Dive Brief:
- Electric vehicle charging supplier Freewire Technologies is scheduled to permanently close its headquarters and terminate its employees on June 24, according to a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed in California.
- The company, which has worked with convenience retailers like Chevron, Phillips 66 and Loop Neighborhood Market, is seeking “additional capital” as it hopes to continue growing, a Freewire spokesperson said in a statement to C-Store Dive.
- Freewire’s financial struggles coincide with those of Tesla. The supercharging firm and electric vehicle maker helmed by Elon Musk laid off over 10% of its staff last month, including much of its charging arm, amid declining sales.
Dive Insight:
As of last week, Freewire had not laid off any employees and was still operating as normal at its Newark, California, headquarters, the company’s spokesperson said. However, it appears that Freewire’s operations abroad have already shuttered.
Late last week, James Jean-Louis, Freewire’s head of sales in Europe, posted to LinkedIn that the company decided to “withdraw from all non-North America markets” back in February.
Jean-Louis also said Freewire’s U.S. business is now in jeopardy.
“Immediately prior to withdrawing from the EU and with a drastically reducing financial runway, the business was sold to a US based private investor and it is now their decision, after such a short time of ownership, to put the business on US regulatory WARN notice that the business may close permanently unless ‘new financing, partnering or joining with companies that are in the EV charging space’ are able to be arranged,” Jean-Louis wrote in his LinkedIn post.
It remains unclear how Freewire’s situation has or will affect its partnerships with convenience retailers in the U.S.
A spokesperson from Phillips 66 declined to comment when asked how Freewire’s challenges will impact its c-store charging network. A representative from Chevron said they did not have enough information at this time to comment, while spokespeople from Duck Thru and Loop Neighborhood Market did not respond by press time to the same inquiry.
Freewire’s spokesperson said the company’s “quality initiatives and production are better situated than ever before” as it aims to “right-size” its situation.
“We appreciate the ongoing support of our stakeholders and partners as we work to overcome these challenges and continue to drive positive change in the EV market,” Freewire’s spokesperson said.
