Obrist, the Austrian engineering firm famous for ripping battery cells out of a Tesla Model 3 and bolting a gas engine into the frunk, is bankrupt. Three companies in the Obrist Group are insolvent with combined debts of about €31.8 million, or roughly $37 million.
The company spent over a decade pitching its “HyperHybrid” range extender as the smarter alternative to battery-electric cars. It never got a single production vehicle out of it.
Two closures, no rescue
The Feldkirch Regional Court in Vorarlberg opened bankruptcy proceedings at the end of September for Obrist Powertrain GmbH and Obrist Technologies GmbH, both based in Lustenau. The companies filed the petitions themselves, according to…