In pursuit of its goal to produce fully electric vehicles, Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Cars, which is owned by China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (HKSE:00175, Financial)(GELYF, Financial), announced on Wednesday it has invested in FreeWire Technologies Inc.
The investment was made via the recently formed Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
By investing in the San Francisco-based company, which manufactures mobile and stationary electric vehicle charging solutions, Volvo said it is supporting its commitment to a “widespread transition to electric mobility.”
“To support wider consumer adoption of electric cars, society needs to make charging an electric car as simple as filling up your tank,” Zaki Fasihuddin, CEO of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, said in a statement. “Our investment in FreeWire is a firm endorsement of the company’s ambitions in this area.”
Atif Rafiq, Volvo Cars’ chief digital officer, added that FreeWire’s technology will “simplify” the experience for consumers as well as “make the future of sustainable, electric cars more practical and convenient.”
CNBC reported that starting in 2019, every new car Volvo launches will be electrified. It hopes fully electric vehicles will make up 50% of overall global sales by 2025.
In a statement, FreeWire CEO Arcady Sosinov also commented on the investment.
“Having a carmaker with both the legacy and future vision of Volvo is going to give us access to technology, testing and new strategies that will really accelerate the growth of the company,” he said.
Volvo is not the only major business to take an interest in the fledgling company. Britain’s BP PLC (BP, Financial) invested $5 million in FreeWire in January.
U.S.-listed shares of Geely were up 2.16% on Thursday morning at $1.85. On its home exchange, the stock was down 0.96% at 14.46 Hong Kong dollars ($1.84). GuruFocus estimates the stock has fallen 46% year to date.
Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. (TSLA, Financial), a leader in the space, were up 8.25% at $312.25 on Thursday morning after posting strong third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Disclosure: No positions.
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