Add ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. (NASDAQ: SOLO) to the growing list of local tech firms shuffling the locations of their headquarters within Metro Vancouver.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker revealed Monday it’s departing the City of Vancouver and opening of a new 14,000-square-foot head office in neighbouring Burnaby.
Recent online job postings indicate workers have been there since at least February. An ElectraMeccanica spokesperson did not immediately respond to inquiries from BIV about the exact address of the new headquarters or number of employees to be based there.
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A new global head office is needed to house its local engineering, accounting, finance, human resources, logistics and operations teams under a single roof for the first time, according to the company.
“This will enable better collaboration and productivity as well as an improved corporate culture to support the company’s growth initiatives,” ElectraMeccanica said in a release.
The move comes after new CEO Kevin Pavlov took over the top job last September as ElectraMeccanica prepares to ramp up commercialization of its distinctive three-wheeled, single-passenger Solo vehicle. Pavlov’s LinkedIn profile indicates he’s based in Michigan.
Almost exactly one year ago, ElectraMeccanica revealed it had selected Mesa, Arizona, as its home base for manufacturing in North America following a 14-month search. About 200 workers will initially carry out light assembly when the 235,000-square-foot facility opens this year. The EV maker already has one manufacturing plant in China.
Meanwhile, fellow B.C.-based EV firm Damon Motors Inc. broke ground last October on a new manufacturing facility for its e-motorbikes.
Damon is presently headquartered in the City of Vancouver but, like ElectraMeccanica, it’s making its way eastward in the region.
A 110,000-square-foot facility near the Pattullo Bridge in Surrey will serve as the company’s new home when it opens later this year.
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There will be about 300 manufacturing jobs based at the facility, while another 500 office jobs will also be there to cover everything from research and development to marketing.
The ground-breaking came a few months after Damon raised US$30 million from investors as demand further ratchets up for EVs.
General Fusion Inc. is also moving its headquarters within the region, this time going from Burnaby to Richmond.
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The clean energy firm, best known for pursuing technology to harness fusion power, inked an agreement back in October with Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to lease a 60,000-square-foot facility on airport property.
The new facility on Sea Island will host the corporate offices, many of its engineering labs and serve as the primary site for development of its fusion technology.
A prototype facility, which is expected to be operational by 2025, was previously announced to be under development at the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham campus in southern England.
