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    1. Management

    Motiv Power Systems secures $60 million to scale EPIC all-electric chasses, establish Detroit operations

    Oct. 18, 2019
    Investors including GMAG Holdings and Winnebago will help fund the expansion of Motiv in Foster City, as well as open an engineering and manufacturing center in Detroit.
    Related To: Motiv Power Systems

    Motiv Power Systems announced it secured $60 million in equity funding after a Series B round of investment was led by investors GMAG Holdings Corp. and Winnebago.

    These funds will support the overall growth of Motiv, including opening a new engineering and manufacturing facility in Detroit, Mich., as well as facilitate further growth in the large fleet customer segment.

    “Over the last 10 years, Motiv has proven its technology and business model,” said Matt Gallaher, chief financial officer of GMAG Holdings Corp. “The commercial transportation industry is on the cusp of significant growth in electrification. We strongly believe in Motiv’s technology as well as the management team driving its growth. We are excited to further support them as the company scales to meet the demand of the growing commercial EV market.”

    Collectively, vehicles powered by Motiv’s EPIC chassis have accumulated over 750,000 real-world miles driven by customers such as Aramark, Bimbo Bakeries USA, USPS, the city of Mountain View, Calif., more than a dozen school districts and more, according to the company.

    “We are excited to see the first Motiv-equipped vehicle on a Winnebago commercial shell being used by a major hospital system on the West Coast,” said Ashis Bhattacharya, vice president of business development, specialty vehicles, and advanced technology at Winnebago Industries. “Our customers are hungry for all-electric mobile solutions developed on our commercial shells, especially in California.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Motiv and growing the electric commercial segment worldwide.”

    With this tranche of funding, Motiv will continue its efforts to bring commercial electric vehicles into cost parity with fossil-fueled vehicles without the need for incentives. Establishing an engineering and manufacturing center in Detroit will strengthen its Midwest presence, bring Motiv closer to customers and partners in the region and enable manufacturing growth through its partners. Motiv will also continue its focus on market development, technology innovation and product differentiation in order to increase electric vehicle adoption throughout the transportation industry.

    “As we have started deploying our products to some of the largest fleet customers in the U.S., we have been looking to expand our workforce and facilities to better support the growing demand we are seeing in the market,” said Matt O’Leary, CEO of Motiv Power Systems. “With their generous investments, GMAG Holdings and Winnebago are setting Motiv up for success and leadership as the market for commercial EVs approaches an inflection point.”

    The EPIC chassis family features Motiv’s operating software and power electronics on Ford chassis, most notably the E-450 and F59. As a Ford partner and Qualified Vehicle Modifier (eQVM) for electric vehicles, Motiv has met Ford’s stringent assessment criteria verifying the company meets manufacturing, assembly, workmanship, customer service and quality requirements. Additionally, the Motiv solution enables a modular approach that controls various battery and hardware technologies.