Program to use Firefly ESV in Collaborative Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Alongside Tier-1 Automotive and Cloud Computing Leaders

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / December 20, 2021 / ev Transportation Services Inc. ("evTS"), an electric vehicle manufacturer focused on the essential services and urban e-mobility markets, today announced it has joined a pilot program led by Stantec GenerationAV™ and partially funded through a grant from the State of Michigan's Mobility Funding Platform to explore autonomous grocery delivery services utilizing the FireFly ESV in Troy, Michigan.

Stantec GenerationAV™ is the autonomous vehicle team at Stantec a global leader in sustainable design and engineering. The collaborative automated vehicle pilot is designed to discover challenges, barriers and opportunities with development partners, ecosystem stakeholders and end users. Key objectives of the program include understanding customers' shopping experiences with autonomous delivery, testing various vehicle form factors and identifying customer and fulfillment needs, understanding and testing various automated grocery delivery ecosystem integrations and operations, integration and testing vehicle and fleet route optimization, and autonomous technology testing and operations in the public domain.

In announcing the grants, Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of the State of Michigan, said: "These grants and the projects they fund are helping us put Michiganders first, growing our economy and positioning Michigan as a leader in the development and implementation of safe, sustainable mobility solutions. Through these community-led initiatives and technologies, our residents will be empowered to take control of their transportation options with more accessible and affordable solutions that will lead to a greater quality of life here in Michigan"

Joining Stantec on the project will be research partner General Motors and current evTS accessory and technology suppliers The Shyft Group and Interplai. Additional research partners in the program include the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and a tier-1 cloud computing leader.

During the program, operations will be a mix of simulated autonomous delivery and actual autonomous delivery. The Firefly ESV will have autonomous driving capabilities and will be used strategically in fleet applications. The pilot will focus on collecting data to enable the autonomous delivery ecosystem including grocers, order fulfillment, delivery services/operators, and AV manufacturers/developers. The data will also be shared with public transportation officials to inform policy and regulation. The first phase of the pilot will service a mix of suburban neighborhoods to gather diverse customer and operational design domain data. Subsequent phases may include route and service expansion. The team will also explore an urban deployment in 2022.

"Autonomous delivery vehicles are rapidly moving towards the market, and this program is a unique opportunity to work directly with some of the leading companies in the space to explore the potential of our vehicles," said David Solomont, evTS Chairman and CEO. "Autonomous driving for grocery delivery is an excellent use case for the lightweight, agile and maneuverable Firefly ESV a customized package/grocery delivery cargo container. Insights on how the Firefly ESV performs under autonomous driving in a variety of environments during the program will be applied to our autonomous ready integration program for our customers. We look forward to working with Stantec GenerationAV™ and the other exceptional partners in the program to demonstrate the FireFly ESV's exceptional capabilities in autonomous applications."

"This is an exciting pilot project to learn more about how automated technology can positively impact peoples' lives, and boost Michigan's reputation as America's mobility innovator," added Corey Clothier, Founder and Director at Stantec GenerationAV™. "We look forward to utilizing the FireFly ESV in the program to better understand the market, the customer, and automated delivery operations."

About evTS

ev Transportation Services Inc. ("evTS") is a specialty vehicle manufacturer that produces purpose-built, pure electric lightweight commercial utility vehicles and provides fleet management solutions. Founded in 2015, the Boston-based company's flagship product, the FireFly ESV is aimed at the essential services transportation and urban e-mobility markets, which represent an annual domestic replacement market of approximately 400,000 vehicles, or roughly $10 billion annually. End user applications for the Company's vehicles include parking management, security and perimeter patrol, parks and sidewalk maintenance, utility meter reading, property and building management, airports, seaports, sanitation, university and corporate campuses, and last mile on-demand urban delivery. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.evTS.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations Contact
Lucas Zimmerman
Director
MZ Group - MZ North America
949.259.4987
investors@evTS.com
www.mzgroup.us

Company Contact
Paul Barrett
VP of Marketing and Product
ev Transportation Services, Inc.
Boston, Massachusetts
202.347.3359 x106
media@evTS.com
www.evTS.com

SOURCE: ev Transportation Services, Inc.