Evatran Wins $1.6 Million Strategic Investment From Zhejiang VIE Science & Technology
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Evatran has secured a $1.6 million strategic investment from the Chinese automotive parts manufacturer Zhejiang VIE Science and Technology Company, according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.
This initial strategic investment represents the first stage of a planned partnership between the two companies — a partnership intended to bring wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging to China.
Considering that China now represents the second-largest electric car market in the world (with regard to sales volume), the move could be quite lucrative for the two companies.
The email to CleanTechnica provides some further details:
The partners began conversations in early 2015 and closed this initial investment in early June in order to move forward with planning and due diligence in preparation for marketing the Plugless technology in China. With a further cooperation for the China market, VIE will complete an additional equity investment in Evatran’s Series B investment round to open later this year.
Headquartered in Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, China, VIE is a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer which services both China-based OEMs and the global automotive market. VIE went public in 2011 on the Shenzhen Security Exchange and, across the whole VIE group (including VIE Science & Technology and other business units), surpassed $1.2 billion USD in sales in 2014. VIE specializes in the development and manufacture of major automotive parts and has led the development of a number of state and trade standards across China. This relationship with Evatran is part of several key strategic investments by VIE in new vehicle technologies.
Evatran is the market leader in putting wireless charging technology in the hands of individual EV drivers across North America. In 2013, it completed field trials in partnership with Google, Hertz, SAP and Duke Energy and in March of 2014, began selling directly to EV owners in the United States and Canada. To date it has provided more than 200,000 trouble-free wireless charge hours. Currently, Plugless supports 3.3 kW charging for the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF and Cadillac ELR EVs. It plans to support Tesla and BMW EV models later this year with 6.6 kW wireless charging.
With the global EV market expected to surge over the next decade, it’ll be interesting to see what partnerships like this can be parlayed into. There are certainly a lot of opportunities beginning to present themselves.
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