China surpassed the United States for the largest electric vehicle market in the world, by sales volume, in late 2014.The partners began conversations in early 2015 and closed this initial investment in early June in order to move forward with planning and due diligence in preparation for marketing the Plugless technology in China. With a further cooperation for the China market, VIE will complete an additional equity investment in Evatran’s Series B investment round to open later this year.

Headquartered in Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, China, VIE is a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer which services both China-based OEMs and the global automotive market. VIE went public in 2011 on the Shenzhen Security Exchange and, across the whole VIE group (including VIE Science & Technology Co. and other business units), surpassed US$1.2 billion in sales in 2014.

VIE specializes in the development and manufacture of major automotive parts and has led the development of a number of state and trade standards across China. This relationship with Evatran is part of several key strategic investments by VIE in new vehicle technologies.

In 2013, Evatran completed field trials in partnership with Google, Hertz, SAP and Duke Energy and in March of 2014, began selling its Plugless Level 2 wireless charging systems directly to EV owners in the United States and Canada. To date it has provided more than 200,000 trouble-free wireless charge hours. Currently, Plugless supports 3.3kW charging for the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF and Cadillac ELR EVs. It plans to support Tesla and BMW EV models later this year with 6.6kW wireless charging.