CINCINNATI, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS), an American technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective solutions to the commercial transportation sector, today announced that it has applied for a loan of $250 million from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program. The company also announced that DOE has deemed its application to be substantially complete for purposes of DOE beginning its preliminary evaluation of the technical, financial, legal and other aspects of the application. There are a significant number of additional milestones Workhorse will need to achieve in order to progress its application towards a conditional commitment and any final loan agreement.

Workhorse is pursuing the ATVM loan, as well as other sources of financing, in order to equip its manufacturing plant in Union City, Indiana, for the production of the company's all-new W-15 four-wheel drive plug-in electric pickup truck.

"Workhorse has received letters of intent to purchase more than 5,000 W-15s, which we believe demonstrates that fleets are eager to incorporate range-extended electric pickup trucks," said Workhorse CEO and President Stephen Burns. "We are designing our W-15 to be the most economical, the greenest and the safest electric pickup in America's automotive market today."

The ATVM program makes direct loans to re-equip, expand or establish manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce qualifying light-duty vehicles or components that provide meaningful improvements in fuel economy performance in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The program has issued loans for projects run by Tesla, Ford and Nissan. DOE reports the program has supported 35,800 permanent U.S. jobs, saved more than 287 million gallons of gasoline annually, and prevented more than 2.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. Although the president's America First – A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again, dated March 16, 2017, proposed to eliminate the ATVM program, its long-term future is subject to congressional action on Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations.

The W-15 is the first electric pickup truck available to commercial customers from an American original equipment manufacturer.

"There is an enormous void of alternative-fuel pickups in the truck market, and the time is right to introduce the W-15," Burns said. "Securing the ATVM loan would help Workhorse bring the W-15 to market faster to meet the needs of fleet managers who are demanding a fuel-efficient pickup truck that gets the job done."

About Workhorse Group Inc.

Workhorse Group Inc. is a U.S.-based original equipment manufacturer of medium-duty, EPA-approved battery-electric delivery vehicles and fully integrated truck-launched, FAA compliant unmanned aerial systems (UAS) delivery drones. The company is also a developer of a cloud-based, real-time telematics performance monitoring system that provides fleet operators ultimate energy and rote efficiency. For additional information visit www.workhorse.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: our limited operations and need to expand in the near future to fulfill product orders; risks associated with obtaining orders and executing upon such orders; the ability to protect our intellectual property; the potential lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition; our inability to retain key members of our management team; our inability to raise additional capital to fund our operations and business plan; our inability to maintain our listing of our securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market; our ability to continue as a going concern; our liquidity and other risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Workhorse expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Workhorse Group Inc.