GSA Daily Staff Report

Published Sept. 29, 2010

Proterra Inc., which recently opened up its Greenville plant to make electric transit buses, has entered a one-year supply agreement with UQM Technologies Inc. of Longmont, Co., for electric propulsion systems.

Deliveries totaling $627,500 are scheduled to begin in October. Additional deliveries permitted in the agreement during its one-year term could raise the total value of the contract to more than $1 million.

“We are pleased to continue our multi-year relationship with Proterra as the propulsion system supplier for their state-of-the-art energy efficient transit buses as they begin the commercialization of this potentially game-changing vehicle,” said William Rankin, UQM Technologies’ chairman and CEO. “We expect transit operators to embrace this energy efficient and environmentally-friendly bus over the next several years resulting in an expansion of our sales to Proterra as they grow their penetration of the transit bus market.”

Proterra was founded in Golden, Co. The company expects to ship its first made-in-Greenville electric bus on Oct. 15 to Fort Lewis, Wash.

The company is currently operating from a temporary facility on Whitlee Court in Greenville. Plans are to build a plant on the campus of Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research.

“We are proud and excited to be working with UQM Technologies,” said Jeffrey Granato, president and CEO of Proterra. “Their PowerPhase propulsion system has proven to be highly reliable, which is critical to rolling out a new product, and its high efficiency contributes to the exceptional fuel economy of our EcoRide bus.”