Electric vehicle manufacturer Proterra announced on Wednesday that it has won $20 million in funding from cleantech investment firm MK Energy and Infrastructure.
The Golden, Colo.-based company makes commercial “clean transportation,” specializing in zero-emission transit buses for both domestic and international markets.
Proterra says the investment will be used to accelerate the construction of its first full-scale manufacturing plant in Greenville, S.C., on track to break ground later this year.
Once finished, it will be able to make 2,500 EcoRide BE-35 buses per year, employing 1,300 workers over the next five years.
Proterra also said the funding would be used for clean technology research and clean commuting policy support.
“MK E+I provides strategic experience to Proterra as we grow in the United States and look at global expansion,” Proterra CEO Jeffery Granato said in a statement.
Proterra’s EcoRide BE-35is a zero emission, fast-charge, battery-electric transit bus intended to replace conventional diesel buses. Proterra claims the EcoRide manages 500 percent greater fuel efficiency than diesel buses and 400 percent greater efficiency “than the most advanced hybrid transit buses traveling the roads today.”
Proterra’s sales pitch:
- Over 12 years, Proterra buses save about $400,000 per bus in fuel costs compared to conventional diesel buses. Compared to hybrid buses, they save $300,000.
- Zero emission buses are quieter.
- The buses achieve between 18 and 29 miles per gallon diesel fuel equivalent, fully loaded with 68 passengers.
- IP involved: a lightweight composite body, efficient energy storage system and rooftop charging station that can charge the bus in 5 to 10 minutes.
- Proterra’s systems are scalable to all forms of commercial buses and Class 6-8 trucks.
So what’s in it for MK E+I? The firm invests in infrastructure assets, advanced stage clean energy tech and late-stage renewable energy projects, and it’s no secret that the firm sees Proterra expanding across the U.S. — and onward to Europe and Latin America.
