LIFTT and Club degli Investitori have put up respectively 610.000 and 540,000 dollars to support Electra Vehicles, Inc. a company with aerospace DNA, thanks to the NASA background of CEO and co-founder Fabrizio Martini, who already has a presence in the US and Japan.
Electrification is a paradigm shift that represents the main driver of growth in the automotive market and implies a total reshaping of the sector, encouraging the growth and spread of new players and new business models. European battery manufacturers are investing huge amounts of resources to increase regional production capacity. On the investment front, this sector is therefore attracting an increasing amount of capital: according to Pitchbook, EV startups raised $ 3.9 billion in Q3 2020, up 67% year-over-year, driven by strong enthusiasm from private and public investors for the electrification of transport resulting from the adoption of battery electric vehicle technology. In addition, in-house R&D and corporate investments drive much of the capital invested in this technology area.
In the next five to ten years, the main asset for automotive companies, the heart of every car of the future, will no longer be the engine, but the battery. This is where Electra Vehicles'brain for batteries, idea comes from: starting from NASA's Venus Rover projects, dedicated to the exploration of Venus , Electra has developed advanced battery control software, for any chemistry and format, based on artificial intelligence that increases battery life, durability and safety.
Boston-based Electra is incorporating artificial intelligence into the global electrification process by offering software solutions to improve energy systems and develop intelligent battery packs. Thus was born the control system EVE-Ai 360 ° Adaptive Controlsa revolutionary proprietary algorithm that offers optimal solutions to meet the demand for high performance, reliable performance and a better and more sustainable environment over time. Thanks to EVE-Ai a significant improvement in performance is possible, including the increase in km traveled by approximately 28% per charge, a 30% reduction in charging time, extending the useful life of the batteries and the direct communication with ADAS systems (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems), which are present in all vehicles and ideal for self-driving vehicles.
The investment by LIFTT and Club degli Investitori is in line with market trends (in 2027, more than 50% of vehicles produced globally will be hybrid or electric, for a total of approximately 54 million units) and with the political priorities expressed in the Green New Deal, with the European Union decarbonisation objectives and with the objectives of Next EU Generation climate change and urban air quality objectives.
During the project presentation on 19 May, Fabrizio Martini, CEO Electra Vehicles, said: "From a NASA project came the idea of maximising battery performance using artificial intelligence and exploiting a 360-degree technology called EVE-Ai Adaptive Controls. The Electra team has found LIFTT, the Investor Club and the International Foreign Trade Centre to be good allies in bringing this technology to the road in the shortest possible time in the face of climate change, which is increasingly affecting our daily lives. Electra intends to open an office in Turin, to export this technology to Italy and Europe with immediate impact."
On the investor side, Guido Panizza, Head of Project Management at LIFTT, added: "Electric mobility is now a compulsory technical choice and it is becoming increasingly clear that battery management software will play a crucial role in the success of this technology. Electra Vehicles' solution represents a decisive step in optimising the use of batteries in terms of both range and service life. An innovative technical solution perfectly in line with the mission of LIFTT, which will support Electra Vehicles in the start-up of its activities in Italy, starting from Turin, a city that remains a world leader in the automotive sector."
In conclusion Marco Morchio, Champion of Electra Vehicles, who represents the Club degli Investitori's angels in the investment: "At the intersection of deep tech and sustainability, Electra Vehicles has developed an AI-based solution that uses an innovative approach to improve the performance of electric batteries, integrating information from the driver, the engine and the batteries themselves, and is therefore at the heart of the electric mobility ecosystem. The level of innovation and its centrality for a segment, the electric one, which is catalysing most of the investments in the automotive sector, were the elements that convinced us to invest".
