German industrial large Siemens is investing greater than $100 million in Volkswagen Group‘s Electrify America unit, changing into the primary exterior investor within the North American community of electrical automobile charging stations.
Together with new funds from its guardian Volkswagen, the Electrify America unit would obtain a complete injection of $450 million, the businesses mentioned in a Tuesday assertion.
The partnership in Electrify America is “a part of a a lot bigger funding that Siemens is making within the electrification market,” mentioned John DeBoer, head of the Siemens’ North American e-mobility unit.
Electrify America was established by VW in 2017 with a 10-year, $2-billion funding dedication within the wake of the German automaker’s diesel emissions dishonest scandal.
The 2 firms didn’t specify the precise quantity every is contributing to the most recent funding, aside from to say Siemens’ share is greater than $100 million.
Siemens, which is making the funding by way of financing arm Siemens Monetary Providers, shall be a minority investor with a seat on Electrify America’s board.
A 12 months in the past, Reuters reported that VW meant to promote a stake in Electrify America because the automaker hoped to draw as much as $1 billion in exterior funding to assist increase infrastructure for electrical autos.
In an interview, Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo mentioned the corporate nonetheless plans to greater than double its charging infrastructure to 1,800 charging stations and greater than 10,000 quick chargers by 2026.
Electrify America has EV charging partnerships with a broad array of auto producers exterior the Volkswagen Group, together with Ford Motor Co., Hyundai/Kia, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Geely Vehicle’s Volvo and Polestar, and Tesla rival Lucid.
Siemens, which builds charging stations for business fleets and different prospects, has invested in a number of electrification firms, together with Swedish battery startup Northvolt and wi-fi charging startup WiTricity, in addition to Electrify America competitor ChargePoint, in response to investor web site PitchBook.