Electric Atlis XT ute locked in for Australia

American electric ute-maker Atlis has secured a deal to import 19,000 Atlis XT pick-up trucks into Australia over the next four years.

Queensland-based Australian Manufactured Vehicles Pty Ltd (AusMV), which already privately imports and converts to right-hand drive a bevy of utes and performance cars via a separate sister company, confirmed the deal involving the still-secret XT pick-up (shown here in camouflage) when contacted by carsales today.

The company will initially import 10 Atlis XT utes into Australia next year for engineering and development purposes, with customer vehicles to follow in 2023.

Under the deal struck with Atlis, the Australian company has agreed to take 19,000 Atlis XT utes by 2025.

Each will undergo a “right-hand market manufacture” process which is said to be simpler than a major remanufacturing conversion – as seen with Chevrolet and RAM pick-ups that spring from the Walkinshaw Group operation in Melbourne – thereby keeping costs down.

AusMV will construct a new projection facility for the project, which it hopes to base somewhere in Queensland.

“Out of those 19,000 vehicles, a fair amount will go to the Australian market,” said AusMV managing director Eddie Kocwa.

“Our territory with Atlis is South-East Asia and Oceania, and we have already started discussions with the New Zealand government.”

Due to be revealed later this year, the US-built Atlis XT claims an electric range of up to 800km, a 0-100km/h time of about 5.0sec as well as the ability to fully recharge in 15 minutes courtesy of a 250kWh battery and ultra-fast-charger compatibility.

Armed with four electric motors – one on each wheel – the Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T rival also claims a towing capacity of up to 15 tonnes when fitted with a gooseneck trailer hitch.

Atlis secured a reported $US300 million ($A407m) capital investment from Luxembourg group Gem Global Yield in July, and has pledged to build its own batteries at a dedicated Arizona facility.

Atlis chief executive and founder, Mark Hanchett, described the XT as an “ideal” fit for ute-thirsty Australia.

“Many traditional auto-makers have overlooked Australia when launching new EVs for a variety of reasons, but we see things differently,” he said in a statement.

“Our long-range, fast-charging electric work trucks are ideal for this market. We don’t need legislative imperatives and other incentives to ship vehicles to Australia and AusMV knows how to get them into owners’ hands.”

AusMV isn’t being drawn on exact pricing and specification details for the Atlis XT at this point, however Kocwa believes it will slot below internal combustion utes of equivalent size – hinting the XT will be less than the $157K RAM 2500 or GMSV Chevrolet Silverado.

“I think it sits below the current US pick-up trucks in Australia and the only reason for that is we don’t have to do a remanufacture as such, it’s a right-hand drive market manufacture,” Kocwa said.

“Atlis has designed the XT from the start as an electric vehicle, as it should be. There’s a lot less complexity and it’s factory-built, in essence.

“The XT will be sold by Atlis, and our brand AusMV will be the one-stop shop for electric vehicles,” he said.