On September 24, 2024, Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and others, held an award ceremony in Turin, Italy. Exro Technologies, an EV Coil Driver supplier, was there. The automaker wanted to recognize the company as one of three finalists for its “Best Supplier Award” in the “Innovation” category.

Exro, founded in 2014 in Canada, worked to create new tech that helped carmakers build more efficient EVs. It only recently earned a partnership with Stellantis, and things seemed to be going swell.

But now, Exro faces a not-so-bright future.

What the heck is an EV Coil Driver?

Exro’s Coil Driver isn’t a motor itself. It’s the brains that tell an EV motor how to behave.

In a normal setup, an electric motor must choose between strong low-speed torque or high-speed efficiency.

The Coil Driver switches the motor’s internal wiring on the fly so it can do both. At low speeds it delivers punchy takeoff power, then reconfigures for smoother, more efficient highway driving.

The goal is quicker response, longer range, and possibly cheaper motors that use fewer rare-earth materials. That last one was a huge driving force behind its partnership with Stellantis.

Stellantis saw potential

The automaker partnered with Exro in 2023 to test the tech for upcoming EVs. Likely on an existing Jeep, Ram, or Chrysler application or model still in development.

The idea was to see if Exro’s system could make EVs more affordable and fun to drive without overhauling Stellantis’ existing platforms.

For 14 months, Exro was bound by an NDA with Stellantis as both worked on the brand’s EV lineup.

The NDA lifted in Q4 2024, followed by that award ceremony in Turin.

But on November 4, just two days ago, Exro released an announcement. It had filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The company was also delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The U.S. EV market is cooling in Q4 as tax credits expired, battery costs stayed high, and buyers shifted back toward hybrids

Stellantis and other automakers began re-evaluating EV launches. Exro’s bankruptcy filing this fall effectively ended the collaboration. The technology itself worked on paper, but the market lost momentum. Right now, the industry is chasing practicality, not perfection. Among other industry challenges, Exro’s timing could be a casualty of that shift.