Mullen Five electric crossover: inept debut and hazy prospects

California-based Mullen Technologies unveiled the 5 electric crossover coupe at the Los Angeles Auto Show, slated for production by the end of 2023 at its plant in Tunica, Mississippi. The power reserve on one charge is 523 km, the price is 55 thousand dollars.

Mullen Technologies was founded in 2014 when its CEO David Michuri bought and merged two less successful startups: Coda Automotive (which made compact electric sedans) and Mullen Motor Cars (made electric sports cars in the vein of the Tesla Roadster). Mullen's debut model after the refurbishment was supposed to be the Dragonfly K50 electric sports car, developed by Chinese company Qiantu Motor, which was supposed to start production in the first half of 2021, but never began. Currently, this model is on the company's website in the “Coming Soon” or “Coming Soon” status, and the collection of pre-orders has been stopped.

In the summer of 2020, Mullen Technologies announced a more mainstream model, the MX-05 electric crossover, which is scheduled to begin production in 2022 at its US plant. The MX-05 used a platform purchased from a well-known manufacturer and a 150 kWh solid-state polymer battery from the Chinese company Linghang BOAO, which was supposed to provide a mileage of more than 800 km on the car a single charge, it was announced. Following this announcement, Mullen Technologies eluded the attention of the automotive and corporate media for more than a year and has now resurfaced at the Los Angeles Auto Show, where it unveiled the Five crossover, an evolution of the MX-05 design.

Mullen Five is a medium-sized crossover (size not announced) with a sloping stern and narrow LED lighting. What platform the crossover has is still unknown. The battery is now 95kWh and is a lithium-sulphur battery from Nevada-based US supplier NexTech Batteries. Where the former Chinese supplier disappeared is unknown. The power reserve on one charge is 523 km. The electric motors will be supplied by the German company Hofer Powertrain, there are two of them in the crossover (one for each axle), but the power is not announced – it is only known that the Mullen Five will be able to accelerate to 60 mph. (96.56 km / h) in 3.2 s, maximum speed – 250 km / h.

The minimum price for Mullen Five will be $55,000; an application can be made on the company's website with a refundable deposit of $100. The interior will have natural wood trim, wireless smartphone chargers for first and second row drivers, while the expensive $75,000 Touring version will have two separate second row seats.

The Mullen Five is expected to begin production in late 2023 with customer deliveries in the second quarter of 2024. Mullen Technologies took over the Tunica plant this spring, although we weren't able to quickly find out who owned it and what it produced.

Carscoops magazine, one of the few that paid attention to the premiere of the Mullen Five, reports that the crossover will later have a sports version of the RS, capable of accelerating to 100 km / h in 1.9 seconds and reaching a top speed of 322 km / h.

All in all, Mullen Technologies still gives the impression of a dirty office, even if the American media didn't notice it before. Carscoops magazine called the presentation frankly amateurish. In early November, Mullen Technologies, by the way, held an IPO, but the Rivian effect (this startup increased significantly after going public) did not work: the share price does not grow, investors do not believe in it.

In addition to the crossover Five and the sports Dragonfly, postponed indefinitely, Mullen Technologies wants to produce electric commercial vehicles: before the end of this year, two electric vans are planned to be located in Tunica – Cargo Van (load capacity – 1 ton, cruising range on a single charge – 257 km) and EV Fleet Van (carrying capacity – 1.5 tons, cruising range on a single charge – 322 km). Both are clearly of Chinese origin, but there are only two dirty profile pictures so far, so it's hard to identify the source. As more details about these models become available, we may discuss them in a separate note.