Mullen Automotive announced it has begun road testing Class 1 electric vans equipped with solid-state polymer batteries alongside footage of the initial run. The energy-dense cells fit in the same pack design but offer a significantly higher range – even higher than Mullen anticipated.
Mullen Automotive ($MULN) is an EV developer that has taken its lumps over the years but appears to have hit a nice stride in the commercial space after acquiring ELMS in the fall of 2022. Since then, Mullen has continued development of those vehicles, including a Class 1 electric van (seen above) and a Class 3 truck – both of which are currently being assembled in Mississippi.
Mullen also claimed a majority stake in the ill-fated Bollinger Motors brand, which previously abandoned its own passenger EV development to focus on commercial EV chassis. Although Mullen has yet to deliver its long-promised electric cars (and now the revived Bollinger trucks), its commercial EVs continue to show encouraging progress.
We’ve recently learned that this month, Mullen began testing solid-state batteries in its vans and today shared some of that progress.
Mullen sees huge range increase from solid-state cells
According to Mullen Automotive, its latest solid-state battery development and testing phase began in January when the EV automaker installed an energy-dense pack in one of its electric vans.
The initial tests measured the system compatibility between the pack of solid-state cells and the vehicle itself. Due to the higher energy density of the technology, Mullen shared it was able to increase the EV’s overall capacity from 42 kWh to 72 kWh using the same space in the platform.
On February 26, Mullen began road testing the solid-state powered van in Troy, Michigan, projecting a range increase from 110 miles to 190 miles (73% improvement). However, real-world testing saw even greater results as the Mullen ONE van delivered 205 miles on a single charge, equating to an 86% increase.
Mullen chairman and CEO David Michery spoke to the results and how the EV automaker plans to continue to develop the technology for commercial use in the future:
The first road test has resulted in significant gains in vehicle range. Additional testing over time will solidify a solid-state solution for our commercial vehicles. Next steps include finalizing our design and manufacturing validation.
Solid-state batteries have long been considered a “holy grail” of safer and better-performing electric mobility technology. We are finally seeing their real-world benefits as development and implementation worldwide continue.
Lastly, Mullen posted a video of the test and the results using the solid-state polymer batteries you can view here.