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Hyliion Merger Will Allow the Electrified Powertrain Company to go Public

Electrified truck powertrain developer Hyliion Inc. plans to merge with Tortoise Acquisition Corp., an acquisition company that focuses on the energy sector and decarbonizing commercial transportation.

June 22, 2020
Hyliion Merger Will Allow the Electrified Powertrain Company to go Public

Hyliion has been developing intelligent, electric-hybrid architectures for Class 8 vehicles.

Photo: Jim Park

2 min to read


Electrified powertrain developer Hyliion Inc. said it will go public via a merger with Tortoise Acquisition Corp., an acquisition company that focuses on the energy sector and decarbonizing commercial transportation.

According to the company, the merger will drive Hyliion’s corporate expansion and help it further develop and commercialize its powertrain solutions.

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Image: Hyliion

“Hyliion’s solutions were specifically developed to utilize existing infrastructure in an effort to support rapid technology deployment,” said Thomas Healy, CEO and founder of Hyliion. “Our mission is to enable our fleet customers to quickly realize lower carbon emissions and significantly lower cost of ownership benefits provided by our technology.”

Founded in 2015, Hyliion developed a hybrid and fully electric powertrain solution to help fleets achieve a reduced carbon footprint. It started off developing a hybrid electric trailer tandem, but by 2017 had shifted its focus to tractors, unveiling the Hyliion 6X4HE system, which replaced a powered axle with an a Hyliion axle that could generate electric power on downgrades or while coasting, and supplied supplemental power during launch and on upgrades. HDT Equipment Editor Jim Park drove the system for this Fall 2018 test drive.

Healy will continue as CEO of the combined company, overseeing the implementation of Hyliion’s corporate strategy, and he will be joined Hyliion’s executive team: Patrick Sexton, CTO; Greg Van de Vere, CFO; and Michael Camp, COO.

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The funds from this merger will be used to accelerate product commercialization, product production, operational growth, and for general corporate purposes, according to the company.

Last year, Dana and Hyliion announced a strategic alliance where Dana took an equity position as a lead investor in Hyliion. Earlier this year, Hyliion announced it was providing three vehicles to Penske Truck Leasing, all of which will incorporate its 6X4HE Class 8 hybrid system.

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