Lion Electric
EVCanada
New to Unitard
π Dead / Bankrupt
PeakΒ $4 BillionToday
~-98%
from peak
- π¦Became a unicorn2021
- πPeak valuation$4 Billion β21
- πBecame a UnitardDec 2024
- πΈLast valuationWiped out
π₯ Raised & burned
$500M
Total raised
$83.2K/day
Burned Β· 16.5y alive
Funding: Forbes / Renaissance Capital (SPAC)
Current status
Bankruptcy protection (CCAA) Dec 2024
The rise & fall
7 moments Β· 2008β2025The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
2008
2008
Founded in Quebec
Marc BΓ©dard sets out to build electric school buses in Saint-JΓ©rΓ΄me.
Wikipedia
2021
2021
The peak: ~$4B on the SPAC wave$4B
Lists on the NYSE via Northern Genesis at the height of EV-SPAC mania.
Reuters
2022β24
2022β24
Production stalls, cash burns
EV adoption lags the plan, deliveries disappoint, and heavy losses force rounds of layoffs.
Wolf Street
2023β24
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2023β24
Glassdoor reviews charted the unraveling from the plant floor: employees described leadership starting too many projects without finishing the core ones, near-yearly restructurings, and repeated layoffs that sapped morale β with reviewers near the end pointing to deepening financial instability and budget cuts.
Dec 2024
Dec 2024
Creditor protection β joins the Unitard Club π
Seeks CCAA protection in Canada with the shares down roughly 98% from peak.
Wolf Street
2025
2025
Quebec investors pick up the pieces
A court-approved sale hands the assets to a local investor group aiming to restart school-bus production at a smaller scale.
Reuters
$3.92Bof peak value erased Β· 16 years
π¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Lion Electric was a Canadian maker of electric school buses and trucks, valued at ~$4B after going public via SPAC in 2021. Slower-than-expected EV adoption, production and cash-flow problems, and heavy losses overwhelmed the company; it sought creditor protection under the CCAA in December 2024, with its shares collapsing roughly 98% from peak.
Source: Wolf Street
