Evatran Group, Inc. has completed a 1.6 Million investment from Chinese automotive parts maker Zhejiang VIE Science and Technology Company (VIE), to introduce wireless electric vehicle charging product to China, the world’s largest EV market.
China surpassed the United States for the largest electric vehicle market in the world, by sales volume, in late 2014.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 (SHE:002590) and, across the whole VIE group (including VIE Science & Technology Co. and other business units), surpassed $1.2B 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 3.3kW charging for the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF and Cadillac ELR EVs. It plans to support Tesla and BMW EV models later this year with 6.6kW wireless charging.
According to Navigant Research the global EV charging market is estimated to be
$152.6 million in 2015 and grow to $2.9 billion within a decade, as demand for EVs continues to increase globally. The partnership between VIE and Evatran is built on the confidence that wireless EV charging has significant potential to disrupt the charging market and help grow overall EV adoption.
