American multinational automaker Ford is filling out its future electric vehicle (EV) commercial business with the acquisition of battery management and fleet monitoring software startup Electriphi.
The automaker has two electric vehicles in the pipeline the E-Transit cargo van and F-150 Lighting Pro aimed at commercial customers.
The purchase price has not been disclosed. Ford is betting that the software developed by the three-year-old US-based startup would help it capture more than $1 billion in revenue just from charging by 2030.
Beyond charging, Ford Pro has financial goals. The business unit stated that it expects to generate $45 billion in revenue from hardware and adjacent and new services by 2025 up from $27 billion in 2019.
Electriphi will be folded into the newly minted Ford Pro business unit, which will focus on delivering services to commercial customers of its electric Transit van and F-150 Lightning Pro pickup truck.
Later this year, Ford will begin shipping E-Transit to customers. The F-150 Lightning Pro, a commercial version of the all-electric Lightning pickup truck, will be available in spring 2022.
Ford Pro CEO Mr. Ted Cannis remarked that “as commercial customers add EVs to their fleets, they want depot charging options to make sure they’re powered up and ready to go to work every day. With Electriphi’s existing advanced technology IP in the Ford Pro EVs and services portfolio, we will enhance the experience for commercial customers and be a single-source solution for fleet-depot charging.”
Ford first approached Electriphi in early 2021. Before the deal with the automaker, the startup had only raised $4.2 million at a valuation of around $11 million.
