ECOtality, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECTY), a company developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, has gained a significant new investor in Swiss engineering firm ABB.
The company announced today, that ABB made a $10 million investment in ECOtality, and the two companies have entered into a North American manufacturing agreement that establishes ABB as the preferred supplier of ECOtality’s power electronics and component parts in North America.
“Combining ECOtality’s twenty-plus years of experience in electric transportation with ABB’s expansive reach in power electronics and their strong relationship with international utilities will ensure we produce innovative and industry challenging EV charging solutions,"stated Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality. "This agreement will allow us to benefit from the extraordinary ABB global value chains, streamlines our sourcing and production capabilities and allows for Blink charging systems to be powered by ABB’s industry leading power electronics.”
Net proceeds of the $10 million equity investment from ABB will be utilized by ECOtality as working capital to support the continuing requirements of the EV Project.
As part of the transaction, ABB will have two representatives appointed to ECOtality’s Board of Directors. In addition, ABB and ECOtality will work together to develop innovative charging technologies for electric vehicles (EV) that incorporate the functionalities of ECOtality’s Blink™ EV charging stations, currently available through the Blink Network.
ECOtality’s current set of Blink EV charging solutions include the Blink Level 2 Home Charger for residential use, as well as the Blink Level 2 Pedestal Charger and Blink DC Fast Charger for commercial, fleet, and public locations. The Blink DC Fast Charger, introduced in October 2010, is capable of providing a full charge in less than 30 minutes. All Blink charging stations include smart features that allow consumers and utility companies the ability to perform better energy management, smart meter management and interaction, and demand response capabilities.
Both companies will also promote the use of ECOtality’s EV Micro-Climate™ process to develop EV infrastructure roll-out plans for various projects. The EV Micro-Climate process, developed in conjunction with The EV Project, is a systematic approach that evaluates a variety of regional factors that influence EV infrastructure deployment. Taking into consideration EV market data, transportation routes, population density and zoning, the process helps develop blueprints to allow for the smart deployment of charging stations; to fuel consumer adoption of EVs.
ECOtality is project manager of The EV Project and will oversee the installation of 15,000 commercial and residential charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states and the District of Columbia. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant of $114.8 million.
ABB has been active in the North American smart grid market, acquiring three software companies in the last 9 months.
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