Fuell, Erik Buell’s electric motorcycle company, has officially filed for bankruptcy after failing to have enough money to pay its employees and distribution process. Now, the company is moving forward with bankruptcy proceedings to understand the company’s total assets.
Electric Motorcycle Company Files for Bankruptcy
Fuell only lasted as an electric motorcycle company for five years. During these five years, the company released two major models that customers were able to pre-order. The first model announced was the Flluid-1 e-bike which cost $3,295. Meanwhile, the second model was more expensive, as the Fllow-1 electric motorcycle cost $10,995.
Though these two models could be pre-ordered, both bikes never quite made it to market. Therefore, customers who pre-ordered these models may not even get the e-bike or motorcycle that they paid for.
Whether customers get their bikes may be decided during this ongoing bankruptcy process. Now that the company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a Wisconsin court earlier in October, assessments will be made about the future of the electric company.
According to this bankruptcy filing — which also notified the company’s creditors — Fuell currently doesn’t have enough funds to accurately pay any of their employees. There also aren’t enough funds to cover other parts of the company, such as services related to production and distribution.
Because there isn’t enough money for the production and distribution of bikes and motorcycles, the company also cannot bring in money to make up for this massive money loss. Therefore, Fuell ultimately decided that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing was the best way to go.
Once the company’s assets are understood and realized, Fuell may go forward from the bankruptcy in different ways. However, there still is no determination on whether or not customers will actually get the bikes and motorcycles they paid for.
A Struggling Industry?
Fuell’s bankruptcy filing highlights how many businesses focused on offering electric vehicles have struggled in 2024. In various markets around the country, demand for electric vehicles has slowed.
Some EV companies have seen a decline in sales, while others simply saw sales experiencing slower growth.
This decline in sales also comes during a period when many Americans are holding off on purchasing large items or making huge investments. High inflation has caused many consumers to be more wary of how and when they spend their money, as the price of goods and services has greatly gone up in price in the past few years.
Therefore, these many factors have led to many American consumers being less than willing to invest in things like electric cars or motorcycles.
However, many industry experts have pointed to new data that suggest EV sales are on the rise once again, even after a rather dismal beginning to the year. If this holds, and if more consumers continue to invest in purchasing electric vehicles, then companies within this industry may begin to see more profits coming their way.
