XL Fleet Corp., known to commercial and government fleets for retrofitting battery and electronics systems into existing commercial vehicle chassis, announced it will change its corporate name to Spruce Power Holding Corporation and be known as Spruce Power. 

The acquisition was completed on Sept. 9. The publicly traded company will change its NYSE ticker symbol from “XL” to “SPRU” at the open of market trading on Monday, Nov. 14.  

The acquisition of Spruce Power reflects the company’s new corporate strategy and brand identity. Spruce Power will provide subscription-based solutions for rooftop solar, energy storage, EV charging, and other energy-related products to homeowners and small businesses, the company said in a press release. 

The acquisition and name change mark a transition from the company’s founding business model, which was to implement hybrid and plug-in hybrid drive systems into existing chassis. XL Fleet engineered retrofits for a wide variety of vehicle types and models, including Chevy Silverado HD pickups, GM 3500/4500 cutaway chassis, Ford F-550 Super Duty chassis,  Ram heavy-duty pickups, and Isuzu NPR-HD. 

The company had recently developed an all-electric drivetrain. In May of 2022, XL introduced an all-electric refuse truck in collaboration with Curbtender, a maker of non-CDL refuse solutions.  

XL Fleet also offered other solutions such as charging infrastructure, power management, and fleet intelligence data systems. Clients included Coca-Cola, Verizon, and municipalities.  

In September 2020 the company announced plans to go public through a merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). 

In March 2021, the company was hit with a short-seller report claiming XL’s customer base was “grossly overstated” and that XL salespeople had been pressured to inflate their sales pipelines while misleading its customers on performance and savings.  

XL hit back at the report with TCO data and analyses and clarified statements over its backlog of unfilled order volume and future sales potential.   

Since the beginning of 2020 and through the third quarter of 2021, XL Fleet shipped a total of 1,661 drive systems, though only 36 drive systems were shipped during that third quarter, according to company financial reports.  

In its press release announcing the company’s Q3 results in 2021, Tod Hynes, founder and former president, cited results that “were negatively impacted by ongoing supply chain challenges continuing to face the global automotive industry, limiting chassis availability on which our new systems are installed.” 

In an email exchange with Automotive Fleet, Mark Wight, vice president of corporate strategy & product management for Spruce Power, said “XL Fleet will continue to operate and service customers using existing methods and processes. The name change will not affect legacy units or operations.”