Proterra plans to triple production in Greenville

Electric bus maker Proterra plans to triple production at its Greenville facility in 2017, thanks to a $140 million infusion of cash, the company announced Tuesday.

The new investment should boost Proterra’s 165-employee workforce in Greenville by 25 jobs, said Eric McCarthy, vice president of government relations at Proterra.

“This will definitely create jobs in Greenville as well as within the state indirectly from in-state suppliers,” McCarthy said.

Proterra’s Greenville facility produced a few more than 30 buses in 2016 and will manufacture more than 90 in 2017.

“The demand story has been incredible in the past year,” McCarthy said. “It used to be a few years ago that our orders would be anywhere between two buses to five buses. Then, all of a sudden, these orders have just skyrocketed.”

Proterra’s current backlog stands at “just north of 220 buses,” McCarthy said.

In September, Proterra’s engineering team unveiled what it calls the world’s most efficient battery system for heavy-duty transportation. The battery system offers a 350-mile nominal range in the new Catalyst E2 Series bus.

That means the clean-energy bus can execute any typical U.S. mass transit route on a single charge, the company said.

“Proterra’s new Catalyst E2 Series represents the first direct replacement for fossil-fuel buses,” said Rob Johnson, chairman of the Proterra board of directors and a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

“It is more cost-effective, offers positive public health and environmental benefits and simply outperforms diesel,” Johnson said.

With the $140 million investment, Proterra will increase production in Greenville and accelerate production capacity at its new facility in City of Industry, Los Angeles County, the company said.

The investment also will help the company develop its next generation of heavy-duty electric vehicles.

Proterra said $40 million of the $140 million in new equity financing came from “an undisclosed investor” and $60 million originated from “several new investors,” according to a news release.

The rest of the money was invested by several current partners, including Tao Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins, GM Ventures, Constellation Technology Ventures, 88 Green Ventures, Edison Energy, Inc. and others.

“The size of the round and the diversity of our investors reflect what we’re seeing around the world as institutions and businesses divest from fossil fuels,” said Ryan Popple, Proterra CEO. “We thank our existing investors for their support and welcome our new investors as we continue to deliver on the promise of a clean future for all communities.”

Proterra partnered with J.P. Morgan to close the equity funding, the company said.

Last year, Proterra moved its headquarters from Greenville to California to be part of the technology cluster in Silicon Valley.

Despite the move, the company said it had no plans to reduce its workforce in Greenville. On Tuesday, Proterra said in a news release that the new investment would create jobs at the company’s facilities in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and Greenville.

Proterra previously raised $150 million in equity financing for a total of $290 million to expand production.

Paul Hyde covers education and everything else under the South Carolina sun. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @PaulHyde7.