Vicinity Motor Corp. and Proterra Inc. announced a new collaboration to power Vicinity's electric transit buses and work trucks with Proterra's battery technology. Under a new, multi-year supply agreement, Proterra battery systems will power the Vicinity Lightning 28-foot electric transit bus and Vicinity's strip chassis platform to support several commercial vehicle configurations such as utility trucks, shuttle buses, and box trucks.

The agreement is also expected to support Vicinity's next-generation heavy-duty electric transit bus as well as the VMC 1200 Class 3 work truck and VMC 1500 Class 5 work truck with Proterra battery systems. Proterra contracted to supply Vicinity with battery systems to power a minimum of 600 Vicinity commercial electric vehicles through 2024. The Proterra Powered Vicinity Lightning vehicle is expected to begin production in the third quarter of 2022. Proterra batteries will be used in the production of Vicinity Lightning electric transit vehicles at Vicinity's Ferndale, Washington manufacturing facility.

Designed for the U.S. and Canadian markets, the Vicinity Lightning will comply with Buy America requirements for Federal Transit Administration-funded programs in the United States.