European electric vehicle battery developer and producer, InoBat, has announced an agreement with SOR, one of the largest producers of city and intercity-buses in Central Europe, with the intention to design, develop and supply batteries for a new urban, intercity and long-distance electric bus fleet.
The framework agreement with SOR represents the first foray into the commercial vehicle market for InoBat, who is developing premium customized batteries from the heart of Europe, which can be tailored to any electric vehicle using a unique R&D High-Throughput Processing (“HTP”) platform developed by Wildcat Discovery Technologies, InoBat’s technological partner. This patented technology allows InoBat to identify the optimum cell chemistries for any electric vehicle and meet the exact requirements of any vehicle or automaker up to 10x faster, more efficiently and less expensively than competitors.
The agreement comes as SOR plans to contribute to the shift to electric mobility throughout Europe. InoBat is expected to provide research, development and the production of battery modules, packs and battery management systems built on NMC Cells. SOR is conveniently located close to InoBat’s world-first R&D center and pilot line in Slovakia, where the first batteries will be produced and supplied later this year.
With a production legacy spanning 25 years, SOR has been manufacturing city and intercity-buses in the Czech Republic for its market in the Czech Republic and 12 other European countries. The partnership with InoBat will see SOR drive forward the electrification of buses and coaches across Europe, supporting the European Union’s ambitions of a net-zero carbon future.
Marian Bocek, Co-Founder and CEO of InoBat stated, “We are delighted to announce our first partnership agreement with SOR. The partnership, which brings together Slovakia and the Czech Republic for the greater global aim of the electrification of transport, is an important milestone for InoBat and Europe’s commercial vehicle market. We look forward to working closely with SOR to establish a long-term partnership from development to delivery, to create a fully integrated battery research, development and production line, customized to our partner’s requirements.”
Vitezslav Tymr, Member of the Board of Directors of SOR, commented, “In the Czech Republic, we have been pioneering electric-driven solutions for our buses for many years before the topic came to recent prominence. We are glad that in InoBat we found a partner, which is regionally close, yet has the prerequisites to elevate the co-operation to such a level that would have a relevance within the European context.”
InoBat is backed by a strong consortium of investors and technology companies, including lead investor IPM Group (IPM) – a leading InfraTech asset manager, who specializes in bringing ground-breaking technologies to Europe – strategic investors and partners include CEZ (strategic investment of EUR 10m in InoBat), Matador, AEN, MSM Group, Across and Wildcat Discovery Technologies.
