ElectraMeccanica touts $260.4M in cash and deposits in 1Q results as work on Arizona manufacturing plant is underway

ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp (NASDAQ:SOLO) revealed in its first-quarter financial results that it had cash and its equivalents and short terms deposits of $260.4 million as of March 31, which its CFO says has been “preparing ElectraMeccanica for what’s coming next.”  The combined cash on hand figure roughly doubled from $129.5 million as of December 31. Net cash increased by $130.9 million, thanks to financing activities of $147.6 million, offset by cash used in operating activities of $14.9 million and net cash used in investing activities of $1.7 million.  “The focus of this quarter was on preparing ElectraMeccanica for what’s coming next,” CFO Bal Bhullar said in a statement. “Ending the quarter with more than $260 million in cash provides us with the capital to not only execute on nearer-term initiatives like expanded production and our US-based assembly facility and engineering technical center but also to invest judiciously into R&D for the road ahead.”  READ: ElectraMeccanica breaks ground on its US car manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona To date, our asset-light approach has allowed us to maintain a relatively low-risk profile. In the coming quarters, we will be putting our new capital to use while maintaining that same conservative capital allocation model in the process,” Bhullar added. During the quarter, ElectraMeccanica broke ground on its US assembly facility and engineering technical center in Mesa, Arizona. When fully operational, the facility is expected to create up to 500 new jobs and will be capable of producing up to 20,000 SOLO electric vehicles (EVs) per year. The company also expanded the SOLO retail footprint into 10 additional high-end shopping centers and related areas, as well as two new states, the company said. ElectraMeccanica now operates a total of 20 retail locations throughout 10 metropolitan areas in five western states. On the personnel side, ElectraMeccanica brought in Kevin Pavlov as its new COO. “In the first quarter of 2021 we continued making progress on several major initiatives, including finalizing customer-ready designs, increasing production throughput, optimizing logistics and supply chain management and taking additional steps towards realizing our U.S. assembly facility and engineering technical center,” CEO Paul Rivera said.  “With the addition of our new COO Kevin Pavlov, we have begun to lay the groundwork for scaled operations for the coming years with a continued focus on enhancing profitability and efficiency. Looking ahead, our company is in its strongest-ever financial position, which will allow us to invest confidently for our long-term growth plans.” The SOLO is a three-wheeled EV engineered for a single occupant. It has a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 80 mph making it safe for highways Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel