Ideanomics says MEG subsidiary rebrands its truck and specialty vehicle business into Medici Motor Works

Ideanomics Inc (NASDAQ:IDEX) says its electric vehicle subsidiary Mobile Energy Global (MEG) has rebranded its truck and specialty vehicle unit as Medici Motor Works (MMW) as it expands the latter's footprint into North America, South East Asia, Middle East, and Korea. China-based MEG's three other business units, aside from the heavy truck business, are buses and coaches, logistic vehicles, and taxis. READ: Ideanomics says MEG subsidiary wins electric vehicle order from Tianjin Zhongcheng worth US$4.4M All of these are focused just on battery electric vehicles but MMW will use battery electric vehicles for short-haul journeys and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (H2FCV) for long haul systems, Ideanomics said in a statement. Businesses targeted will be the operators of mines, airports, steel mills, shipping ports and construction sites. MMW plans to expand into North America, South East Asia, Middle East, and Korea and will uses its pilot program in Nanjing with PetroChina to leverage this. MMW is already active in the Chinese market, which is estimated at over 11 million heavy trucks with a market value of around RMB 4.9 trillion or US$700 billion, and has carried out successful pilot programs and trials with leading partners including CATL and Beiben, the group said. It will leverage its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle partner's solutions which have been in operation already for over four years with more than 1,000  hydrogen buses and expand these to trucks. "This expansion program will enable the company to enter the lucrative North American market, which has approximately 1.2 million trucking operators - 90% of which are small independent operators with six or fewer trucks – as well as other key markets, including South Korea, the Middle East, and the ASEAN region," Ideanomics told investors. "The success of this phase of expansion will determine the timing for other markets including Europe and other regions," it added. The sector is poised for growth and has seen several new entrants in the truck space, including Tesla, Nikola, Neuron, it noted. In a separate statement on Monday, Ideanomics also revealed that its MEG subsidiary had secured an order from the city of Neijiang in Sichuan province. It is for 200 electric vehicles (EVs) valued at RMB 24 million, or US$3.2 million, or around US$16,000 per vehicle. The order will be fulfilled with Dongfeng Liuzhou S50EV models and, subject to various factors. Delivery to Neijiang City is expected to be completed in mid-July. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinevstors.com