Despite promising contracts and claims of superior technology compared to competitors like Tesla, Lithuanian Vėjo projektai, the company behind the Dancer electric buses has fallen into bankruptcy, according to a post shared by its co-founder Alvydas Naujekas. 

What had happened to the company?

  • Dancer bus's path looked rather promising. The company stated that its electric buses outperform similar Tesla models in some respects: for example, the batteries charge four times faster, and the bus itself is much lighter, so it consumes less energy.
  • Next to the experimental electric bus laboratory, a territory has been prepared for the construction of a future factory that would have allowed the assembly of two or more buses per day, or more than 500 per year.
  • Not being ready for the pandemic-caused crisis, the company has started its restructuring and began its collaboration with the investment fund NuCapital in July 2022, when the fund lent €1.8 million to Vėjo projektams. The loan was granted until July 2025, and the factory (building and production equipment worth €2.5 million) was pledged as collateral. 
  • Vėjo projektai alleges that NuCapital is deliberately obstructing its efforts to attract new investments and potentially seizing the company's assets. They accuse NuCapital of filing numerous complaints and attempting to buy up creditor debts to gain control over the restructuring process.
  • NuCapital, however, denied these allegations, stating that it was simply seeking to recover its lent capital.

This situation underscores the challenges faced by the Lithuanian electric mobility market in adapting to complex global crises like COVID-19. This way, even innovative start-ups with effective solutions can find themselves trapped in a detrimental cycle of setbacks, leading ultimately to bankruptcy.