Boulder Electric Vehicle has shut down its Chatsworth assembly plant and laid off about 50 workers, according to media reports. The Lafayette, Colo. startup is “mothballing” its operations both here and in Colorado, putting its manufacturing equipment for making electric delivery vans and small trucks into storage, the Los Angeles Daily News reported on Saturday Boulder Electric, founded in 2011, was developing vehicles with a range of 80 to 120 miles and a top speed of 70 mph for corporate customers and municipalities. Boulder Electric moved into the 30,000-square-foot Chatsworth space in the 9600 block of Irondale Avenue in 2012 and began producing vehicles there early last year. Boulder Electric received a $3 million grant from the California Energy Commission to produce its delivery vans, flatbeds and service trucks. It was among 11 companies that received state grants as part of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. Company Chief Executive Carter Brown told the paper that the company had produced vehicles now in use in Los Angeles, Texas, New York and Chicago, but would not give an exact number produced in the San Fernando Valley. “We have essentially mothballed the company. We are not filing bankruptcy,” he said. In an August 2012 story in the Business Journal, Brown said the company would invest $3 million of its own funds to help pay for the lease and other building improvements needed to get the Chatsworth facility ready for production The company did not respond to calls for comment.