#169 – Dakota Semler | Xos – Electric Trucks, Charging Infrastructure & Fleet Electrification

Dakota Semler is the Chief Executive Officer of Xos, a Los Angeles-based technology company, fleet services provider, and manufacturer of Class 5 through Class 8 battery-electric vehicles.

Key topics in this conversation include:

• The true driving forces for fleets to adopt electric vehicles
• The challenges of fleet electrification
• Why Xos is providing the Xos Hub as a stopgap to solve charging infrastructure challenges
• The importance of focus
• Building a customer-centric organization
• What Dakota has learned while leading Xos

Links:

• Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/dakotasemler
• Dakota’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dakota-semler-he-him-a1288929/
• Website: www.xostrucks.com
• Investor Relations: investors.xostrucks.com

Bio

Dakota Semler is the Chief Executive Officer of Xos, a Los Angeles-based technology company, fleet services provider, and manufacturer of Class 5 through Class 8 battery-electric vehicles. Xos’ mission is to decarbonize commercial transportation with the most durable trucking technology available. Dakota has been in the transportation and trucking industry for more than a decade and grew up working on his family’s fleet business. He came up with the idea for Xos to solve the exact challenge he faced as a fleet operator: to create a cost-effective, durable, and reliable electric vehicle that achieves the same, or better, performance benchmarks of an existing diesel vehicle—without compromising the air we breathe. Since 2018, Xos has deployed hundreds of its 100% battery-electric vehicles with leading fleets within parcel delivery, cash-in-transit, beverage distribution, and linen and textile services. Dakota was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing & Industry In 2019.

About Xos:

Xos is a leading manufacturer of fully electric, zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, powertrain components, and charging infrastructure. The company was founded in 2016 by Dakota Semler and Giordano Sordoni, two former fleet owners and operators, who sought to build an electric vehicle to solve the issues they were facing first-hand around increasing emissions regulations and the rising costs of maintenance and diesel. Xos’ mission is to decarbonize commercial transportation and facilitate a seamless transition for fleet owners from traditional internal combustion engines to fully-electric vehicles. Its proprietary battery system, the X-Pack, and modular chassis, the X-Platform, are purpose-built for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the last-mile sector. The fleet-as-a-service offering provides customers with a comprehensive suite of products and services, such as vehicle maintenance and purchase financing, to help fleets more easily make the transition from diesel to electric.

Xos vehicles have been in use by commercial fleets since 2018 and are currently operated by multiple Fortune 500 companies. Notable customers include FedEx ISPs, Loomis, UniFirst, and Wiggins Lift Co. to name a few. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, where its battery packs are built in-house, and has additional manufacturing facilities in Tennessee and Mexico, with more to come in the near future. In August 2021, the company went public and now trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol, XOS.

Future of Mobility:

The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, effective, and accessible mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields.

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/