Proterra makes it official

By Charles Sowell  

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 3:31 p.m. (1)

Colorado bus maker Proterra Thursday officially announced they plan to build a state of the art research and manufacturing facility at the Clemson University ICAR campus, an investment of $68 million that should create 1,300 jobs over the next seven years.

Proterra plans to lease 25 acres at CUICAR and build a 240,000-square-foot building with the potential to expand to 50 acres. Construction is slated to begin in the spring.

“The cooperation on all levels has just been outstanding,” said Greenville Major Knox White. “This is how things ought to work.”

The announcement drew a larger than normal turnout of government and business officials at the ICAR campus lead by Gov. Mark Sanford, with video presentations by Sens. Jim DeMint and Lidsay Graham and U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis.

“Our journey to Greenville actually started in Congressman Inglis’ office in Washington where I first saw his (road to energy independence goes through South Carolina) wall,” said Jeff Granato, chief executive officer of Proterra.

The company is headquartered in Golden, Colo., and is a cutting edge startup making all electric and battery dominant hybrid drives for a variety of vehicles. The facility at ICAR will be their first full-scale facility, Granato said.

Proterra makes drive trains for transit, commercial and school buses as well as parcel delivery vehicles and other like-sized  trucks.

The company’s recently tested fast recharge battery can deliver the diesel equivalent of 17 to 21 miles per gallon, roughly a 500 percent improvement over conventional buses, Granato said. It can be recharged in about 10 minutes.

“When you think about getting the most for your taxpayer dollar, you’d be hard pressed to find something with more immediate effect than improving public transportation fuel costs,” Sanford said.

Dale Hill, founder of Proterra, said he looked forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the Upstate. He stared the company in 2004 with the goal of designing and building vehicles powered by clean domestic fuels.

Hill and Granato were impressed with Greenville’s downtown during the negotiations  leading up to Thursday’s press conference.

“I’ve lived in Atlanta and Charlotte,” said Granato. “But really didn’t know much about South Carolina. I can tell you now that it feels like home to me now. I can’t wait to get back to High Cotton (a downtown restaurant) for more of their pecan pie.”

The company was hugely impressed with CUICAR, Granato said and with the assistance of state and local development officials. The state department of commerce is providing the company with $3 million to offset site preparation and infrastructure costs.

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Albert Mitchell  - Technical Engineer   |2010-02-04 14:04:30 Excellent news! Where and When may I send a Resume? Reply

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