Protean Electric,a producer of in-wheel electric drive systems,has secured$84m in new funding for its in-wheel electric drive from GSR Ventures,New Times group,Oak Investment Partners and the city of Liyang,Jiangsu Province,China.
The funding will be used to build a manufacturing facility in Liyang to bring the company's in-wheel electric drive for electric vehicles to full commercial scale.
GSR Ventures will lead the funding,which will be joined by the New Times Group and Oak Investment Partners,while the city of Liyang will offer prototype manufacturing support,with favorable industrial policy.
GSR Ventures managing director Sonny Wu said,"GSR is honored to lead this round of investment in a disruptive technology that we believe has great promise for the Chinese automotive market and potentially building a global EV platform."
Oak Investment Partners managing partner Bandel Carano said,"There's tremendous interest around the world in adopting Protean's in-wheel electric drive systems,which enable breakthrough cost and performance advantages,including high power and torque directly to the wheel as well as integrated power electronics and unparalleled regenerative braking efficiency."
Protean Holdings chairman and CEO Bob Purcell said that with this round of investment in place,the company is now positioned to move aggressively to production and into the market.
"All of our investors believe in our technology and share in our vision to make Protean Electric the world leader for in-wheel electric drive,"Purcell said.
"We will have the capability to directly supply our motors at lower volume levels,while providing licenses to our higher volume customers and partners."
Protean's each motor,which releases 81 kW of horse power and torque of 800Nm,will improve fuel economy by up to 30%depending on battery size.
In addition,the company has also developed multiple demonstration vehicles,including a Ford F150 pick-up truck,Volvo C30,Vauxhall Vivaro cargo van,Guangzhou Automobile Company Trumpchi,and BRABUS full electric and hybrid vehicles,based on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
