Grounded Launches C1, World’s First 500-Mile Range Hybrid Mobile Command Center at Climate Week NYC

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 24, 2025--

Grounded, the Detroit-based modular EV startup founded by former SpaceX engineers, today announced the launch of the C1, the world’s first hybrid mobile command center with a 500-mile range. The C1, built on Harbinger’s commercial-grade electric truck platform and built for fleet deployment, is designed to empower municipalities, nonprofits, and government agencies with a durable, sustainable solution for mission-critical mobile operations—from incident command and disaster response to on-the-ground public health services.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250924604482/en/

Three Critical Missions, One Platform

Key Features of the C1

Grounded’s C1 is available on multiple wheelbases and on either an all-electric or plug-in hybrid chassis. The vehicle is designed to meet the demands of long shifts and continuous uptime.

“For long shifts in the field, durability alone isn’t enough. Design matters too,” said Grounded Chief Product Officer Nadia Meyer. “Human-centered design for the C1 puts intuitive systems and ergonomic layouts first, enabling responder comfort, endurance, and the ability to act faster when it matters most.”

The C1 delivers continuous performance by pairing a first-of-its-kind electric-first solution with a gas-powered range extender to power both mobility and auxiliary systems, with roof-mounted solar and a dedicated house battery providing additional support.

Front pedestrian braking, parking assist, and lane-keeping support enhance fleet safety and protect both drivers and communities. Integrated Starlink delivers secure, high-speed communications anywhere.

Every C1 comes with Harbinger’s platform warranty (8 years/100,000 miles) and a Grounded interior warranty, with national serviceability through Harbinger’s growing network. Charging compatibility spans CCS-enabled networks such as Ford and Electrify America, with additional access to Tesla Superchargers.

The Grounded+ App further enhances fleet visibility by providing remote monitoring of energy usage, appliance control, real-time diagnostics, and optimization tools that empower operators to manage costs and prevent failures before they occur.

Mission-Ready Meets Customization

The C1 is available in three builds that scale with municipal needs from essential response to fully equipped hubs for command, disaster response, or public health:

First Public Debut: Climate Week NYC

The Grounded C1 will make its first public appearance at Climate Week NYC on September 24, 2025. The vehicle will be stationed at Newlab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Availability

The Grounded C1 is now open for orders with shipments beginning in Q2 2026. Final pricing will vary depending on configuration and upfit.

About Grounded

Founded by ex-SpaceX engineers, Grounded builds software-defined electric vans for mission-defined fleets. Their modular connected interiors upfit the most powerful OEM platforms on the market.

Grounded empowers teams to scale their mobile operations to anywhere.

About Harbinger

Harbinger is an American commercial electric vehicle (EV) company on a mission to transform an industry starving for innovation. Harbinger’s best-in-class team of EV, battery, and drivetrain experts have pooled their deep experience to support the growing demand for medium-duty EVs. Leveraging a foundation of proprietary, in-house developed vehicle technologies designed specifically for commercial and specialty vehicles, Harbinger is bringing a first-of-its-kind EV platform to market, priced at acquisition parity to traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles. Harbinger: Familiar Form, Revolutionary Foundation.

To learn more about Harbinger, please visit www.harbingermotors.com. You can find the company press kit HERE.

About Sevna Composite Cabs

The founding members of SEVNA had a vision for this company from day one. These entrepreneurs honed their vision after decades of success in the wide field of automotive, specialty work truck and recreational vehicles manufacturing. As a partner with many of the largest vehicle producers in North America, including the Big Three auto producers in Detroit, they knew an organization built on a strong foundation of modern composites and cutting-edge innovation, yet nimble and flexible enough to thrive in the 21st century business world, could lead the next evolution of EV cab chassis for the specialty, recreational, commercial delivery, and transportation OEMs. For additional information please see our website at https://sevna1.com/.

About Henderickson

Hendrickson, a Boler company, is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of medium- and heavy-duty mechanical, elastomeric and air suspensions; integrated and non-integrated axle and brake systems; tire pressure control systems; auxiliary lift axle systems; parabolic and multi-leaf springs; stabilizers; bumpers; and components to the global commercial transportation industry. Hendrickson, based in Woodridge, IL., USA, continues to meet the needs of the transportation industry for more than 100 years. Visit Hendrickson at www.hendrickson-intl.com.

Founder Bio
Access a bio for Grounded CEO and Founder Sam Shapiro: bit.ly/3SXyEKZ

C1 Images
Download images of the C1 here

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Grounded @groundedrvs

“Expanding into government and healthcare fleets is a natural evolution for Grounded,” said Grounded CEO Sam Shapiro. “Today’s public safety, disaster response, and public health teams need more payload, more range, and more flexibility than smaller platforms can deliver. The C1 is our answer – it’s an electrified powerhouse that delivers sustainability without sacrificing mission readiness.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s second term has been eventful. You wouldn’t know it from his approval numbers.

An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.

The new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research does show subtle signs of vulnerability for the Republican president. Trump hasn’t convinced Americans that the economy is in good shape, and many question whether he has the right priorities when he’s increasingly focused on foreign intervention. His approval rating on immigration, one of his signature issues, has also slipped since he took office.

Here’s how Americans’ views of Trump have — and haven’t — changed over the past year, according to AP-NORC polling.

Call it a gift or a curse — for all his unpredictability, Trump's approval numbers just don't change very much.

This was largely the case during his first term in office, too. Early in his first term, 42% of Americans approved of how he was handling the presidency. There were some ups and downs over the ensuing years, but he left office with almost the same approval.

That level of consistency on presidential approval numbers could be the new normal for U.S. politics — or it could be unique to Trump. Gallup polling since the 1950s shows that presidential approval ratings have grown less variable over time. But President Joe Biden had a slightly different experience. Biden, a Democrat, entered the White House with higher approval numbers than Trump has ever received, but those fell rapidly during his first two years in office, then stayed low for the remainder of his term.

Most Americans have held a critical view of Trump throughout his time in office, and Americans are twice as likely to say he's focused on the wrong priorities than the right ones. About half of U.S. adults say he’s mostly focusing on the wrong priorities one year into his second term, and approximately 2 in 10 say he’s mostly focused on the right priorities. Another 2 in 10, roughly, say it’s been about an even mix, and 14% say they don't have an opinion.

The economy has haunted Trump in his first year back in the White House, despite his insistence that “the Trump economic boom has officially begun.”

Just 37% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy. That’s up slightly from 31% in December — which marked a low point for Trump — but Trump started out with low approval on this issue, which doesn’t give him a lot of room for error.

The economy is a new problem for Trump. His approval rating on this issue in his first term fluctuated, but it was typically higher. Close to half of Americans approved of Trump’s economic approach for much of his first White House stint, and he’s struggled to adjust to this as a weak point. Americans care a lot more about costs than they did in Trump’s first term, and, like Biden, he’s persistently asserted that the U.S. economy is not a problem while the vast majority describe it as “poor.”

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has done more to hurt the cost of living in his second term, while only about 2 in 10 say he’s done more to help. About one-quarter say he hasn't made an impact.

When Trump entered office, immigration was among his strongest issues. It’s since faded, a troubling sign for Trump, who campaigned on both economic prosperity and crackdowns to illegal immigration.

Just 38% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, down from 49% in March. The poll was conducted Jan. 8-11, shortly after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

But there are signs that Americans still give Trump some leeway on immigration issues. About half of U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, which is unchanged since April, despite an immigration crackdown that spread to cities across the U.S. in the second half of the year.

Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump has helped immigration and border security “a lot” or “a little” in his second term. This is an area where Democrats are more willing to give Trump some credit. About 2 in 10 Democrats say Trump has helped on this issue, higher than the share of Democrats who say he's helped on costs or job creation.

Trump has focused his attention more on foreign policy in his second term, and polling shows most Americans disapprove of his approach.

But much like Trump's overall approval, views of his handling of foreign policy have changed little in his second term, despite wide-ranging actions including his push to control Greenland and the recent military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

About 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of foreign policy, and most Americans, 56%, say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries.

Trump’s continued focus on global issues could be a liability given its sharp contrast with the “America First” platform he ran on and Americans’ growing concern with costs at home. But it could also be hard to shift views on the issue — even if Trump takes more dramatic action in the coming months.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,203 adults was conducted Jan. 8-11 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

President Donald Trump holds a bill that returns whole milk to school cafeterias across the country, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One from Florida, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)