Chelmsford-based eco-conscious freight truck innovator, Tevva designs and develops mass-market extended-range electric-powered trucks and related technologies. Now, the Tesla rival has secured $12.5M (nearly £8.83M) funding in an oversubscribed round.
The investment was led by private investors and institutions predominantly from the US and Canada.
Revolutionary zero-emission e-trucks
Further, Tevva announced that the investment will be used for the development and rollout of its revolutionary mid to large-size zero-emission e-trucks that are capable of going further for less money than any other e-truck on the road. This is possible with their proprietary range-extension technology.
Also, the UK company plans to use the new capital to gear up for a series production of 7.5-19T (Class 5-8) trucks. It will supply these trucks to some of the world’s largest truck fleets with its revolutionary zero emission e-trucks.
The passion in the market for EV freight truck technology is incredibly apparent,” said Asher Bennett, Tevva’s Founder and CEO. “Once we were able to break the range barrier for electric battery propulsion—which we did by utilising the concepts I had learned as a submarine Officer in the Israeli Navy – investors have continued to vote with their wallets and customers have put more than 230,000 km on our trucks now on the road. And counting.”
Bennett is an Israeli entrepreneur who is also known as the Elon Musk of Essex. The entrepreneur spent six years in the Israeli navy and visited Gosport and Faslane for training. After earning capital from a cybersecurity startup in Israel, Bennett established Tevva Motors in Essex in 2012.
“Commercial trucks were an emissions problem waiting to be solved,” said Bennett. “Truck transport is a major contributor to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Our corporate mission is zero-emissions for freight, in urban environments as well as cross-country. From a commercial standpoint, delivery trucks are a $100 billion global market and demand for a cost effective; zero emission solution is growing by the day. With this raise, we will be better positioned to meet that demand.”
Effective alternative to diesel trucks
Unlike cars that are used for 1.5 hours per day on an average and buses that run on dedicated routes, e-freight trucks face numerous challenges, especially when it comes to electrification. This includes the requirement to work 8-12 hours per day across varied routes, environments and distances. With its patented range-extension technology, Tevva’s mid to large-sized e-freight trucks can do all the work more economically and efficiently than ever before.
A Tevva truck averages 100 miles on batteries alone and becomes effectively range-unlimited with the range extender. Further, because of the way the range extender operates, even once the batteries are depleted, a Tevva truck uses approximately 30% less fuel per kilometre than a standard diesel-powered vehicle. Targeted on the back-to-base fleet application, the Tevva truck finally makes the fully electric, zero-emission delivery truck an effective alternative to its diesel counterparts.
Here are more UK tech companies that got funded this month.
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