Proterra, a heavy duty vehicle electrification company, has added CEO to the responsiblities and title of current Chairman Jack Allen. Ryan Popple, Proterra’s CEO since 2014, was named co-founder and executive director.

Before joining Proterra as chairman in 2017, Allen spent more than 30 years at Navistar International, the global truck and bus company, where he most recently served as chief operating officer.

As CEO, Allen will use his extensive operational experience to guide Proterra’s continuing growth, including scaling operations, and supply chain and manufacturing capability to meet growing demand for zero-emission vehicles, the company said in a statement.

Proterra has grown from a few customers to more than 120 customers in North America. During his tenure, said the company, Popple introduced industry-leading battery technology, a new Catalyst vehicle platform, and heavy-duty charging systems that "helped revolutionize the electric transit industry." Popple also led the introduction of Proterra’s EV platform into adjacent vehicle markets, including electric school buses, coach buses and delivery truck chassis with industry-leading partners.

In 2017, Proterra broke the world record for the longest distance ever traveled by an electric vehicle on a single charge, traveling 1,101 miles. To date, Proterra has sold more than 900 electric transit buses, and Proterra’s EV technology has been proven on the road with more than 11 million service miles to date.

In his new role, Popple will focus his attention on Proterra’s technology. He will report directly to Allen. 

"We proved to the world that transit vehicles could be high-performance, zero-emission electric vehicles," Popple said. "Now it’s time for Proterra to focus on the next chapter, significantly growing our manufacturing capabilities and the extension of our technology to other vehicle segments. I have worked with Jack for three years on our board, and I know that his leadership and experience is exactly what we need to continue meeting EV demand with a highly efficient manufacturing operation, creating reliable, high quality transit vehicles that exceed the capabilities of legacy diesel fleets.”