Positive Sign for EV Companies: Charging Pioneer Obtains Financing
By John O'Dell September 9, 2010
It would be pocket change for Detroit's automakers, but electric vehicle charging network pioneer Coulomb Technologies says it has completed a $15 million private equity round and that's good news for the developing EV industry.
Northern California-based Coulomb builds and markets EV charging stations and charger networking software and services designed to link stations and the drivers of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles.
The $15 million in new investment from a group of green-technology oriented venture capital groups will be used to help speed up development and sales of Coulomb's chargers and its ChargePoint Network.
The network - which now includes more than 800 chargers and is expected to number more than 6,000 by early next year - is open to all plug-in vehicle drives and provides charger access, billing and real-time information services so drivers can monitor charging progress and locate availale chargers.
While a number of automakers are preparing to launch rechargeable electric vehicles and hybrids in the next few years - leading off late this year with the Nissan Leaf battery electric hatchback and the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in hybrid - a national charging infrastructure is critical to consumer acceptance of the vehicles.
Coulomb's just-competed financing round indicates that despite a still-faltering economy, the investment community sees growth opportunity in the EV services market.
Coulomb CEO Richard Lowenthal said that the Series C funding round included existing investors Rho Ventures, Voyager Capital, Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, and Hartford Ventures - a unit of the Hartford Financial Services Group - and new investors Harbor Pacific Capital and South Korea's LS Industrial Systems Co. and LS Cable.
In addition to its private funding, Coulomb was the recipient of a $37 million federal grant to install a network of 4,600 private and public EV chargers, in partnership with EV makers Ford Motors Co., General Motors Corp. and Daimler AG, in California, Florida Michigan, New York, Texas, Washington State and Washington, D.C.
Photo by Coulomb Technology
Coulomb Technology installed this charging station in Sonoma, Calif.
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