Windrose delivered dozens of electric trucks, yet some staff claim they went unpaid. A US judge ordered the company to pay one executive $413,000 in full. The company relies on contract manufacturers and local assemblers. Questions have started to swirl around Windrose, one of many electric truck startups, after two former employees alleged that the company’s boss refused to pay them and that one of its pricey trucks has gone missing. While the name Windrose Technology may not ring a bell, the company says it has raised roughly $400 million and aims to establish itself as a serious player in the electric-truck race, building a hauler to rival the Tesla Semi. The firm is Chinese-owned and runs out of a headquarters in Belgium, and beyond its US launch, it has locked in orders from buyers in Norway, Chile, and Australia. Read: Ford’s First Heavy Duty EV Truck Swaps Diesel Grit For Electric Grit But as we’ve seen so many times before with newly established vehicle manufacturers, not everything has been smooth sailing for Windrose. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company’s founder and chief executive, Wen Han, reportedly lost track of one of the company’s trucks earlier this year. Unpaid Wages Windrose Travis Waite and Harold Keller, two former employees fired in January, allegedly refused to help Han locate the truck until they received $91,000 in unpaid wages and benefits, according to the WSJ. They say that as of July, they still hadn’t been paid, and the truck had yet to turn up. Han contends the sum Waite and Keller claim they’re owed is “unfounded.” The company’s boss has admitted that he “hired too quickly and too aggressively in order to help the company expand”. He also acknowledged that Windrose has had payroll issues but insists it has the funding to support its ambitions for global expansion. Later this year, Windrose wants to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. According to the WSJ, the company delivered its first electric truck in late 2024 and currently has 36 of its trucks operating worldwide. Han says the company’s trucks deliver roughly double the driving range of equivalent electric big rigs from Volvo and Daimler, all while costing significantly less. This is in part thanks to the company using contract manufacturers in China to build the truck, before they’re shipped to regional partners for local assembly. Cash For Sponsorships Windrose As the company has grown, Han reportedly sponsored a basketball team near its Belgian headquarters, pledged $15 million to Stanford University once Windrose goes public, and said the firm has facilities in California and Georgia ready to start local assembly. Over that same stretch, employees’ paychecks have allegedly been frequently delayed. Last October, the company’s first North American operations boss, Jason Gies, demanded payment of unpaid wages, the WSJ reports. He was fired just days later, and after filing a lawsuit in federal court, a judge ordered Windrose to pay him $413,000. More recently, Windrose drew the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after it was revealed that two of the four Windrose trucks in the US had VINs indicating they were made in Georgia, even though they were built in China. Han has blamed this issue on a former employee. Clearly, the company is experiencing growing pains, and only time will tell if it can iron out the kinks.
