Motiv Power Systems, a leading supplier of powertrain-control systems to builders of all-electric commercial vehicles, announced this morning that it has raised $7.3 million in growth capital from investors led by Denver-based Magness Investment Group LLC.
Motiv said the financing will support both its “growing sales pipeline” and production expansion.
Founded in 2009, Foster City, CA-based Motiv designs and builds an electric Powertrain Control System (ePCS) that is installed by commercial truck and bus builders to assemble all-electric trucks for such applications as straight, reefer, delivery, utility/service, flat/stakebed and refuse as well as for building all-electric school and shuttle buses.
The ePSC is provided to truck builders/upfitters as a “single product suite that can electrify any truck or bus chassis” via the ship-through modification process common in the industry, according to Motiv. “The engine and transmission of a new incomplete chassis are replaced with the ePCS and a variety of commercially available battery packs and motors.”
By supplying its ePCS, “Motiv is allowing upfitters and other truck manufacturing companies to supply an electric option to their existing customers,” a Motiv spokesperson told FleetOwner.
“The Motiv ePCS fits onto any chassis and can be scaled to custom weight and range requirements,” she added, noting that currently the most popular stripped chassis for all-electric conversion using the Motiv system is the Ford E-450.
“Motiv has cracked the code on electric trucks,” said Gary Magness, manager of Magness Investment Group. “We are impressed with how Motiv’s approach leverages the existing truck and bus builder ecosystem to achieve scalability.
“I’m pleased to be a part of this revolution in trucking that brings environmental sustainability and significant fuel savings to an industry that’s the backbone of our economy,” Magness added.
Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz remarked that “It’s an honor to have the support of an investor like Mr. Magness. “Not only does he see the potential in the market we are addressing, he understands our approach and believes in our vision of breaking the complete dependence trucks and buses currently have on fossil fuel.”
The company noted that word of the new funding comes as the second Motiv-equipped all-electric school bus is being delivered to the Kings Canyon Unified School District in California.
