New step in Nissan's reindustrialization process. EV Motors, the company driving the rebirth of the historic Ebro brand, has opened a 20 million euro financing round and plans to list on the Spanish alternative stock market, BME Growth. Its objective is to find the necessary funds to be able to start production as soon as possible at the Zona Franca factory in Barcelona, where it aims to manufacture up to 50,000 units per year by 2027 of a new electric pick-up under the Ebro brand that it presented at the Automobile Barcelona Show and a small van (minivan) also 100% electric.
The company, whose CEO is Pedro Calef, has entrusted Andbank with the process of raising 20 million, a figure that it expects to be subscribed by a small number of qualified and non-qualified investors. The idea is for the financing round to close by the end of July. The resources raised by EV Motors will be used to finance the engineering of the models that will allow the Ebro brand to return to the market and also to boost the D-Hub, the consortium that, together with Goodman, was awarded the land of the former Nissan and the productive assets remaining in the factory.
According to Ebro, in addition to this 20 million round, EV Motors plans to begin the procedures to list on the BME Growth market this year or early next year, a debut that will allow it to continue raising funds to boost the project, which also expects to receive European public aid from the PERTE VEC or for the promotion of electric and connected vehicles.
"The Ebro project represents a very significant advance in the reindustrialization of Spain in general, and specifically in the reactivation of activity at the former Nissan plant in the Zona Franca. It is about recovering the production of electric vehicles and industrial employment, a trend that in recent decades has moved in the opposite direction in important economies such as Europe and the US," said CEO Pedro Calef.
Ebro's idea is to start commercializing the first models manufactured in the Zona Franca at the end of 2024 and deliver the first units in 2025, with the forecast of producing 50,000 units annually between 2027 and 2029. According to Calef, relaunching the Ebro brand represents "a milestone" in the process of reindustrialization and relocation of electric vehicles and "a fundamental element" for the transition towards a more sustainable mobility model.
Production will be carried out by the same employees that Nissan had, who will progressively rejoin the factory through D-Hub, which, in addition to Ebro, will have other clients such as Silence and Zeroid, which plans to manufacture electric vans.
EV Motors, which new partners will now join, is a company controlled by several of the founders of the engineering firm Barcelona Technical Center (Btech), specialized in the design and calculation of components for the automotive, railway, and aeronautical sectors. Btech employs about 400 people and has its headquarters in Martorell, in addition to having offices in Germany, Belgium, and Brazil.
EV Motors' parent company owns 100% of Btech and a stake in D-Hub, also promoted by QEV.
Ebro's new pick-up takes advantage of the lines of an old Nissan model and has a range of 400 kilometers. According to Calef, it is "very emotional" to be able to return to the factory that saw the birth of the Ebro brand in 1967 and which was later acquired by the Japanese automaker. "It is exciting that Ebro can be reborn in the same factory that it inaugurated," explained the executive during the presentation of the model at Automobile Barcelona.