Michael W. Patterson, founder and CEO of Battle Motors, Inc., is a serial entrepreneur on his fifth company. Before Battle, he founded Romeo Power Technology, a commercial vehicle battery startup that went public via SPAC in 2020; InAuth, Inc., a mobile authentication firm acquired by American Express in 2016; S Mobile Systems, acquired by Juniper Networks in 2009; and FedCel, a mobile expense management company acquired by Profitline in 2005. Patterson acquired Crane Carrier Company in 2021, renamed it Battle Motors, and rapidly positioned the New Philadelphia, Ohio manufacturer as a leader in electric refuse trucks for municipalities. Battle raised $120 million in a Series A round in December 2021 and $150 million in a Series B in September 2022, growing its workforce to over 450 employees and its revenue to more than $200 million by 2024. Patterson gave Forbes, Waste Dive, and HG Ventures a compelling growth story about electrifying garbage trucks for cities under clean energy mandates. In connection with a subsequent convertible debt offering that raised $112.5 million from two outside investors, he told those investors a version of the story that was materially false in two of its most important metrics. On July 10, 2026, the SEC filed a settled civil complaint against both Battle Motors and Patterson in the Northern District of Ohio, Case No. 5:26-cv-01591.
Without admitting the SEC’s allegations, Battle and Patterson each consented to a final judgment permanently enjoining them from future violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933. The final judgments, subject to court approval, order Battle to pay a civil penalty of $591,127 and Patterson to pay a civil penalty of $118,225, and impose a two-year officer and director bar on Patterson. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by the Atlanta Regional Office.
115 EV Orders Claimed, 8 Actual Orders Delivered: A 14x Inflation of Battle’s Pipeline
The core misrepresentation concerned Battle’s electric vehicle order book. Patterson told the two convertible debt investors that Battle had received 115 electric vehicle purchase orders totaling $30 million in just three months, a figure that would have represented explosive early commercial traction for the company’s BEV product line. In reality, at the time those statements were made, Battle had actual purchase orders for eight electric vehicles, amounting to approximately $2 million in committed sales. The remaining 107 orders and $28 million in claimed value were not purchase orders at all. They were expressions of customer interest, informal indications from potential buyers that did not constitute binding commitments to purchase. The SEC’s complaint treats the characterization of interest as orders as a materially misleading statement of fact, not a matter of disclosure nuance. Investors who funded a $112.5 million convertible debt offering were told the company had $30 million in confirmed electric truck sales. It had $2 million.
The second misrepresentation concerned Battle’s dealer network. Patterson told the investors that Battle’s network comprised 180 dealers with 320 locations, a figure that would have suggested broad national distribution infrastructure for the company’s vehicles. At the time of those statements, Battle’s actual dealer network consisted of 47 dealers with 156 locations. The claimed network was nearly four times the actual size by dealer count and more than twice the actual size by location count. As with the EV order inflation, the complaint treats these figures as affirmative misstatements rather than projections or aspirational targets. The investors received specific numbers. The specific numbers were wrong.
A Serial Founder With a Strong Track Record Who Inflated Two Key Metrics for a $112M Raise
Patterson’s background makes the misrepresentations harder to explain away as inexperience or optimism. He described himself to Forbes as a serial founder who had finished his work in normal workdays at every previous company before Battle consumed him. He had taken Romeo Power public, navigated the InAuth acquisition by American Express, and built Battle from a legacy truck manufacturer into a recognized EV player with a Forbes profile, a WASTECON keynote, and $270 million in venture funding. By the time the convertible debt offering was made, Battle was generating over $200 million in revenue and had expanded its Ohio factory by 150,000 square feet. The company was real, the product was real, and the market opportunity was real. The SEC’s complaint does not allege that the underlying business was fraudulent. It alleges that two specific representations made to two specific investors in connection with a specific capital raise were materially false, and that Battle and Patterson must pay civil penalties for making them.
A $591K Penalty on Battle, $118K on Patterson, and a 2-Year Director Bar With No Admission
The settlement terms reflect the SEC’s calibration of this case as a disclosure violation rather than a systematic fraud. The civil penalties are modest relative to the $112.5 million raised: $591,127 from Battle and $118,225 from Patterson combined total just over $700,000 against a nine-figure capital raise. The charges are limited to Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act, the negligence-based antifraud provisions, rather than the more serious Section 17(a)(1) or Section 10(b) charges that require scienter. No criminal referral is documented. Patterson’s two-year officer and director bar is a meaningful consequence for a serial entrepreneur who has consistently held founder and CEO roles, but it is time-limited and does not permanently exclude him from leading public companies. Battle Motors itself continues to operate under its existing leadership and product roadmap. The two outside investors who funded the $112.5 million convertible debt offering have not been identified by name in the SEC’s public filings.
Conclusion
Michael Patterson built five companies in succession, took one public, sold three to major acquirers, and turned a legacy garbage truck manufacturer into a recognized electric vehicle company with $200 million in revenue and $270 million in venture funding. In connection with a convertible debt raise that added $112.5 million to that total, he told investors his company had 115 EV purchase orders worth $30 million and 180 dealers across 320 locations. It had 8 orders worth $2 million and 47 dealers across 156 locations. The SEC charged both him and the company. Neither admitted wrongdoing. Battle pays $591,127. Patterson pays $118,225 and cannot serve as an officer or director for two years. The investors who received the inflated figures have not been named. The company continues to make electric garbage trucks in Ohio.
he is a crook
The reality of Battle is so much worse, at present more then half of the 450 employees have been laid off, Battle’s status with vendors is cash only because they don’t pay there bills. The electric trucks they have made don’t work half the time especially in the rain and snow. The place is smoke and mirrors.
As a former employee of battle motors I’m more surprised they found a nice picture of him than the fact he made such egregious lies. He always showed up to the plant the few times he was there in ripped distressed skinny jeans a backwards trucker cap that was adjusted too tight for his head and looked like it floated, and band shirts from hot topic.
Never trust a man with custom 3″ soles on his Nike’s. Wish I could embed images. Google Michael Patterson and Lady Benjamin PD Cannon if you really want to see this whole thing get weird.