Windrose secured new financing, injecting fresh impetus into the domestic new energy commercial vehicle sector.
Recently, the new energy heavy truck enterprise Windrose (Windrose) announced the completion of a new round of financing totaling $110 million. This comes after the company's previous round of financing, Series B1, in December 2023. The investors in this round include HSBC, HITE Hedge Asset Management, Goodman Group, among others. The funds raised will primarily be used to accelerate the research and delivery of its new 49-ton fully loaded electric heavy truck with a range of 670 km, and to drive vehicle testing and operational route testing globally.
Publicly available information reveals that Windrose is the first domestically established supplier of pure research-oriented new energy intelligent heavy truck solutions. With a robust research background, the team comprises professionals from renowned heavy truck manufacturing enterprises both domestically and internationally, with over 80% of them possessing more than 8 years of experience in heavy truck research and development. In terms of product innovation, the company has undertaken a complete redesign in areas such as online control planning, electric powertrain, vehicle exterior, and interior, aiming to address pain points in the operation of electric heavy trucks during the transition from traditional fuel to electric, and to create more convenience for customers. Moreover, at the software level, Windrose's heavy truck products are gradually evolving from assisted driving to autonomous driving based on a new architecture. The products are also equipped with a fully redundant wire-controlled electric chassis designed to meet the demands of L4 level autonomous driving, achieving highly autonomous driving without the need for driver intervention throughout the journey. Additionally, to meet customer demands for rapid recharging, the company has adopted an 800V high-voltage platform compatible with MCS megawatt charging technology, providing a solution for quickly meeting charging needs.
It is understood that the company's first electric heavy truck is scheduled to gradually enter the domestic market as well as overseas markets such as Europe and the United States starting from 2024. Meanwhile, the first batch of 960kW megawatt-level fast charging piles, a collaboration between Windrose, Goodman Group, and BorgWarner, will also be put into operation to meet the growing charging demand. Furthermore, Windrose is collaborating with numerous global charging operators and manufacturers to accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure.
In the future, as a rising force in China's new energy commercial vehicle sector, Windrose is expected to accelerate the development of the domestic logistics industry and inject new vitality into international leading enterprises.