Feature | SAE Electric
Sea Change SEA Electric a home-grown competitor making waves in the global electric truck environment
Overseas there’s a huge push underway with electric vehicles, including electric trucks and SEA Electric is an Australian company ensuring Australia is a pivotal part of that push and while it may seem a new company it was in fact founded by Tony Fairweather almost 10 years ago. Then it was trialling, developing, testing and gathering the intellectual resources it needed as a start -up, now while its roots remain in Australia it has spread to the US with its HQ in Los Angeles and other facilities in Des Moines and Iowa in the US, as well as Melbourne Australia, Auckland New Zealand, Bangkok Thailand and Vienna Austria. “The pivot to the US started probably three years ago now. And it’s one of the largest markets on Earth,” Glen Walker, Regional Director Oceania, SEA Electric said. “There’s a very heavy focus on electric vehicles, and a very welcoming political environment around those electric vehicles. So, it was natural that the business would concentrate an ever-increasing part of its resources in that market. That market is between 10 and 15 times larger than Australia.” The market is so important that the company recently injected US$42 million ($58m) to add assembly capacity creating a potential for around 60,000 units per year. Further US assembly, including in the area of batteries, is expected to come about in the near future. SEA Electric’s California-based headquarters has the largest capability and the addition of a Des Moines Technical Centre and planned offices in Chicago, Brooklyn and Miami represents SEA Electric’s commitment to the market. “There’s a huge opportunity for electric trucks to thrive in North America, as there is in Europe and Asia, and quite frankly, across the across the globe,” Mr Walker said.
Glen Walker, Regional Director Oceania, SEA Electric
18 | September 2021
“We have formal operations in North America, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and in Europe. So that the company has a footprint that you could argue is quite global. We have also sold vehicles or developed vehicles in many other countries.”
Australian engineering with a hefty nod to the US Predominately SEA’s trucks have been the result of work completed by Australian engineers, with manufacturing facilities in Dandenong, Victoria as well as a range of facilities in the US with a footprint in Iowa, California and soon also in Illinois and Florida. In Australia the company employs around 50 staff, with another 50 staff in the US but the US footprint is growing rapidly and will soon exceed Australia’s numbers. Around 25 percent of the workforce both in Australia and overseas is made up of degree qualified engineers; mechanical, electrical, software and mechatronic. “And it’s not just an engineering role in an automotive company. It’s an engineering role in a very future focused automotive company,” Mr Walker explained. “In Australia, we are now an original equipment manufacturer. We have our own compliance plate and our own brand, a national dealer network, our own pricing and sales and service. We have become a truck company.” At Australia’s largest truck event, the Brisbane Truck Show which was held in May this year the company showcased its full range of electric trucks for the first time. “Our own SEA-badged trucks, including the SEA 300 EV and SEA 500 EV in Australia, are