Zhongding Power and EcoMotors announced the closing of a commercial agreement to produce the OPOC engine, a breakthrough technology that has the potential to be the world's cleanest, most efficient, lightweight and lowest cost internal combustion engine. One of the largest automotive component conglomerates in China, Zhongding will finance and construct the first OPOC plant in the Anhui Province. The plant represents an investment by Zhongding of over US $200 million and will have a capacity of about 150,000 engines per year – over U.S. $1 billion in revenue potential. High-volume production is expected to begin in 2014.
The OPOC engine technology developed and owned by EcoMotors can deliver the same power level as conventional engines at half the size, a lower cost, and lower emissions. With the potential for 20 to 50 percent better fuel economy compared to a state-of-the-art, conventional turbo-diesel engine, EcoMotors' OPOC engine has the potential to revolutionize the internal combustion engine.
The inaugural OPOC plant has received the full support of key Chinese government bodies, including the Xuangcheng government and Anhui provincial authorities; a second Zhongding production site may be announced at a later date. Zhongding plans to supply OPOC engines to a broad range of customers, including GenSet engines, off-road and commercial vehicles. A key provision of the agreement allocates a portion of the plant's output to EcoMotors for sale and distribution to its own direct customers.
Mr. Xia Ding Hu, Chairman of Zhongding Holding (Group) Co., Ltd., and CEO of Zhongding Power said, "Continued progress in development of the OPOC engine has brought us to the next phase of development. With the enthusiastic backing from both our provincial and national governmental bodies, we are now ready to complete the design of the engine as we head toward launching a state-of-the-art OPOC engine manufacturing facility in Anhui Province."
"This partnership represents another great opportunity for U.S.-China collaboration in scaling clean technologies," noted Andrew Chung, EcoMotors Board Member and Partner at Khosla Ventures, who leads their China activities. "With a full funding commitment from Zhongding, EcoMotors proves that with great technology, 'clean tech' companies can indeed commercialize capital efficiently alongside visionary partners. We are delighted to work with Zhongding to bring this important technology to the citizens of the world."
"This agreement is a key milestone in bringing our innovative engine technology to market and underscores the potent disruptive force that is OPOC," said Don Runkle, CEO of EcoMotors who was former Vice Chairman and CTO of Delphi and a 30-year executive at General Motors. "Our game-changing 21st century internal-combustion OPOC engine technology offers a unique combination of lower fuel consumption and operating costs at lower production costs. These characteristics are important to progressive companies and countries as they seek to overcome environmental challenges of the future."
