David Michery, Mullen Automotive CEO: “Experience premium automotive retail that fits into your everyday life”

The Silicon Review

We are living in the clean energy world where the electric care market is quite more dynamic than before. Back in 2012, the total number of EVs sold was about 130,000, whereas now that many are sold within a single week. The growth of EVs has been outstanding in the last three years as the global pandemic completely shrank the conventional cars market. Globally there are various EV manufacturers delivering excellent services, but Mullen Automotive stands out from the rest. Mullen is a manufacturer of electric vehicles and batteries from solid state polymer battery development to potentially lithium air technology meaning the Holy Grail.

The company is exploring the most possibilities to create the most efficient and reliable battery and the sexiest most efficient vehicle the world has ever seen.

In conversation with David Michery, CEO of Mullen Automotive

Q. What was the motivation behind starting Mullen Automotive?

I love cars, and this was an opportunity for me to buy into something that I’ve been a fan of for a long time. I’ve always been an advocate car collector; you gotta love what you do. I want to be responsible; the use of fossil fuels will disappear. I like to clean air; we can contribute by removing the carbon footprints, not just from the vehicle but also the supply chain for the vehicle, to make it an all green initiative, then I’m all for that.

Q. EVs run at one-third of that cost, given that electricity is significantly less expensive than gasoline. How often do your EVs need a charge?

It depends on the range of the vehicle. If your vehicle has 300 miles of range per charge, typically speaking, compared to a gas vehicle that gets the same amount of miles and cost is $100+ to fill a tank, the same will cost you 20 to 35 dollars if it’s a D.C. fast charge. The real savings come in the less moving parts; electric vehicles have a lot less moving parts, rotors don’t wear, and you have regenerative braking. There’s not really a need to change brake pads or vehicles like with a gas vehicle. More importantly, you have potential issues with major services that are required with gas/oil vehicles, unlike electrical, which have limited services required. Our proposed solid-state polymer battery, when commercialized, will have a potential range of 600 miles on a full charge in over 300 miles delivered in 18 minutes with D.C. fast charging.

Q. Although EV range is constantly improving, it’s still one of the main pain points for consumers deciding between electric and conventional. How can you improve range and performance of your EV?

We are trying to do that now with our solid state battery. Our second generation Mullen FIVE proposed for 2025, will have again a potential range of 600 miles on a full charge with over 300 miles in range within 18 minutes on a DC fast charge. Typically most people can’t drive more than 600 miles without stopping to rest, this give you the potential to do that.

Q. Compared to the few minutes it takes to fill up a conventional car at the gas station, recharging your EV is a much more significant time investment. Is there an alternative to charging an EV on the go?

We have the ability to get 300 miles of charge in 18 minutes; it takes about that long to go to a gas station while you wait in line to fill up the car, get out of the car to stretch your legs, get a drink, use the restroom, last time it checked it can take 15 to 30 to process. Typically, a gas car cannot deliver more than 300 miles of range on a full tank unless you have a big rig.

Q. The battery packs within an electric car are expensive and may need to be replaced more than once over the lifetime of the car. How do you address this challenge?

Solid-state polymer battery cells, once we commercialize it, have the ability to have a very limited degradation, at 2% after 1000 cycles. A cycle means every time you charge and discharge a vehicle. If you are getting 600 miles per charge, and you do that 1000 times, it’s equal to 600,000 miles. Nobody drives that many miles; you’ll need a new body for your car before you need a new battery pack.

Q. How do you market your services?

We are a public company, and the fact that we have a very vast shareholder base, the product speaks for itself. It’s sexy and garnered 250 million media impressions when we had our worldwide debut at the 2021 LA Autoshow to great fanfare and success. We’ve created a large and loyal fanbase, “Mullen Army”/”Mullenaires.”

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

Electric vehicles are beautiful to look at, efficient to drive, and have performance specs that rival all of the best cars on the planet.

Meet the leader behind the success of Mullen Automotive

As CEO and Chairman of the Board, David Michery has led Mullen and its divisions since its inception in 2014. With over 25 years of executive management, marketing, distressed assets, and business restructuring experience, Mr. Michery brings a wealth of relevant knowledge and expertise to the Mullen brand. He has notably created 12 trademarks so far to develop the company brand and vision. Mr. Michery is working towards a sustainable future accessible to all by creating a suite of clean-energy electric vehicles at varied price points. With entirely US-based manufacturing and operations, Mr. Michery is also determined to have Mullen play a role in shaping a self-sustaining local economy by creating more jobs in America. Mr. Michery manages risks and company expectations as a pathway to success and has personally overseen several businesses totaling over $1 billion in transactions. His key strength is being fiscally responsible and leading teams to complete projects on time and within budget. In addition, as a seasoned professional in this space, Mr. Michery has demonstrated skill in building businesses from the ground up and into successful entities that subsequently sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.