Written by Shahid Meighan
“The future of Atlis Motors is not just building its own trucks. We are going to be the company that essentially powers work. We ARE work,” says Mark Hanchett, Founder, and CEO of Atlis Motor Vehicles, a battery cell pack manufacturer that also aims to produce and sell battery-powered trucks and other vehicles that have a 300 to 500 mile range battery that can be charged in less than15 minutes.
Starting off with its headquarters in Hanchett’s home, Mesa, AZ with 15 employees, Atlis Motors has grown into an 80-person team that has made significant strides in the development of powerful electric trucks and battery cells that can be charged in less than 15 minutes.
For Mark Hanchett, the future of Atlis Motors is becoming a revolutionary company that sets itself apart from the rest of the electric vehicle companies.
“I have zero intentions of being a Ford, GM, Tesla, or Lucid”, Hanchett proclaimed to the Venture Café Phoenix crowd. “We want to own work.”
As a startup, Atlis has already made significant progress in the development of an electric-powered truck that will be utilized in agriculture, construction, and the service and utility industry. They have already developed a 1.5 megawatt charging station and have secured over $32 million in investor funding. One of their debut prototypes is the XT Pickup Truck, with a 500-mile range, 15-minute charge time, and a 35,000 pound towing capacity. According to Hanchett, he and his team at Atlis aren’t concerned with aesthetics or things that look “sexy.”
“Imagine a vehicle that goes 500 miles, no other vehicle can do that today. But imagine one that can go 500 miles, but also imagine a vehicle that can tow 35,000 pounds. Imagine a vehicle and both of those things, when you go to plug it in and charge it. You don’t have to wait for an hour, or even 30 minutes or 40 minutes. Imagine plugging it in. And then 15 minutes later they leave and you go from zero to 100%. That is that big leap forward.”
Hanchett credits his team’s continuous growth and success to the organization’s three core values: TEAM FIRST, TRANSPARENCY, and MAKE IT HAPPEN.
“You want to build a championship team. You have to focus on building the right team with the right people. Really smart people want to work with smart people.”
Regarding transparency, Hanchett holds that the concept is something that all companies need to accept and implement within their organization. Atlis itself has put this principle into practice; they have regularly uploaded YouTube videos to their channel providing updates and developments on their trucks, batteries, and other endeavors.
“There’s this concept, especially with social media today, where you can get out there and you can talk about what you’re doing, you can talk about the decisions that you made, you can share your mistakes, you can share your successes, and you can share that journey. And Atlis Motor Vehicles we talk about transparency is a core value, something that we’ve embraced, where we started doing videos on social media while we were still in my house.”
Hanchett states that by incorporating transparency into the business model, companies can in turn connect with people who find interest in their work, and, according to Hanchett, defend your name when the doubters and retractors come out.
“They’ll defend you when the trolls come out as they do. But when you need them the most, they’ll come and help.”
And lastly, making it happen. Hanchett refuses to accept that something is impossible.
“There are those in the industry who say that it cannot be done. That is not an acceptable answer.”
To see and learn more about Atlis Motors and its developments and announcements, check out their YouTube channel here! https://www.youtube.com/c/AtlisMotorVehicles
