carry forwards and other temporary differences will not be realized in the foreseeable future. The Company believes that carryforward limitations will be applied to the historical net operating losses due to the recent change of control transition. The Company's cumulative net operating loss carry forward of approximately $48.6 million as of March 31,2023, may be limited in future years depending on future taxable income in any given fiscal year. The net operating losses can be carried forward indefinitely.

The Company has recorded no liability for income taxes associated with unrecognized tax benefits at the date of adoption and has not recorded any liability associated with unrecognized tax benefits. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded any interest or penalty in regard to any unrecognized benefit.

NOTE 12 – LEASES

The components of lease cost for operating leases for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were as follows:

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, was as follows:

The following table summarizes the lease-related assets and liabilities recorded on the balance sheet at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022:

The Company utilizes the incremental borrowing rate in determining the present value of lease payments unless the implicit rate is readily determinable.

The following table provides the maturities of lease liabilities at March 31, 2023:

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis is intended as a review of significant factors affecting the Company’s financial condition and results of operations for the periods indicated. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, which contains audited financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of results for the year ending December 31, 2023 or any future period.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, together with other statements and information publicly disseminated by the Company, contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions.

In addition, from time to time, we or our representatives may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing. We base these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future performance, including: our financial performance and projections; our growth in revenue and earnings; and our business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,” “projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “hopes” or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including: our ability to change the direction of the Company; our ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; our capital needs, and the competitive environment of our business. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this document and other statements made from time to time by us or our representatives, may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this document and other statements made from time to time by us or our representatives might not occur.

While we believe we have identified material risks, these risks and uncertainties are not exhaustive. Other sections of this Form 10-Q describe additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this Form 10-Q to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations, and we do not intend to do so.

Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

Overview

We are an all-electric, off-road powersports vehicle company developing electric two and four-wheel motorcycles and utility terrain vehicles, or UTVs, also known as side-by-sides, along with a complete line of upgrades and accessories. In October 2020, we began building and testing prototypes for our future offerings with two off-road motorcycles – the Grunt and the Runt. Our motorcycles feature unique frame designs protected by design patents. Additional utility and design patents have been filed for other aspects of Volcon’s vehicles.

We initially began to sell and distribute the Grunt and related accessories in the United States on a direct-to-consumer sales platform. We terminated our direct-to-consumer sales platform in November 2021. Prior to the termination of our direct-to-consumer sales platform, U.S. customers made deposits for 360 Grunts (net of cancellations) and five Runts, plus accessories and a delivery fee representing total deposits of $2.2 million. These orders were cancelable by the customer until the vehicle was delivered and after a 14-day acceptance period, therefore the deposits were recorded as deferred revenue. As of June 30, 2022, we had completed shipping of all Grunts sold through our direct-to-consumer sales platform. Due to delays in developing the Runt, we refunded the deposits made for all Runts.

Beginning in November 2021, we began negotiating dealership agreements with powersports dealers to display and sell our vehicles and accessories. Customers can now, or will soon be able to, buy our vehicles and accessories directly from a local dealership. Some of these dealers will also provide warranty and repair services to customers. Through March 31, 2023, we have 143 active dealers. Upon sale of a Grunt the dealer may order an additional Grunt. We expect to be able to offer the dealers a financing option, or “floor plan” to make larger purchases of our vehicles, but we do not currently have this financing option available. We have agreements with third-party financing companies to provide financing to qualified customers of each dealer. There is no recourse to the Company or the dealer if the dealer’s customer defaults on the financing agreement with this third-party.

As of March 31, 2023, we have signed agreements with six importers in Latin America and one importer for the Caribbean Region, collectively referred to herein as the LATAM importers, to sell our vehicles and accessories in their assigned countries/markets. In June 2022, we signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Torrot Electric Europa S.A., referred to herein as Torrot, to distribute their electric motorcycles for youth riders in Latin America. We will use our LATAM importers to sell Torrot’s products in Latin America.

In October 2022, we signed an expanded agreement with Torrot to also be the exclusive distributor of Torrot and Volcon co-branded youth electric motorcycles in the United States as well as Latin America. This agreement supersedes the original Torrot agreement and once all Torrot branded inventory is sold, we will no longer distribute Torrot branded motorcycles. Finally, in December 2022, we signed an expanded agreement with Torrot to be the exclusive distributor of Volcon co-branded youth electric motorcycles in Canada.

We expect to expand our global sales of our vehicles and accessories beyond our current LATAM importer base. We expect to sign more LATAM importers in 2023 and expect to begin selling in Canada in 2023. We expect export sales to be executed with individual importers in each country that buy vehicles by the container. Each importer will sell vehicles and accessories to local dealers or directly to customers. Local dealers will provide warranty and repair services for vehicles purchased in their country.

In July 2022, we expanded our offerings with the introduction of the first of our Volcon UTV models, the Stag, which we anticipate will be available for delivery to customers possibly as early as the first half of 2023, followed by additional models of the Stag expected in 2024 and 2025 and the introduction of a higher performance, longer range UTV (to be named) which we expect to begin delivering in 2025. The Stag will be manufactured by a third-party and incorporate electrification units, which include batteries, drive units and control modules provided by General Motors. Beginning in June 2022 we have taken non-binding pre-production orders which are cancelable prior to delivery.

Through August 2022 we assembled the Grunt in a leased production facility in Round Rock, Texas. In August 2022 we announced that we will outsource the manufacturing of the Grunt to a third-party manufacturer, which we anticipate will reduce costs and improve profitability on the Grunt. We also outsourced the manufacturing of the 2023 Grunt EVO to the same third-party manufacturer. The 2023 Grunt EVO will replace the Grunt and has a belt drive rather than a chain drive as well as an updated rear suspension. We have received prototypes of the Grunt EVO in the first quarter of 2023 and expect to begin sales in the second quarter of 2023.

 In September 2022, we reduced our headcount in our product development and administration departments as we outsourced the design and development of certain components of our vehicle development. We also hired our Chief Marketing Officer and expect to hire additional sales and marketing employees and increase marketing activities to further support our brand and products.

We began taking pre-orders for an E-Bike, the Brat, in September 2022 and shipments to customers began in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Brat is being manufactured by a third-party. In January 2023, we began selling the Brat directly to consumers through our website. Consumers who order the Brat from our website can have the Brat shipped to their specified destination.

In November 2022, we finalized an agreement for a third-party to manufacture the Runt. We received prototypes of the Runt in the first quarter of 2023 and expect to begin sales in the second quarter of 2023.

The estimated fulfillment of all orders we have received assumes that our third-party manufacturers can successfully meet our order quantities and deadlines. If they are unable to satisfy orders on a timely basis, our customers may cancel their orders.

Results of Operations

The following financial information is for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Revenue

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2023, was $1,170,458 which represents sales of Grunts of $170,388, Brats of $657,516, Volcon Youth of $212,365 and accessories and parts of $127,496, compared to revenue of $1,184,502 which represents sales of Grunts of $1,165,712 and accessories and parts of $18,790 for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of goods sold for the three months ended March 31, 2023 were $1,229,981 including labor costs of $402,104 for employees and contractors performing assembly and quality control testing of Grunts and stock-based compensation of $206,477 for share-based awards for employees. Part costs for Grunts sold during the period was $165,842. We paid $53,507 for fees owed to cancel purchase orders to reduce raw material quantities ordered to expected demand. Facilities costs were $122,311 for our warehouse facility and third-party warehousing costs. Net inbound and outbound shipping costs, duties and tariffs for inventory purchases and shipments to customers was a credit of $278,774 primarily due to the reversal of an accrual for shipping costs and tariffs expected to be incurred to ship our Grunt raw materials and work-in-process inventory to our third-party manufacturer in Mexico which was no longer needed once manufacturing was moved to Arizona.
 

Cost of goods sold for the three months ended March 31, 2022, was $3,527,715. Costs include labor costs of $685,162 for employees and contractors performing assembly and quality control testing of Grunts and stock-based compensation of $223,077 for share-based awards for employees. Part costs for Grunts sold during the period was $1,190,248. Facilities costs were $172,463 for our manufacturing facility and inventory warehousing costs. Shipping costs and duties/tariffs for inventory purchases were $900,393.

Beginning in the second quarter of 2023 we expect revenue and cost of goods sold to increase further due to the expected sales of the Grunt EVO, Runt and Stag. Our cost per Grunt EVO and Runt is fixed in our contract with the third-party manufacturer. We have identified suppliers who can deliver Grunt EVO parts at a lower cost than we have historically paid for the same or similar Grunt part, as many are interchangeable, and we have provided these vendors to our third-party manufacturer for their consideration in sourcing parts. Additional cost savings may be realized if the third-party manufacturer can source or manufacture parts at a lower cost.

Other than the cost of the batteries, we have a fixed cost per unit for the Stag in our contract with our third-party manufacturer. However, not all components have been fully sourced and additional costs for these components or price increases from suppliers for components already sourced could result in a higher cost per unit and we may not be able to increase the price we sell each unit to our customers which could negatively impact our expected margin.

Sales and Marketing Expense

Sales and marketing expenses relate to costs to increase exposure and awareness for our products and developing our network of U.S. dealers and international distributors.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, sales and marketing expenses were $1,789,370 and include $588,321 for promoting our products and brand, $723,362 for employee payroll costs, stock-based compensation expense of $311,759 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, $38,452 related to facilities costs, and travel costs of $71,243 primarily related to costs incurred for travel to build our dealer and distributor network.

Sales and marketing expenses were $1,014,906 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and were primarily related to expenses associated with promoting our products and brand of $176,696, employee payroll costs of $431,183, stock-based compensation of $272,756 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, $74,106 of facilities costs, primarily to operate our dealership in Denver, Colorado and travel costs of $40,217 primarily related to costs incurred for travel build our dealer network.

We expect sales and marketing expenses to increase as we expand our U.S. dealer and international distributor networks and promote our brand and products.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expenses relate to costs for our finance, accounting and administrative functions to support the development, manufacturing and sales of our products.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, general and administrative expenses were $1,890,091 and were primarily related to expenses associated with employee payroll costs of $612,981, stock-based compensation of $330,605 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, professional fees of $275,741 including legal fees of $86,975 for SEC attorney and other legal services and tax and accounting fees of $155,350, software costs of $151,457, and insurance costs of $349,972.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, general and administrative expenses were $2,794,940 and were primarily related to expenses associated with employee payroll costs of $733,660, stock-based compensation of $742,610 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, professional fees of $825,259, including legal fees of $488,831, tax and accounting fees of $189,876, recruiting fees of $101,170 and IT consulting, outsourcing and other fees of $25,290 and insurance costs of $333,441.

We expect general and administrative expenses to increase over the next several quarters as we expect costs such as product liability insurance to increase due to new product offerings and increased costs due to public company reporting and compliance requirements.

Product Development Expense

Product development expenses relate to development and testing of our products and process to manufacture these products.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, product development expenses totaled $1,786,351 and primarily relate to expenses associated with employee payroll costs of $507,676, stock-based compensation of $208,592 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, professional fees of $81,651 for digital consultants, $37,500 for recruiting fees, research and development costs of $266,829, prototype parts and tooling costs of $543,616, facilities cost of $47,823 and $50,634 for supplies, parts and software.

Product development expenses were $2,495,712 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and were primarily related to expenses associated with employee payroll costs of $850,390, stock-based compensation of $336,722 for share-based awards granted to employees and consultants, professional fees of $224,706 for product design and $95,130 for employee recruitment, prototype parts and tooling costs of $774,823, facilities cost of $82,131 and software fees, small equipment, tools and shop supplies of $50,019.

We expect product development costs related to employee costs to remain consistent with the expense level of the three months ended March 31, 2023 since we have outsourced certain design and development of our new vehicle models in the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect cost increases due to outsourced design and development costs and costs related to prototype costs for the Stag, Grunt EVO and Runt. Prototype costs, especially for the Stag, will be significant as we begin receiving Stag units that will be used to validate engineering and manufacturing design and costs incurred to perform testing to ensure the vehicles meet regulatory compliance requirements where we expect to sell these vehicles.

Interest and Other Expenses

Interest and other income/expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2023 were $1,774,134. Non-cash interest expense of $1,776,636 was recognized for the amortization of debt issuance costs and accretion of principal on the Convertible Notes issued in August 2022. Interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was not significant.

We expect interest expense to increase in the future as we recognize interest on the Convertible Notes issued in August 2022. These notes were issued at an original issuance discount (“OID”) of 8% and due to the warrants also issued in connection with these notes, the allocation of proceeds between the Convertible Notes and warrants resulted in the notes being recorded at a significantly greater discount than the stated 8% OID. This discount, along with the OID will be accreted to interest expense over the term of the Convertible Notes and does not result in any cash payments to be made unless the Company has an event of default as discussed in Note 6 to the financial statements.

Net Loss

Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2023, was $7,299,469, compared to $8,612,345 for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

On March 31, 2023, we had cash and restricted cash of $4.8 million, including $0.5 million of restricted cash, and we had working capital deficit of $7.1 million. Since inception we have funded our operations from proceeds from debt and equity sales.

Cash used in operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $6.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and includes all of our operating costs except stock-based compensation, write-down of inventory, depreciation and amortization, non-cash interest expense for the amortization of debt issuance costs and accretion of principal on Convertible Notes, and gain on sale assets and leases. Cash used in operating activities includes a decrease in accounts receivable of $0.2 million for collections net of sales, increases in inventory of $0.5 million and inventory deposits of $0.8 million as we made purchases and deposits for Brats and Volcon Youth motorcycles, a decrease of $0.5 million for both accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to timely payment of outstanding amounts due and a reversal of an accrual for anticipated shipping and tariffs related to shipping raw material and subassembly inventory to our third-party manufacturer in Mexico as final assembly was moved to Arizona.

Net cash used in operating activities was $9.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and includes all of our operating costs except stock-based compensation, write down of inventory and prepaid inventory and depreciation and amortization. Cash used in operating activities includes increases in inventory of $1.5 million offset by a reduction in inventory deposits of $0.4 million as we purchased more inventory in the three months ended March 31, 2022 and made fewer deposits based on the timing of inventory purchases domestically versus internationally to build Grunts for delivery to customers, a decrease of $1.2 million as we recognized revenue for shipments to direct to consumer customers in the three months ended March 31, 2022, and an increase of $0.5 million due to higher accrued liabilities due to the timing of invoices received from vendors and an increase in prepaid expenses of $0.7 million primarily due to payment of legal counsel retainers of $0.3 million and a payment of $0.1 million made to increase director and officer liability insurance due to the public stock offering that occurred in February 2022.

Cash used in investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, consisting of $0.3 million of purchases of equipment and tooling offset by proceeds received of $0.1 million for the sale of two vehicles. Net cash used in investing activities was $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, consisting of purchases of equipment and tooling related to our Grunt manufacturing and product development.

Cash provided by financing activities

Cash used financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2023, was less than $0.1 million and was related to proceeds used from the sale of vehicles to pay off notes payable and proceeds received from the exercise of stock options. Cash provided from financing activities for the period ended March 31, 2022, was $18.1 million and was related to proceeds received from the public offering of our common stock in February 2022 where we sold 6,666,667 shares at $3.00 per share.

Our continuation as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to attain profitable operations and if necessary, obtain continued financial support from the issuance of debt or equity. As of March 31, 2023, we had incurred an accumulated deficit of $83.0 million since inception. Additionally, one of the covenants for our Convertible Notes requires us to have $10 million of cash on hand if principal (and interest, if any) of $15 million or more of the Convertible Notes is outstanding as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023 (subject to adjustment if the principal (and interest, if any) is below $15 million).

Management anticipates that our cash on hand as of March 31, 2023 plus the cash expected to be generated from operations will not be sufficient to fund planned operations and maintain required cash balances for the Convertible Notes beyond one year from the date of the issuance of the financial statements as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2023. There can be no assurance that such additional funding would be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern.

JOBS Act Accounting Election

The recently enacted JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this extended transition period and, as a result, we will adopt new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for other public companies.

We have implemented all new accounting pronouncements that are in effect and may impact our financial statements and we do not believe that there are any other new accounting pronouncements that have been issued that might have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Critical Accounting Policies

No critical accounting policies or estimates existed as of March 31, 2023.

ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the appropriate time periods, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our Chief Executive Officer, who serves as our principal executive officer, and Chief Financial Officer, who serves as our principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely discussions regarding required disclosure. We, under the supervision of and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures.

Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2023 to provide assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding disclosures as we have previously missed filing certain forms timely and we have not implemented and tested controls and procedures to conclude that we have remediated this deficiency. Notwithstanding this conclusion, we believe that our unaudited consolidated financial statements contained in this Quarterly Report fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods covered thereby in all material respects. Management is working to identify corrective actions for the weakness and will periodically re-evaluate the need to add personnel and implement improved review procedures. 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes to our internal control over financial reporting during the three months ended March 31, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time in the ordinary course of our business, we may be involved in legal proceedings, the outcomes of which may not be determinable. The results of litigation are inherently unpredictable. Any claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, require significant amounts of management time and result in diversion of significant resources. We are not able to estimate an aggregate amount or range of reasonably possible losses for those legal matters for which losses are not probable and estimable. We have insurance policies covering potential losses where such coverage is cost effective.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

There have been no material changes to the risk factors included in the Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 7, 2023, which is accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

None.

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

None.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

ITEM 6. EXHIBITS

INDEX TO EXHIBITS

______________

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.