Full-Time
Product Design Engineer
Grounded RVs
11-50 employees
Electric RV design and manufacturing
No salary listed
Detroit, MI, USA
In Person
Bachelor's
 UI/UX & Design (2) |
|---|
| , |
Get referred to Grounded RVs
See people who can refer or advise you
- A degree in mechanical engineering, industrial design, or both is required.
- Strong computer-aided design fluency and comfort moving between tools such as Onshape and NX are required.
- Rendering and visualization skills using tools such as KeyShot or Blender are required.
- The candidate must be able to research unfamiliar component categories, evaluate specifications and vendor claims, and select appropriate parts.
- Interest in parametric or computational design and comfort working with software engineers is required.
- The candidate must have design-for-manufacturing instincts and an understanding of real materials and tolerances.
- The candidate must be comfortable with ambiguity and own outcomes rather than tasks.
- Design and 3D model interior modules, including cabinetry, medical and food equipment integrations, and mounts, while maintaining the module library as the single source of truth.
- Scout the market for components such as power systems, refrigeration, commercial equipment, and hardware; compare specifications, weight, power draw, certifications, and cost; and make defensible selections.
- Develop vehicle configurations and packaging layouts for customer proposals, validating fit, weight, and power budgets.
- Produce renderings and visualizations for sales, proposals, and marketing.
- Build parametric versions of modules for the product configurator in collaboration with the software team.
- Support prototype builds on the manufacturing floor and incorporate lessons learned back into the module library.
- Knowledge of aluminum fabrication, composite materials, or sheet metal.
- Experience in the vehicle or furniture industry.
- Grasshopper or scripting experience.
Grounded RVs designs and manufactures electric recreational vehicles for eco-conscious travelers. Its flagship product, the Grounded Campervan 1, is built on Ford's E-Transit platform and combines a modular interior with fully integrated electronics for flexible living and driving. The company offers both one-time purchases and a monthly subscription model, generating revenue from sales and recurring services. A key differentiator is a team of engineers with backgrounds at SpaceX and Tesla, applying advanced engineering to modernize and electrify the RV experience. Grounded RVs is also developing a next-generation, hyper-aerodynamic towable trailer with a lightweight pop-up shell to maximize efficiency and expand living space. The overarching goal is to provide sustainable, versatile, and easy-to-use travel solutions that appeal to adventure seekers while reducing environmental impact.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Seed
Total Funding
$8.5M
Headquarters
Detroit, Michigan
Founded
2022
Get referred to Grounded RVs
See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- August 18, 2026 brought a $5 million seed and 50,000-square-foot Detroit factory.
- Customers include Colgate, Nokia, Wayne State University Medical, and Coffee Fellows.
- Production starts August 2026, with enterprise and municipal fleet demand already visible.
What critics are saying
- GM killed BrightDrop in October 2025, stranding Grounded's original G2 chassis.
- Ford canceled its next-generation electric Transit, weakening Grounded's EV-only story.
- $5 million barely funds factory ramp; 2027 execution failure risks insolvency.
What makes Grounded RVs unique
- Founded by SpaceX engineers, Grounded sells software-defined modular vehicle interiors.
- Detroit facility builds EV and ICE fleets, broadening Grounded beyond consumer RVs.
- Grounded+ remote monitoring and fleet management create recurring software revenue.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Health Insurance
Paid Vacation
Company Equity
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -10%1 year growth
↓ -3%2 year growth
↑ 8%Grounded secures $5M Seed Round, opens new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to scale commercial fleet production. The Associated Press Aug 18, 2026, 7:02 AM "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running," said Grounded CEO Sam Shapiro. "With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." DETROIT-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Aug 18, 2026- Grounded, the Detroit-based advanced manufacturing and mobility company known for its modular electric vehicles, today announced it has closed a $5 million seed round and is moving production into a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit. The expansion increases Grounded's production capacity by 1,900% and will support the launch of a new vehicle-agnostic box platform that extends the company's software-defined, modular vehicle architecture into a significantly larger commercial fleet market of both electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running," said Grounded CEO Sam Shapiro. "With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." "This new facility is a turning point for Grounded," said Sam Shapiro, Founder and CEO of Grounded. "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running. With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." $5M Seed Round Fuels Next-Generation Manufacturing The seed round will fund three areas of expansion: standing up the box platform manufacturing line, including new tooling, equipment and R&D; building out the larger Detroit production facility; and growing the manufacturing, engineering, and sales team responsible for scaling the company's vehicle platform. The new box line builds on the software-defined, modular architecture Grounded developed for its existing van-based vehicles. Its adaptive customization technology allows a common vehicle platform to be configured for a wide range of applications, giving fleet operators purpose-built vehicles without requiring Grounded to engineer an entirely new vehicle for every use case. "The economy is moving onto wheels," said Grounded Chief Product Officer Nadia Meyer. "We're seeing notable growth across food and beverage franchises, field operations, public safety, and mobile healthcare. Our box platform embraces those use cases and speeds manufacturing to meet that demand and serve the sizable addressable market." Growing Fleet Adoption Across Industries Grounded is already putting its electric fleet vehicles to work across a diverse set of industries. Customers include Colgate, Nokia, Coffee Fellows, Wayne State University Medical, PetEvolution and Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, with vehicles supporting applications ranging from mobile medical and dental services to food service and other field operations. The expansion marks the next phase in Grounded's evolution from an electric RV startup into a broader advanced manufacturing and fleet technology company. Grounded will continue building fully electric RVs for direct-to-consumer customers while increasing its focus on commercial and government fleets seeking to electrify operations without sacrificing the flexibility of purpose-built vehicles. "Grounded is a company on the move, both literally and figuratively," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. "This team emerged from Newlab with a bold idea and turned it into a business that now requires 50,000 square feet and 15 new jobs to support its growth. Our Retention Program made the connections that kept this exciting company in the City, adding another strong chapter to Detroit's story as a leader in mobility." Building the Team for the Next Stage of Growth Grounded is also expanding its commercial leadership as it scales. The company has hired Drew Snow, formerly of Adrian Steel, as Director of International Sales to help grow the company's fleet business and bring its modular electric vehicle platform to customers across new markets. Grounded will begin production at the new Detroit facility in August 2026, with capacity ramping through 2027 to support existing commitments, the new box platform and a growing pipeline of enterprise and municipal fleet customers About Grounded Founded by former SpaceX engineers, Grounded is an advanced manufacturing and mobility company based in Detroit, Michigan, building smart, modular, electric vehicles for adventure and commercial use. Grounded specializes in modular manufacturing solutions that allow vehicles to be customized for a wide range of applications, paired with a connected software platform for remote monitoring and fleet management. Learn more at groundedevs.com. Please find images HERE Lydia Davey Herter, Attentio PR [email protected] KEYWORD: MICHIGAN UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY EV/ELECTRIC VEHICLES AUTOMOTIVE GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE RECREATIONAL VEHICLES FLEET MANAGEMENT PUB: 08/18/2026 06:00 AM/DISC: 08/18/2026 06:02 AM You May Also Like
Grounded secures $5M seed round, opens new manufacturing facility. 2 minutes read Grounded, the Detroit-based advanced manufacturing and mobility company known for its modular electric vehicles, announced it has closed a $5 million seed round and is moving production into a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit. The expansion increases Grounded's production capacity by 1,900% and will support the launch of a new vehicle-agnostic box platform that extends the company's software-defined, modular vehicle architecture into a significantly larger commercial fleet market of both electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, Grounded said in a release. "This new facility is a turning point for Grounded," said Sam Shapiro, founder and CEO of Grounded. "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running. With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." $5M seed round fuels next-generation manufacturing. The seed round will fund three areas of expansion: standing up the box platform manufacturing line, including new tooling, equipment and R&D; building out the larger Detroit production facility; and growing the manufacturing, engineering and sales team responsible for scaling the company's vehicle platform. The new box line builds on the software-defined, modular architecture Grounded developed for its existing van-based vehicles, the company said. Its adaptive customization technology allows a common vehicle platform to be configured for a wide range of applications, giving fleet operators purpose-built vehicles without requiring Grounded to engineer an entirely new vehicle for every use case. "The economy is moving onto wheels," said Nadia Meyer, Grounded chief product officer. "We're seeing notable growth across food and beverage franchises, field operations, public safety, and mobile healthcare. Our box platform embraces those use cases and speeds manufacturing to meet that demand and serve the sizable addressable market." Growing fleet adoption across industries. Grounded is already putting its electric fleet vehicles to work across a diverse set of industries. Customers include Colgate, Nokia, Coffee Fellows, Wayne State University Medical, PetEvolution and Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, with vehicles supporting applications ranging from mobile medical and dental services to food service and other field operations. The expansion marks the next phase in Grounded's evolution from an electric RV startup into a broader advanced manufacturing and fleet technology company, Grounded said. Grounded will continue building fully electric RVs for direct-to-consumer customers while increasing its focus on commercial and government fleets seeking to electrify operations without sacrificing the flexibility of purpose-built vehicles. "Grounded is a company on the move, both literally and figuratively," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. "This team emerged from Newlab with a bold idea and turned it into a business that now requires 50,000 square feet and 15 new jobs to support its growth. Our Retention Program made the connections that kept this exciting company in the city, adding another strong chapter to Detroit's story as a leader in mobility." Building the team for the next stage of growth. Grounded is also expanding its commercial leadership as it scales. The company has hired Drew Snow, formerly of Adrian Steel, as director of international sales to help grow the company's fleet business and bring its modular electric vehicle platform to customers across new markets. Grounded will begin production at the new Detroit facility in August 2026, with capacity ramping through 2027 to support existing commitments, the new box platform and a growing pipeline of enterprise and municipal fleet customers.
Detroit-based Grounded has raised $5 million in seed funding to expand its modular van customisation business. The startup, founded in 2022, initially focused on converting electric vans like Ford's E-Transit for commercial use but pivoted to include petrol-powered vehicles after GM discontinued BrightDrop and Ford cancelled plans for a next-generation electric Transit. The round was led by repeat investors Also Capital and The 81 Collection, with participation from Animal Capital, the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, and former SpaceX employees. Grounded has opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit that will customise both electric and combustion-powered vans for fleet customers. The company has secured clients across commercial, medical, and veterinary sectors, including Colgate and Nokia, and is seeing growth from food and beverage customers.
Detroit startup Grounded raises $5M to customize electric and gas-powered vans. The company has shifted from making van-life builds to custom outfitting vehicles for small businesses, all while the EV landscape in the US changed d Detroit-based Grounded has had to be flexible since it was founded in 2022. The startup was initially built around the idea of customizing electric vans like Ford's E-Transit and General Motors' BrightDrop for the "van life" set, using a modular, "Lego-like" system. Sensing a bigger opportunity, Grounded then started customizing those vans for small businesses. But then GM discontinued BrightDrop last year, Ford axed plans for a next-generation electric Transit van, and EVs generally became a harder sell in the United States. That hasn't stopped Grounded. On Tuesday, the startup announced that it has closed a $5 million seed round, with repeat investments from existing backers Also Capital and Chicago-based early-stage firm The 81 Collection, along with Animal Capital, the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, and "various SpaceX alumni," according to founder and CEO Sam Shapiro. Grounded has also opened a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit where it will take its core modular design business and scale it to be vehicle-agnostic, allowing the startup to customize fit kinds of fleet needs - be they electric or combustion-powered. Production at the facility starts this month, according to the startup, with capacity ramping up next year. "This new facility is a turning point for Grounded," Shapiro said in a statement. "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running. With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." Grounded has already snapped up customers in the commercial (like Colgate and Nokia), medical (Wayne State University Medical and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii), and even veterinary sectors. In a statement on Tuesday, Grounded's chief product officer Nadia Meyer said the company is seeing "notable growth" from food and beverage and public safety customers, among others. For Shapiro, GM's cancellation of BrightDrop was a catalyzing moment. He wrote in a blog post late last year that Grounded would embrace gas-powered vehicles, allowing the startup to build on far more popular models like Ford's combustion-powered Transit and Mercedes-Benz's Sprinter vans. It also allowed Grounded to seek out customers who weren't ready for electric vehicles due to infrastructure challenges. Shapiro said at the time that Grounded would exhaust the remaining available BrightDrop inventory while it pivoted to new models, including leveraging electric and hybrid options from fellow startup Harbinger. "Grounded is not an 'EV company,' nor is Grounded a vehicle company at all," Shapiro wrote. "We build the smart, high-tech, modular workspace or living space on top of the chassis: the design, materials, power system, and Grounded+ software that turn a vehicle into a modern, connected mobile healthcare vehicle, command center, camper van, coffee shop, and more. The application layer on top of the vehicle is our product."
Grounded secures $5M Seed Round, opens new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to scale commercial fleet production. * 2 hrs ago Grounded, the Detroit-based advanced manufacturing and mobility company known for its modular electric vehicles, today announced it has closed a $5 million seed round and is moving production into a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit. The expansion increases Grounded's production capacity by 1,900% and will support the launch of a new vehicle-agnostic box platform that extends the company's software-defined, modular vehicle architecture into a significantly larger commercial fleet market of both electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Anne Hathaway hints at 'story breakthrough' for The Princess Diaries 3 "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running," said Grounded CEO Sam Shapiro. "With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." "This new facility is a turning point for Grounded," said Sam Shapiro, Founder and CEO of Grounded. "We built this company to bring smart, modular electric vehicles to the businesses and institutions that keep our cities running. With this expansion, we can finally build at the scale our fleet customers need and bring our platform to an entirely new class of commercial vehicles." $5M Seed Round Fuels Next-Generation Manufacturing The seed round will fund three areas of expansion: standing up the box platform manufacturing line, including new tooling, equipment and R&D; building out the larger Detroit production facility; and growing the manufacturing, engineering, and sales team responsible for scaling the company's vehicle platform. The new box line builds on the software-defined, modular architecture Grounded developed for its existing van-based vehicles. Its adaptive customization technology allows a common vehicle platform to be configured for a wide range of applications, giving fleet operators purpose-built vehicles without requiring Grounded to engineer an entirely new vehicle for every use case. "The economy is moving onto wheels," said Grounded Chief Product Officer Nadia Meyer. "We're seeing notable growth across food and beverage franchises, field operations, public safety, and mobile healthcare. Our box platform embraces those use cases and speeds manufacturing to meet that demand and serve the sizable addressable market." Growing Fleet Adoption Across Industries Grounded is already putting its electric fleet vehicles to work across a diverse set of industries. Customers include Colgate, Nokia, Coffee Fellows, Wayne State University Medical, PetEvolution and Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, with vehicles supporting applications ranging from mobile medical and dental services to food service and other field operations. The expansion marks the next phase in Grounded's evolution from an electric RV startup into a broader advanced manufacturing and fleet technology company. Grounded will continue building fully electric RVs for direct-to-consumer customers while increasing its focus on commercial and government fleets seeking to electrify operations without sacrificing the flexibility of purpose-built vehicles. "Grounded is a company on the move, both literally and figuratively," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. "This team emerged from Newlab with a bold idea and turned it into a business that now requires 50,000 square feet and 15 new jobs to support its growth. Our Retention Program made the connections that kept this exciting company in the City, adding another strong chapter to Detroit's story as a leader in mobility." Building the Team for the Next Stage of Growth Grounded is also expanding its commercial leadership as it scales. The company has hired Drew Snow, formerly of Adrian Steel, as Director of International Sales to help grow the company's fleet business and bring its modular electric vehicle platform to customers across new markets. Grounded will begin production at the new Detroit facility in August 2026, with capacity ramping through 2027 to support existing commitments, the new box platform and a growing pipeline of enterprise and municipal fleet customers About Grounded Founded by former SpaceX engineers, Grounded is an advanced manufacturing and mobility company based in Detroit, Michigan, building smart, modular, electric vehicles for adventure and commercial use. Grounded specializes in modular manufacturing solutions that allow vehicles to be customized for a wide range of applications, paired with a connected software platform for remote monitoring and fleet management. Learn more at groundedevs.com. Please find images HERE Media gallery