THE NEW headquarters of Harbinger Motors in Garden Grove on Knott Street.

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

The word “harbinger” means a “forerunner of something.”

On Tuesday, Harbinger Motors, which plans to manufacture all-electric commercial vehicles such as vans, announced it has opened its new headquarters in Garden Grove. 

It’s perhaps a “harbinger” of a new era in which the city becomes a center for a major employer in auto manufacturing.

THE VAN

“We’re revving up our headquarters and quintupling our footprint in California,” announced the company in a press release. 

“Hello, from our newly relocated headquarters in Garden Grove. This move enables us to power ahead on R&D, launch the manufacturing of our EVs and further scale up our team. We are thrilled about this next chapter in our story.”

Harbinger is relocating from Gardena and is now in the former Next Level indoor sporting facility on Knott Street near Stanford Avenue in the Central Industrial District in West Garden Grove.

“This new facility will give us the space and flexibility that the company needs to advance our vehicle and component  development programs and continue on the path to full-scale production,” said John Harris, CEO and co-founder of Harbinger.”

Harbinger is aiming at the medium-duty market, such as those delivery vans you see on your streets each day dropping off packages from Amazon or FedEx. A 2024 launch is anticipated.

Electric vans are a growing part of the commercial vehicle business. Ford now sells its 2023 E-Transit van starting at $45,995. General Motors  is building its BrightDrop EV600 vehicle, and there are various government tax incentives for all-electric vehicles.