The Local Sale and Purchase Agreement is attached as Exhibit 10.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Local Sale and Purchase Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.

In accordance with the Acquisition Agreement and the Relationship Agreement, the Board consists of five directors, including Mr. Wang, Chris Thorne, Joe Tong and Simon Charles Howard Tripp, who are the director nominees designated by the Wang Parties (the “Wang Parties Nominee Directors”), and Mr. Davis-Rice, NBG’s former chief executive officer, who is the director nominee designated by NBG. The Relationship Agreement further provides that for so long as the Wang Parties collectively beneficially own at least 10% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares, in the event that any of the Wang Parties Nominee Directors are removed as a Director by members pursuant to section 203D of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the “Corporations Act”), Mr. Wang may give notice in writing to the Company of the person that the Wang Parties wish to nominate in place of that previous Wang Parties Nominee Director, together with their consent to act, and the Company must ensure that such individual is appointed as a Wang Parties Nominee Director of the same class of Director as the previous nominee within two business days of receipt of such notice and signed consent to act.

The Relationship Agreement is attached as Exhibit 10.3 and incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Relationship Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.

At the Closing, pursuant to requirements in the Acquisition Agreement, NBG entered into a lock-up agreement (the “Lock-Up Agreement”) with each of CEL, TCL and China Leader Group Limited, a principal shareholder of CAG (“China Leader” and together with CEL and TCL, the “Lock-Up Parties”), pursuant to which the Lock-Up Parties agreed not to transfer the Acquisition Shares beneficially owned or owned of record by them, which represents an aggregate of 92,463,001 shares, for a period of 180 days following the Closing. The book-entry positions evidencing the Acquisition Shares issued under the Acquisition Agreement will each include prominent disclosure or bear a prominent legend evidencing the fact that such shares are subject to such lock-up provisions.

The form of lock-up agreement was previously filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the Signing 6-K and is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the form of lock-up agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.

On December 30, 2021, in connection with the Combination, the Board of Directors adopted the Cenntro Electric Group Limited 2022 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2022 Plan”), which became effective on that date, subject to shareholder approval. The 2022 Plan will be submitted for approval by our shareholders within twelve months following the date on which our board approved the 2022 Plan.

The aggregate number of Ordinary Shares that may be issued pursuant to share awards under the 2022 Plan will not exceed the sum of (x) 25,965,234 shares, plus (y) an annual increase on the first day of each fiscal year, for a period of not more than nine (9) years, beginning on January 1, 2023 and ending on (and including) January 1, 2031, in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year or (ii) such lesser amount (including zero) that the compensation committee (as defined below) determines for purposes of the annual increase for that fiscal year.

As of the date hereof, options to purchase an aggregate of 1,297,008 Ordinary Shares have been granted and no Ordinary Shares have been issued under the 2022 Plan.

For a description of the material terms of the 2022 Plan, see “Compensation—Cenntro Electric Group Limited 2022 Stock Incentive Plan” included under Item 2.01 of this report, which description is incorporated herein by reference. The 2022 Plan is attached as Exhibit 10.5 and incorporated herein by reference.

On December 30, 2021, in connection with the Combination, the Board of Directors adopted the Cenntro Electric Group Limited 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), which became effective on that date, subject to shareholder approval. The ESPP will be submitted for approval by our shareholders within twelve months of the date on which our board of directors approved the ESPP. The 2022 Plan is attached as Exhibit 10.5 and incorporated herein by reference.

The aggregate number of Ordinary Shares that may be issued pursuant to the ESPP is equal to 7,789,571 shares.

The description of the Combination and the Divestiture set forth in Item 1.01 of this report is incorporated by reference herein.

We are a designer and manufacturer of electric light- and medium-duty commercial vehicles (“ECVs”). Our purpose-built ECVs are designed to serve a variety of corporate and governmental organizations in support of city services, last-mile delivery and other commercial applications. As of November 30, 2021, we have sold or put into service more than 3,600 units of the Metro® in over 16 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. Our first ECV model, the Metro®, has been driven over seven million miles by commercial end-users in China alone. We recently introduced four new ECV models to serve the light- and medium-duty market. Our mission is to leverage our technological and research and development capabilities in areas such as vehicle design, digital component development, vehicle control software, and “smart” driving to become a technology leader in the ECV market.

We have established an asset-light, distributed manufacturing business model through which we can distribute our unique modular vehicles in unassembled semi-knockdown vehicle kits (“vehicle kits”) for local assembly in addition to fully assembled vehicles. Our business model allows us to both (i) design, manufacture, assemble, homologate and sell ECVs to third parties for distribution and service to end-users and (ii) distribute manufactured vehicle kits, which are then assembled, homologated, sold and serviced by third parties in their respective markets. We refer to these third parties as our “channel partners.” Each of our vehicle models has a modular design that allows for local assembly in small factory facilities that require less capital investment. We currently manufacture our own vehicle kits for the Metro® in our facilities in China. We plan to leverage the economies of scale of our manufacturing partners in China to manufacture vehicle kits for each of our four new models for local assembly at our facilities in the United States and Europe to further reduce overhead costs compared to our competitors. We believe our distributed manufacturing methodology allows us to execute our business plan with less capital than would be required by the traditional, vertically integrated automotive model and, in the long-term, drive higher profit margins.

We began pilot production of our first-generation, U.S. Class 1 (0–6,000 lbs.), electric light-duty commercial vehicle, the Metro®, in 2018, and, as of November 30, 2021, we have sold approximately 2,300 units in over 16 countries across Europe, North America and Asia, and put into service approximately 1,300 additional units in China through affiliated parties. The Metro® is a customizable ECV used in commercial applications such as city services (i.e., street cleaners, firetrucks, food trucks and garbage trucks) and last-mile delivery. The Metro® was “born electric,” meaning that, unlike many other ECVs that are converted from existing internal combustion engine vehicle (“ICE”) designs, the Metro® was purpose-built from inception to be highly cost-effective and energy efficient, implementing a number of proprietary design elements including a lightweight structure and efficient power system. With our developed supply chain and relationships with component vendors and our growing channel partner network, we believe we are in position for larger scale production and distribution of the Metro®. For the year ended December 31, 2020 and the 11 months ended November 30, 2021, we generated $4.8 million and $5.2 million in revenue from sales of our Metro®, respectively.

Since our inception, we have invested resources in the research and development not only of ECV design and manufacturing processes, but also in digitally enabled components, intra-vehicle communication, vehicle control and vehicle automation, or what we collectively refer to as “vehicle digitization.” We have developed a prototype system-on-chip (which we sometimes refer to as an “SOC”) for vehicle control and an open-platform, programmable chassis, with potential for both programmable and autonomous driving capabilities. We have also designed and developed in-house a proprietary telematics box, sometimes referred to as a T-Box, which allows our ECVs to send and receive data relating to location, speed, acceleration, braking and battery consumption, among others, to end-users. Additionally, our engineers have worked closely with certain of our qualified suppliers to co-design digitally enabled components in areas such as steering, braking, acceleration and signaling.

We introduced four new ECV models in 2021, which are designed for specific geographic markets and to address additional commercial applications. The Logistar™ 400 is a U.S. Class 4 (over 14,000 lbs.) medium-duty electric commercial truck designed to meet U.S. city delivery and service needs. The Logistar™ 400 first became commercially available in the United States in December 2021. The Logistar™ 400 is offered in four configurations: cargo-box, van, flatbed truck, and basic chassis for upfitters. The Neibor® 200 is a European Union and UK L7e (heavy quadricycle) Class compact electric commercial vehicle designed to meet European neighborhood delivery and neighborhood service needs. The Neibor® 200 was homologated and first became commercially available in the European market in December 2021. The Logistar™ 200 is a European Union N1 Class electric commercial vehicle designed to meet the European Union’s city delivery and city service requirements and complement our smaller Neibor® 200 model. It first became commercially available in the European market in December 2021. We have also developed the Terramak™, an off-road electric commercial vehicle for U.S. off-road use with essentially no homologation requirements and limited certification requirements. The Terramak™ first became commercially available in the United States in December 2021. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Results—Our future success depends on our ability to introduce new models and we may experience delays in launching and ramping up production of our new ECV models” included in the Signing 6-K and incorporated herein by reference.

We have also developed the ePortee™, which we also refer to as the Cenntro iChassis, an open-platform and programmable chassis product. The Cenntro iChassis is designed to be a basic modular building block for use by auto makers and special vehicle upfitters in the design of automated or autonomous driving vehicles. Through our advancements in vehicle digitization and smart components, we have equipped the Cenntro iChassis with digital control capabilities. The Cenntro iChassis allows third-party developers to integrate detection devices (i.e., lidar, radar, ultra-sound, infrared and other sensory devices) and third-party or proprietary decision-making software to allow for vehicles based on the programmable chassis to be driven autonomously.

The electrification of the global automotive industry has been a major policy focus of governments worldwide. Certain countries, such as the United States, China, Canada, Germany, and various other European countries, have announced aggressive electric vehicle (“EV”) initiatives designed to reduce carbon emissions, through the replacement of fossil fuels, and have begun incentivizing the development and sale of ECVs through government subsidy programs.

Set forth below is the primary business and domicile of each of our subsidiaries:

According to an April 2020 report by Allied Market Research, the global EV market was valued at approximately $162.3 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach approximately $802.8 billion by 2027. The North American market is estimated to reach upwards of approximately $194.2 billion by 2027 and the Asia-Pacific market is expected to reach approximately $357.8 billion in the same period. North America and Europe are expected to experience compound annual growth rates in this market of 27.5% and 25.3%, respectively, between 2019 and 2027. Factors such as increases in demand for fuel-efficient, high-performance and low-emission vehicles, along with stringent government rules and regulations toward vehicle emissions are expected to drive the growth of the electric vehicle market.

Many governments around the world, including the United States, China, Germany, and various other European countries, are regulating vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards and offering incentives to commercial and government operators to purchase more energy efficient vehicles. The mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from ICE vehicles is an integral part of various nations’ strategies to meet the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which the United States recently rejoined. Some of the countries that have made announcements regarding their intention to phase out ICE vehicles include the following:

In the United States, the Biden administration announced plans to put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order that mandates the replacement of all civilian federal vehicles, over 600,000 vehicles, with U.S.-made clean and zero-emission vans, trucks and passenger vehicles. The Biden administration has also announced a goal of building more than 500,000 EV chargers across the United States and has expressed its support for an expansion of federal tax credits and incentives targeted at EVs and EV manufacturing. In August 2021, the Biden Administration announced that it had set the goal for half of all new vehicles to be electric by 2030, as part of a plan that also includes construction of a nationwide network of charging stations and various financial incentives to consumers and auto industry companies. In November 2021, President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law, which bill includes $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, $3 billion to support the domestic battery material processing industry and $3 billion to support the development of domestic battery manufacturing and recycling facilities. We believe the Biden administration’s strong support for EVs and renewables will encourage an even more rapid shift from ICEs to EVs in the United States, particularly in the commercial vehicle market.

Incentive programs and new regulations affecting passenger and commercial vehicles vary by country. However, there is strong sentiment to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from leading governments. For heavy-duty vehicles, the European Union mandated a 15% reduction in CO₂ emissions (from 2019 levels) by 2025 and a 30% reduction target (from 2019 levels) by 2030. Also, by 2025, manufacturers will be required to ensure that at least a 2% market share of the sales of new vehicles is made up of zero-and-low-emission vehicles to counteract steadily increasing road traffic emissions. For light-duty vehicles, the European Union has mandated a 15% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2025 and a 31% reduction target by 2030. The European Union may impose financial penalties on vehicle manufacturers for failure to achieve certain CO₂ emission targets imposed on such manufacturers, with such penalties scaling upward based on the level of CO₂ emission exceedance for their vehicles. We believe that increasing government regulations and incentives, together with shifting consumer preferences, will encourage significant growth in the market for ECVs.

With the global trend toward reducing the number of ICE vehicles, electric-battery and fuel cell technologies stand out as strong alternatives. Battery costs have decreased significantly over the past decade and, in the long run, prices are expected to continue to fall. According to research service BloombergNEF (BNEF), lithium-ion battery pack prices decreased from above $1,100 per kilowatt-hour in 2010 to $137/kWh in 2020 in real terms, representing a decline of approximately 89%. In addition, BNEF forecasts that by 2023 average prices are expected to fall to as low as $100/kWh. Although battery pack prices have recently increased and may continue to increase in the near-term due to the rising price of lithium as a result of COVID-19 and other factors, we anticipate that battery prices will continue to decrease in the long-term. As investment in battery technology continues to increase, we believe these cost reductions will continue to improve the economics of battery-powered ECVs.

The last-mile delivery market in the United States and the European Union is quickly expanding, driven by the rapid growth in the e-commerce industry resulting from consumer preference for faster deliveries, significant increases in online purchases resulting from COVID-19 and governmental focus on low emission urban logistics models. We believe consumer behavior will accelerate the online transformation of retail businesses and the expected need for efficient last-mile delivery ECVs.

We believe there is a growing sustainability trend among companies to reduce their carbon footprint and incorporate ECVs into their commercial delivery fleets. A number of well-established companies, such as Amazon, FedEx, UPS and Walmart, have made announcements about their intentions to reduce CO₂ emissions and/or become carbon neutral by a specified future date. A number of these companies have committed to purchase large quantities of ECVs (some of which are not yet commercially available) to transition their fleets over the next several years, with a focus on enhancing their last-mile delivery services, as well as lowering their operating costs, all while reducing their carbon footprint.

The world’s largest technology and automotive companies are engaged in large-scale projects related to autonomous driving initiatives and other future mobility projects. The vast economic and safety potential of autonomous vehicles has continued to drive substantial investment, further accelerating the pace of technological development. According to AlixPartners, an estimated $75 billion is projected to be deployed between 2019 and 2023 on autonomous driving development.

We design, develop and manufacture ECVs in a cost-effective manner to enable us to compete favorably in the light-and medium-duty commercial vehicle market. We believe our competitive strengths position us well to continue to grow our installed base of vehicles and capitalize on the expected growth in the light- and medium-duty ECV market:

We have manufactured light-duty ECVs since 2018. Our business to date has been primarily focused on selling the Metro® in the light-duty ECV market, which is a relatively new market with only a limited number of automakers successfully delivering vehicles in this segment currently. As of November 30, 2021, we have sold approximately 2,300 Metro® units in Europe, North America and Asia and put into service approximately 1,300 additional units in China through affiliated parties. We have established relationships with 16 channel partners, including three “private label” channel partners that assemble our vehicle kits and sell them in the United States and certain countries in the European Union, two channel partners that upfit our vehicles and sell them in Korea and the United States and the remainder that sell the fully assembled vehicles we manufacture. We believe our production and delivery of over 3,600 Metro® units, with over seven million miles of commercial use in China alone, provides us valuable insight into market dynamics that are not readily apparent or accessible to new competitors, which will assist us as we expand into new markets. We believe we are positioned to take advantage of the growing ECV market, which has few mature competitors capable of manufacturing and delivering cost-effective and financially viable ECVs today.

Traditionally, automakers operate under a vertically integrated business model performing a variety of capital-intensive and time-consuming functions, including not only vehicle design, process setup, tooling, parts making, supply chain establishment, vehicle assembly and vehicle homologation, but also market promotion, sales and distribution, after-market support and vehicle servicing. This business model requires significant capital, is asset heavy and imposes significant barriers to entry for new players while impeding their ability to rapidly change their vehicle lineup or their operating model.

Based on our unique manufacturing and distribution model, we believe we are positioned to be an industry disruptor. Unlike many traditional, vertically integrated vehicle companies, which manufacture fully assembled vehicles for export, we use an innovative distributed manufacturing methodology in which our ECVs are designed to be exported as vehicle kits and assembled in local markets. Our ECVs are designed using a “modular” method, allowing for simple assembly and eliminating the need for acquiring and maintaining heavy and expensive assembly equipment at the local assembly stage. We or our manufacturing partners manufacture and integrate the materials and parts into vehicle kits, which we can then ship to one of our local assembly facilities or our channel partners for assembly, and thereafter for marketing, sales and service by our channel partners.

We believe that our distributed manufacturing methodology can provide us with competitive advantages compared to traditional vehicle manufacturers, as we may benefit from local tax incentives and lower import duties as well as greater brand recognition and consumer goodwill in our targeted markets. In addition, we believe our distributed manufacturing methodology provides significant advantages for local homologation, local distribution, and local service. For example, we believe U.S. homologation certification requirements are less burdensome for vehicles that are manufactured in the United States rather than imported into the United States.

As of November 30, 2021, our distributed manufacturing methodology relies upon seven assembly facilities, including three “private label” channel partners with local assembly facilities in the United States and the European Union (that assemble, market and sell ECVs based on the design of our Metro® under the names Ayro 411 and TME ABLE), our facility at Changxing, which assembles for international export, and our local assembly facility in Freehold, New Jersey, for trial production of our Logistar™ 400 and Terramak™ vehicles. For further discussion of our “private label” channel partners, see “—Our Channel Partners and Channel Partner Network.” We are in the process of establishing a local assembly facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, where we intend to assemble the Metro®, the Logistar™ 200 and the Neibor® 200 for distribution to our channel partners for sales within the European Union. We are also finalizing a lease agreement for our anticipated local assembly facility in Jacksonville, Florida, where we plan to assemble the Logistar™ 400 and the Terramak™ for distribution to our channel partners for sales in the North American market. Prior to the regionalization of our supply chains, we plan to utilize these facilities to assemble vehicle kits that are manufactured by us in our facilities in Changxing, in the case of the Metro®, and by third parties in the case of our four other ECV models. We have subcontracted all manufacturing processes of the ECV components for our Logistar™ 400, Neibor® 200, Logistar™ 200 and Terramak™ to our qualified suppliers, allowing us to further reduce our capital expenditure requirements and increase our focus on local assembly.

In the long-term, through our deep supply chain development know-how, we intend to establish supply chain relationships in North America and the European Union to support our manufacturing and assembly needs in these markets, thereby reducing the time in transit and potentially the duties associated with importing our components and spare parts. We plan to use a “merge in transit” model where component parts from suppliers are consolidated at our local assembly facilities for final ECV assembly.

Because we design, develop and manufacture our ECVs, our technology is at the core of what we believe positions us to effectively compete and become a technology leader in the ECV market. Since inception in 2013 through June 30, 2021, we have spent approximately $74.0 million in research and development activities related to our business. Specifically, we have developed new vehicle chassis structures and digital control, smart driving and network connectivity capabilities. In addition to our significant know-how, as of June 30, 2021, we had 132 discovery patents, nine design patents and 104 innovation patents granted by the Chinese Patent Office, and 11 innovation patent applications and 56 discovery patent applications pending in the Chinese Patent Office (including seven currently pending PCT patents), covering our technological innovations relating to power systems, vehicle electronics, vehicle control and structure, production processes and other new technologies.

Our technological advantage begins with our chassis designs, which promote efficiencies in energy consumption as well as development and manufacturing processes. The Metro® and Neibor® 200 utilize proprietary, lightweight chassis designs that reduce the overall weight of the vehicle and thus increase the battery efficiency of the vehicle. Our chassis designs also lend themselves to modification and flexibility to meet the needs of the specific customers in our local markets. For instance, our Metro® can be upfitted and customized to fill a variety of end-user roles, such as a small firetruck, street sweeper, vending truck, garbage truck, pickup truck or service truck.

We have developed a proprietary vehicle control unit (a “VCU”) that allows for vehicle status awareness and vehicle operation control capabilities. We have designed our VCU to integrate the various sub-control systems and embedded systems on our ECVs into a single module, which oversees and controls vehicle operations such as monitoring, driving, alarming, communication, display, positioning, and entertaining, among other functions. Our VCU allows end-users to connect their ECV fleet to a vehicle management system in order to monitor fleet operations and driver behavior, enabling them to efficiently manage their delivery performance and logistics. Through the VCU interface, end-users are able to customize vehicle operations, including setting speed and boundary limitations, horn control, light control, and other controls that we believe enhance the safety and functionality of our ECVs.

For future vehicle applications, we have made innovations in digital control technology and employed autonomous “smart driving” technology. Our “digital control” technology allows an ECV component to act solely through the control of a computer program or artificial intelligence, or AI, rather than manual human intervention. For instance, a digitally enabled windshield wiper could automatically alter its speed of oscillation to optimize visibility, based on determinations of a computer program that measures the severity of the rain. Our “smart driving” technology extends digital control capability to components that control the movement of the ECV (i.e., steering, braking, acceleration, signaling and parking). We have also successfully developed a programmable chassis and tested an autonomous “smart driving” delivery truck on the road with real traffic. Our programmable chassis, while interfacing with third-party decision-making software, will not require a steering wheel or any pedals and will execute driving operations solely via control by a computer program or AI software.

We are focused on continuous improvement in our technology through continued investment in research and development. We believe our ECV expertise, market focus, installed base of vehicles and know-how (including our smart driving capabilities), coupled with our dedication to research and development, will enable us to continue advancing our business.

Through our modular ECV design and unique business model, we are able to enter the ECV market with competitively priced products compared to our competitors in the ECV space. Our ECVs are designed with a proprietary, lightweight chassis structure, enabling us to use less steel and our ECVs to utilize less battery power than our competitors. Through our distributed manufacturing methodology, we can ship our vehicle kits for assembly (as opposed to completed vehicles), enabling shipment, in the case of the Metro®, of four ECVs per 40-foot ocean freight containers, resulting in lower transportation cost, and in some cases, lower import tariffs than fully assembled ECVs.

Furthermore, because our ECVs have fewer components and moving parts than their ICE counterparts, we believe the ongoing maintenance costs of our vehicles is low. In addition, engines in traditional ICE commercial vehicles typically have a 10-year life, whereas the motor in our ECVs are designed to last, on average, for more than 20 years. The lithium-ion batteries used in our ECVs have a useful life of approximately 2,000 charge-cycles, with each charge providing for a range, in the case of the Metro®, of approximately 124 miles per charge for a total range of approximately 248,400 miles over a battery’s useful life. Additionally, based on our collected data, the Metro® has a miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent (“MPGe”) of approximately 156 (equivalent to 4.875 miles per KWh).

We have invested significant time and resources in developing a supply chain capable of providing all of the components and materials necessary to manufacture our ECVs. Our integrated supply chain is comprised of over 200 suppliers predominantly located in China. Generally, our suppliers undergo rigorous testing before we onboard them as a supplier, including quality and process auditing, product verification, regulatory compliance and reliability testing. Our suppliers must demonstrate that they can consistently deliver their specialized parts on time, while meeting our quality and product specifications. Many of our components are based on Cenntro-developed designs, and our suppliers are contractually restricted from selling our customized components to any third parties.

We plan to expand our supply chain as necessary to support our planned growth, including localizing our supply chain for certain key components of our ECVs in North America and the European Union. We have subcontracted all manufacturing processes of the ECV components for our Logistar™ 400, Neibor® 200, Logistar™ 200 and Terramak™ to our qualified suppliers, allowing us to further reduce our capital expenditure requirements and increase our focus on local assembly.

Each of our ECV models are fitted with a networking device connecting the vehicle to our proprietary cloud-based software, which enables our end-users to collect data about vehicle configuration, vehicle status and user efficiency through a system of digitally enabled components, which we sometimes refer to as “smart components,” that we install in our ECVs. We believe the information collected on our cloud-based information database system provides significant benefits to our end-users. With over 100 different metrics capable of being measured through the use of smart components, our database allows end-users to track the performance of specific vehicle components and provides them insight into the reliability and efficiency of these components. In addition, this information allows end-users to monitor fleet operations and driver behavior, enabling them to efficiently manage their delivery performance and logistics. To the extent end-users provide our channel partners with access to this information, our channel partners may use this information to provide enhanced after-market servicing and support to their customers. We also believe this data may be valuable to end-users for insurance, financial and other purposes. Moreover, end-users are able to use our network to customize vehicle operations, including setting speed and boundary limitations, horn control, light control, and other controls that we believe enhance the safety and functionality of our ECVs.

Using our proprietary cloud-based software, we have analyzed over seven million miles of commercial use in China in order to improve our ECVs’ reliability and durability. With the permission of the end-users of the vehicles, we received data collected from approximately 950 Metro® units that we put into service through an affiliated company in the Chinese market. This data included vehicle-specific data collected for operational analysis (for example, total cumulative miles traveled or uptime before the failure of a specific component), which we used for instance to determine which of our components fails most often, which of our components fails first and for how long they were operational, in order to make improvements in the quality and durability of such components. We enable end-users to collect, store and analyze data using tools that we have developed but we do not have access to this end-user collected data unless we request and receive access from the end-user. We do not currently and do not intend to collect, use or store any vehicle-specific or driver-specific data in the future in any region.

We have established our channel partner network to distribute our ECVs in a number of markets around the world. Through this network, we have engaged partners for local homologation, promotion, distribution, and service in the markets they serve, and, in a limited number of cases, assembly, upfitting and customization. All our channel partners sell fully assembled ECVs. In addition, channel partners that have established the capabilities to assemble our ECVs receive vehicle kits from us, assemble the vehicles and sell them locally in the country or region in which they serve under their brand. We refer to these channel partners as “private label.” Our channel partners include local businesses, dealers, distributors, auto repair shops and service providers, who purchase our fully assembled ECVs (other than the “private label” channel partners) and sell them in their respective local markets.

More specifically, we believe our channel partner network provides significant advantages to us as we are able to outsource the cost of marketing, distribution and maintenance (and in some markets, homologation) to businesses with local know-how in their respective markets and avoid the cost of developing this local know-how. As of November 30, 2021, we had established business relationships with 16 channel partners in 13 countries, including three “private label” channel partners in the United States and Germany.

Our management team is led by Peter Z. Wang, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors, who we refer to as our Chairman. Mr. Wang has extensive experience in the automotive and technology industries, having co-founded Sinomachinery Group (a diesel power system (engine and transmission) manufacturer) in 2006 and UTStarcom (a global telecom infrastructure provider), which went public in 2000. Mr. Wang was named as one of the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business by Asian American Business Development Center in 2004, one of China’s 100 Most Innovative Businessmen by Fast Company Magazine in 2017 and one of the Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs in 2019.

More specifically, our management team has significant experience in vehicle design, supply chain, logistics, quality control and process management. Our management is singularly focused on developing and manufacturing high quality, best-in-class, light- and medium-duty ECVs for the growing ECV marketplace and becoming a technology leader in the ECV market. Starting in 2013 with a simple idea, our management team has successfully designed energy efficient ECVs and associated technologies and established a broad supply chain to support our product growth.

We intend to be a leading global designer, developer and manufacturer of electric light- and medium-duty ECVs. The key elements of our growth strategy include:

As of November 30, 2021, we have established business relationships with 16 channel partners in 13 countries, including the United States, Germany, Korea, Spain, Italy and Mexico. We plan to expand our channel partner network and increase the number of our assembly facilities in the United States, the European Union and, in the long-term, Japan. As our channel partner network and Cenntro facility footprint grows, we expect to penetrate a broader segment of the global market and increase our sales volume and product offerings. We expect to add up to 16 additional channel partners in 2022.

In 2021, we opened a local assembly facility in Freehold, New Jersey for trial production of our Logistar™ 400 and Terramak™ vehicles. We also have established warehousing services with a logistics company in Budapest, Hungary to house spare parts for our Metro® models. We are in the process of establishing a local assembly facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, where we intend to assemble the Metro®, the Logistar™ 200 and the Neibor® 200 for distribution to our channel partners for sales within the European Union. We are also finalizing a lease agreement for our anticipated local assembly facility in Jacksonville, Florida, where we plan to assemble the Logistar™ 400 and the Terramak™ for distribution to our channel partners for sales in the North American market. We believe establishing a local assembly facility in Dusseldorf will provide us with access to well-established hardware and logistics systems and trained personnel.

We believe that augmenting our channel partner network, assembly facilities and support centers together with regionalizing our supply chain will enhance brand recognition, provide economic advantages and reduce time to market for our ECVs.

We plan to regionalize the manufacturing and supply chain relating to certain key components of our ECVs, such as vehicle frames and battery packs, in the geographic markets in which our ECVs are sold. In the long-term, through our deep supply chain development know-how, we plan to geographically expand our supply chain to support our planned growth. More specifically, we intend to establish supply chain relationships in North America and the European Union to support our manufacturing and assembly needs in these markets, thereby reducing the time in transit and potentially the duties associated with importing our components and spare parts from China. We believe we can reduce the overall cost of ECV assembly in certain geographical markets by shifting to a “merge in transit” model, whereby component shipments from suppliers, including local market suppliers, are consolidated at our local assembly facilities for final ECV assembly, in contrast with our current model which integrates all components into vehicle kits or fully assembled vehicles in our manufacturing facilities in China. We believe that investing in the regionalization of our manufacturing and supply chain can ultimately provide significant benefits to us and our channel partners. We believe sourcing our ECV components and manufacturing, assembling and selling our ECVs regionally can help us reduce costs associated with import/export taxes and shipping, further reducing vehicle production costs. In addition, we believe that regionalizing our manufacturing and supply chain will help support and strengthen our brand in the markets in which our ECVs are sold, as our operations become integrated into those markets. We believe that our deep supply chain development know-how will provide us significant advantages; however, substantially all of our supply chain experience is limited to China. If we are unable to effectively manage the sourcing of our components and the responsiveness of our supply chain in areas outside of China, our business and results of operations may be harmed. It is also likely that in the early stages of our supply chain expansion, we can expect most component sources will be single-source suppliers in areas outside of China.

We began pilot production of our first-generation, U.S. Class 1 (0 – 6,000 lbs.), light-duty commercial vehicle, the Metro®, in 2018, and, as of November 30, 2021, we have sold approximately 2,300 units throughout Europe, North America and Asia and deployed approximately 1,300 additional units in China through affiliated parties. Utilizing our proprietary design and technology, we launched the Logistar™ 400 as a U.S. Class 4 (over 14,000 lbs.) medium-duty commercial vehicle in the United States in December 2021, the Neibor® 200, designed to meet the European Union and UK L7e Class requirements, in the European Union and the UK in December 2021, the Logistar™ 200, designed to meet the European Union N1 Class truck requirements, in the European market in December 2021 and the Terramak™, an off-road electric commercial vehicle, in the European Union and United States in December 2021. Our pipeline also includes the ePortee™ programmable chassis, which we also refer to as the Cenntro iChassis, which is expected to become commercially available in 2022.

We expect to increase our market share in the current markets where our ECVs are sold, while simultaneously penetrating new markets worldwide. As of November 30, 2021, we have sold the Metro® in over 16 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia. We have homologated the Metro® in over 32 countries. We are currently targeting new markets where local governments have begun incentivizing a shift from ICEs to EVs. We intend to expand our reach in these markets with the efforts and market knowledge of our existing channel partners as well as by forming new partnerships and leveraging our increased brand recognition.

We intend to continue to invest in chassis digitization and smart driving technology. We have developed the ePortee™, which we also refer to as the Cenntro iChassis, an open-platform and programmable vehicle chassis with digital control capabilities. The Cenntro iChassis is designed to act as a basic and core execution unit of an automated or autonomous driving vehicle. It includes application programming and communication interfaces that enable third-party autonomous driving vehicle developers to use this programmable chassis to develop various autonomous driving applications and fittings. We expect the Cenntro iChassis to become commercially available in 2022.

We began pilot production of our first-generation U.S. Class 1 (0 – 6,000 lbs.), electric light-duty commercial vehicle, the Metro®, in 2018, and, as of November 30, 2021 have since sold approximately 2,300 units throughout Europe, North America and Asia, and put into service approximately 1,300 additional units in China through affiliated parties. The Metro® is a customizable ECV used in commercial applications such as city services (i.e., street cleaners, firetrucks, and garbage trucks) and last-mile delivery. The Metro® was “born electric,” meaning that, unlike many other ECVs that are converted from existing ICE designs, the Metro® was purpose-built from inception to be highly energy efficient and providing for a greater range, implementing a number of proprietary design elements, including a lightweight structure and efficient power system. The Metro® has been driven over seven million miles of commercial use by end-users in China alone.

The Metro® chassis is designed with a unique cab-forward feature. By moving the cab of the Metro® forward over the front wheels, we have been able to increase its cargo volume ratio and decrease the cost of materials used in its manufacturing. In addition, the chassis of the Metro® has been designed to support a variety of fittings, allowing the vehicle to be used for a number of different applications, which we believe is a feature rarely offered by other ECV manufacturers and gives us the opportunity to market the Metro® to a wider array of potential end-users.

The Metro® complies with, or is exempt from, all applicable vehicle safety standards related to light-duty commercial vehicles in North America, Mexico and the Asian and European countries in which it is sold. The Metro® has passed N1 homologation requirements in Asia. In the European Union, the original version of the Metro® was classified as an L7e vehicle and has passed the EU homologation requirements for this category. We have made improvements to the original Metro® design and added more components such as airbags, air conditioning and advanced brake systems. As a result, our new model of the Metro® does not meet EU L7e weight requirements and will instead be classified as an N1 vehicle. We have obtained EU Small Series Type Approval for our new model of the Metro® under N1 vehicle classification, which includes an annual sales limitation of 1,500 units into the European Union market (excluding sales by our “private label” channel partners in the European Union). However, since the Metro® is sold in the European Union through our channel partners and by one of our “private label” channel partners that sells under its own brand name as a proprietary vehicle, we will be able to sell as many as 3,000 units in the European Union annually. See “—Our Channel Partners and Channel Partner Network.” In the United States, the Metro® qualifies as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (an “NEV”) with low-speed modifications, and, as a result, is not required to pass the United States high speed front-end impact test. NEVs are built to have a top speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) and have a maximum loaded weight of 3,000 lbs. (1,400 kgs) and are classified by the United States Department of Transportation as low-speed vehicles. This qualification generally limits the Metro® to roads with posted maximum speed limits of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). Under the EU Small Series N1 Type Approval, the Metro® does not have comparable speed limitations in the European Union.

Our lightweight chassis structure and cab-forward design of the Metro® enable greater payload and cargo volume with lower vehicle weight and smaller vehicle size, compared to other like-size ECVs. Our modular vehicle design enables us to manufacture a wide range of variations of Metro® models around a uniform chassis structure.

Our total revenues for sales of the Metro® was $4.8 million and $3.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $2.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021, which accounted for 87.9% and 88.5% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and 81.7% of total revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2021. Our total revenue for sales of the Metro® was $5.2 million for the 11 months ended November 30, 2021.

The Logistar™ 400 is a medium-duty electric commercial truck designed to meet the delivery requirements of tier 1 logistics companies as well as upfitters. The Logistar™ 400 is a U.S. Class 4 (over 14,000 lbs.) truck under U.S. truck classification. It can be configured as a delivery van or a shuttle bus or equipped with a cargo box or a truck bed. In addition, the Logistar™ 400 can be upfitted for different applications of city service, such as a vending truck, fire truck, garbage truck and repair truck. We expect that the most common use of the Logistar™ 400 will be for intra-city delivery.

The Logistar™ 400 has a cargo volume of 18 cubic meters or 630 cubic feet (over three times the cargo volume of the Metro®) and a payload capacity of 2.745 tons (over seven times the payload capacity of the Metro®). We completed the homologation process for the Logistar™ 400 in the United States in the third quarter of 2021. The Logistar™ 400 became commercially available in North America in December 2021.

We have developed the Neibor® 200, a small truck that is designed to meet the European Union and the UK’s L7e (Heavy Quadricycle) qualification. The Neibor® 200 is designed for short distance delivery in narrow city streets and is expected to be used mainly for city delivery and last-mile delivery, and to a lesser extent by tradespeople. Unlike sales of the new model of the Metro® into the EU and UK markets (under Small Series Type Approval under the N1 designation, as discussed above), we do not expect the Neibor® 200 to be subject to any annual sales limitations in the European Union or in the UK. We completed the product prototype of the Neibor® 200 in March 2021. We homologated the Neibor® 200 in the European Union and it became commercially available in the EU market in December 2021. We plan to assemble the Neibor® 200 in our Chinese facilities and in Dusseldorf, Germany (once our facility is operational) for sale in the European Union, respectively.

We designed the Terramak™ as an electric off-road commercial utility vehicle. The Terramak™ has a payload capacity up to 2,756lb (or 1,200kg), which we believe to be greater than the majority of currently available, off-road utility vehicles. The maximum speed of the Terramak™ is 65 km/h, which we believe is sufficient for off-road applications. We expect the Terramak™ to be used on farms, vineyards, golf courses, college campuses, parks, warehouses, industrial parks, and for other off-road applications. Because the Terramak™ is an off-road ECV, it is not subject to regulations by the Department of Transportation or NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Terramak™ became commercially available in the United States and the European Union in December 2021.

Each of the Logistar™ 400, Neibor® 200 and Logistar™ 200 can be driven on all public roads, other than freeways in the case of the Neibor® 200.

We have developed the Cenntro iChassis, an open-platform and programmable chassis product. The Cenntro iChassis is designed to act as a basic and core execution unit of an automated or autonomous driving vehicle. It includes application programming and communication interfaces that enable third-party autonomous driving vehicle developers to use this programmable chassis to develop various autonomous driving applications and fittings. We have designed the Cenntro iChassis to be able to execute commands received from an open-platform system, taking such actions as turning direction, accelerating, braking, reversing and activating lights. When combined with detection capabilities, a proprietary (or open source) driving system and configuration upfitting, the Cenntro iChassis can be integrated into a completed vehicle for various automated and autonomous driving applications, such as autonomous delivery, vending, cleaning, patrolling and other automated applications.

We anticipate that third-party developers will integrate detection devices and develop their own proprietary decision-making software or use open-source software to allow for autonomous driving using the Cenntro iChassis. We expect that the Cenntro iChassis will be commercially available in 2022.

Our proprietary lightweight chassis designs are the building blocks of our ECVs. While most ECV makers today use existing chassis designs borrowed from their ICE vehicle lines, which are relatively heavier, the lightweight of our chassis promotes energy efficiency and greater range. We utilize structurally sound, lightweight and stronger steel materials in the manufacturing of our chassis for various models and have designed a structure with the aim to minimize unnecessary weight while not sacrificing structural integrity under driving stresses. These materials allow for lower overall vehicle weight, which reduces required energy consumption per mile and increases battery efficiency.

We design our ECVs to be used in a variety of end-market applications, which we believe is a feature generally not offered by other vehicle manufacturers. In addition to being used as delivery vehicles, the Metro® has been, and we expect that our new ECV models (other than the Terramak™) will be, customized as a small firetruck, street sweeper, vending truck, and ad displayer, among other end-market applications. We are able to share these customization options with our channel partners, which can be used to expand their potential customer base and product offerings.

We have adopted a low voltage (below 108 volts) power system in our Metro®, Neibor® 200 and the Terramak™ models, which offer a number of important advantages over the high voltage power systems (greater than 324 volts system) usually used in high speed (greater than 85 km/h) passenger cars. We believe low voltage power systems provide the following advantages:

Our technology is at the core of what we believe positions us to effectively compete in the ECV market. Since inception in 2013 through June 30, 2021, we have spent over $74.0 million in research and development activities related to our operations, developing various technologies and advancements, including the following:

We have developed a proprietary VCU that allows for vehicle status awareness and vehicle operation control capabilities. We have designed our VCU to integrate the various sub-control systems and embedded systems on our ECVs into a single module, which oversees and controls vehicle operations such as monitoring, driving, alarming, communication, display, positioning, and entertaining, among other functions. Our VCU allows end-users to connect their ECV fleet to a vehicle management system in order to monitor fleet operations and driver behavior, enabling them to efficiently manage their delivery performance and logistics. Through the VCU interface, end-users are able to customize vehicle operations, including setting speed and boundary limitations, horn control, light control, and other controls which we believe enhance the safety and functionality of our ECVs. With the permission of the end-users of the vehicles, we received data collected from approximately 950 Metro® units that we put into service through an affiliated company in the Chinese market. This data included vehicle-specific data collected for operational analysis (for example, total cumulative miles traveled or uptime before the failure of a specific component), which we used for instance to determine which of our components fail most often, which of our components fail first and for how long they were operational, in order to make improvements in the quality and durability of such components. We enable end-users to collect, store and analyze data using tools that we have developed but we do not have access to this end-user collected data unless we request and receive access from the end-user. We do not currently and do not intend to collect, use or store any vehicle-specific or driver-specific data in the future in any region.

We have developed and tested an SOC prototype that is designed to integrate all the software controlling functions into a controlling chip to eliminate the printed circuit board (PCB) of the VCU, improve the controlling stability, ease maintenance and lower costs. While our VCUs do not currently include the SOC, we intend to incorporate the SOC as our volume of ECV production and sales grow and production of the SOC becomes commercially viable.

To achieve intra-vehicle communication, optimal status awareness and digital control, we have developed a system of smart components and a unique vehicle bus, which is a specialized internal communication network that interconnects the vehicle’s components and allows two-way communication between each “smart” component and an end-user’s vehicle management system. This form of vehicle digitization provides the end-user the ability to monitor the status and direct actions of each smart component. For electronic components, we use digital signal technology to provide for data transmission from the component, however, for non-electronic components, such as a tire or axle, we have developed a patented vibration technology to allow for such communication. We believe our vibration technology is more reliable and cost-effective than the sensor technology often utilized by other vehicle manufacturers to provide for non-electronic component communication.

Using our developments in vehicle digitization and smart components, we have developed the Cenntro iChassis, a programmable chassis with digital control capabilities. The Cenntro iChassis is an open-platform and programmable chassis, designed to act as a basic and core execution unit of an automated or autonomous driving vehicle, able to integrate into a completed vehicle for various automated and autonomous driving applications, such as autonomous delivery, vending, cleaning, patrolling and other automated applications. We have designed the programmable chassis to be able to execute commands received from an open-platform system. Our proprietary chassis design is capable of automated acceleration, braking, steering, signaling and multi-directional driving. We anticipate that third-party developers will integrate detection devices and develop their own proprietary decision-making software or use open-source software to allow for vehicles based on our programmable chassis to be driven autonomously.

During the third quarter of 2018, we successfully tested an autonomous driving delivery truck on the streets of Shengzhou City, China with real traffic during daytime hours. This autonomous driving delivery truck was developed using our proprietary chassis technology, which we integrated with a third-party developer’s detection devices and decision-making systems. Although we have not commercially deployed or made available our programmable chassis and autonomous driving delivery truck for marketing or distribution, we have sold our programmable chassis to four developers of autonomous driving vehicles in China and in the United States.

While we rely on our supply chain to manufacture many of the components of our ECVs, we currently manufacture three of the most important components of our Metro® – the chassis, driving cab and wire harness – at our facility in Changxing, China. The chassis and driving cab are manufactured by us using laser cutting, robotic welding, and third-party coating processes. After production, we install the final electronic components and other component parts to complete the chassis and driving cab. The wire harness, which acts as the nervous system of our ECVs, is manufactured by us with digital signal receivers rather than analog, carrying signals and information to and from component parts, as well as our cloud-based information database. All manufacturing processes of the ECV components and vehicle kits for each of our four new ECV models will be subcontracted to our qualified suppliers and manufacturing partners, respectively, allowing us to further reduce our capital expenditure requirements in order to execute on our light-asset distributed manufacturing business model and methodology.

Through our innovative distributed manufacturing methodology, we currently manufacture and integrate our ECVs as vehicle kits, which then can be exported for assembly in our target markets or assembled in our assembly facilities and exported as fully assembled vehicles. Our ECVs are designed using a “modular” method, allowing for simple assembly processes and eliminating the need for acquiring and maintaining heavy and expensive assembly equipment at the assembly stage. Prior to 2021, the majority of our ECVs were either fully assembled for export in our Changxing facility or shipped as vehicle kits for local assembly by our “private label” channel partners for sale in local markets. In 2021, we opened a local assembly facility in Freehold, New Jersey to assemble our Logistar™ 400 and Terramak™ vehicles for trial production. Our Freehold facility will be used only for trial assembly. During 2022, we expect to assemble less than 200 vehicles at this facility. To meet our anticipated demand in the United States, we are in the process of finalizing a lease agreement for a 100,000 square foot assembly facility in Jacksonville, Florida. We expect to begin assembling vehicles at this anticipated Jacksonville facility in early 2022. We expect the Jacksonville facility to have an annual assembly capacity of at least 10,000 vehicles per year. Additionally, we are in the process of establishing a local assembly facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, where we intend to assemble the Metro®, the Neibor® 200 and the Logistar™ 200 for distribution to our channel partners for sales within the European Union. Prior to the regionalization of our supply chains, we plan to utilize our anticipated Jacksonville, Florida and Dusseldorf, Germany facilities to assemble vehicle kits that we manufacture in our facilities in Changxing or that our manufacturing partners will manufacture at their facilities. We plan to open our Dusseldorf, Germany facility by the middle of 2022. We expect the Dusseldorf facility to have an annual assembly capacity of at least 10,000 vehicles per year. We are currently in discussions with a potential third-party assembler in Germany to help us meet production demands related to our ECVs for the European market before our Dusseldorf facility becomes fully operational. In the long term, once we have successfully regionalized our supply chains for our various components, we intend to shift manufacturing and assembly of our ECVs for marketing in the United States and the European Union to local facilities in the United States and Germany, respectively.

We have invested significant time and resources in developing a supply chain capable of providing all of the components and materials necessary to manufacture our ECVs. Our integrated supply chain is comprised of over 200 suppliers predominantly located in China. Our vehicle designs share many of the same component parts, including the battery module, battery control, motor control and vehicle control, allowing us to achieve significant cost efficiencies in our supply chain. Generally, our suppliers undergo rigorous testing before we onboard them as a supplier, including quality and process auditing, product verification, regulatory compliance and reliability testing. Our suppliers must demonstrate that they can consistently deliver their specialized parts on time, while meeting our quality and product specifications. Many of our components are based on Cenntro-developed designs, and our suppliers are contractually restricted from selling our customized components to any third parties.

Currently, materials and components for our ECVs are shipped to our Changxing facilities where we manufacture key components of our Metro® and integrate vehicle kits for assembly and shipment. Since substantially all of our manufacturing to date has been conducted through our facilities in China, sourcing our components in China has been more cost-effective than sourcing components outside of China, and we believe it has reduced risks arising from shipping delays and importing inefficiencies.

In the long-term, through our deep supply chain development know-how, we plan to geographically expand our supply chain to support our planned growth. More specifically, we intend to establish supply chain relationships in North America and the European Union to support our manufacturing and assembly needs in these markets, thereby reducing the time in transit and potentially the duties associated with importing our components and spare parts from China. We believe we can reduce the overall cost of ECV assembly by shifting to a “merge in transit” model, whereby component shipments from suppliers, including local market suppliers, are consolidated at our local assembly facilities for final ECV assembly.

Historically, we have generally obtained components from multiple sources whenever possible, similar to other automobile manufacturers. However, certain components used in our ECVs are purchased from a single-source, which we refer to as our single-source suppliers. For example, while several sources for the airbag module in the Metro® are available, we currently have only one supplier for this component. To date, we have not qualified alternative sources for most of the single-sourced components used in our vehicles and we generally do not maintain long-term agreements with our single-source suppliers. We do not anticipate that finding qualified alternative sources for any particular component, including single-source supplier components, will be a material concern. For our new ECV models, we anticipate that in the short term, we will source substantially all components from single-source suppliers due to volume limitations and efficiency concerns.

We use various raw materials in our business including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, non-ferrous metals such as copper, lithium, nickel and cobalt, as well as key component inputs such as semiconductors. The prices for these raw materials and key components fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand. We believe that we have adequate supplies or sources of availability of the raw materials necessary to meet our manufacturing and supply requirements. There are always risks and uncertainties, however, with respect to the supply of raw materials that could impact their availability in sufficient quantities or reasonable prices to meet our needs. During 2021, the automotive industry has experienced a shortage of semiconductors due to a spike in demand and a series of supply chain issues.

We have implemented enterprise resource planning and management software (the “ERP system”) to automate our procurement and inventory processes and integrate them with our financial accounting functions. We plan to make additional investments in our management systems to support further growth in our operations. Our current ERP system has multilingual capability and is utilized across the Company by each of our subsidiaries, branches and facilities globally.

Our ECVs utilize a lithium-ion battery. Currently, all of our lithium-ion batteries for the Metro® are supplied by Zhejiang Gushen Technology Co. Ltd. (Gushen or Godsend), a Chinese battery manufacturer. We expect Godsend to continue to supply substantially all of the batteries for our Metro®; however, we intend to source our batteries from other suppliers, including suppliers in the United States and the European Union once available, for the Logistar™ 400, Neibor® 200, Logistar™ 200 and Terramak™. Typically, the battery supplier provides us with a five-year/200,000 kilometers warranty on the batteries we purchase. Our lithium-ion batteries have two ways to charge – slow charging from a regular power outlet, which is only available in ECVs utilizing a low voltage power system (i.e. the Metro®, Neibor® 200 and Terramak™) and fast charging from an ECV charging station. In addition, some of our Metro® units have been deployed for a trial period in Czech Republic with a battery swap feature that we have co-developed with one of our channel partners. This feature is designed to reduce the waiting time on recharging and extend operation time of the Metro®, opening up greater market opportunities. We may deploy this feature more broadly after we have completed testing.

ECVs that run on lithium-ion battery electric power can experience battery capacity and performance loss over time, depending on the use and age of the battery. We anticipate the battery capacity in our ECVs will decline over time as the battery deteriorates. Other factors such as usage, time and stress patterns may also impact the battery’s ability to hold a charge, which would decrease our ECVs range. For example, depending on the battery chemistry of the specific cells inside a vehicle battery pack, after approximately 1,000 to 1,500 charge and discharge cycles, energy capacity retention is about 80%. In moderate weather conditions, a fully charged battery sitting idle can lose about 2% to 5% of its charge over a 30-day period.

Currently, all of the components we purchase from our supply chain for the Metro® are shipped to our facilities in Changxing, China, where they are stored in our logistics warehouse. We inspect and verify all shipments, and any unacceptable components are shipped back to the relevant supply chain provider. Once a Metro® vehicle kit is completed, we individually pack the chassis and cab into separate steel shipping frame containers for protection, the vehicle accessories are packed into a carton box and the tires onto standard shipping pellets. Once the completed vehicle kit is ready for shipping, we typically load them into 40-foot transport containers to be shipped via ocean freight to their intended destinations. Each 40-foot container can hold up to, in the case of the Metro®, four completed vehicle kits, resulting in lower transportation costs, and in some cases, lower import tariffs than fully assembled vehicles. The ocean freight shipping process takes approximately 10 to 35 days depending on the destination, with up to an additional week for unloading and inland shipping for the vehicle kit to reach its final destination. In 2021, we recently opened a local assembly facility in Freehold, New Jersey for the trial production of our Logistar™ 400, and Terramak™ vehicles. We are in the process of establishing a local assembly facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, where we intend to assemble the Metro®, the Logistar™ 200 and the Neibor® 200 for distribution to our channel partners for sales within the European Union. We are also finalizing a lease agreement for our anticipated local assembly facility in Jacksonville, Florida, where we plan to assemble the Logistar™ 400 and the Terramak™ for distribution to our channel partners for sales in the North American market. We also have established warehousing services with a logistics company in Budapest, Hungary to house spare parts for our Metro® models. We believe the regionalization of our manufacturing and assembly processes will significantly reduce shipping costs and import/export duties for our ECVs.

Our channel partner network is a pillar of our business model and further differentiates us from our traditional vertically integrated competitors. We promote and sell our ECVs in North America, the Europe Union and Asia through our channel partner network. Since our business model is “Business-to-Business,” we generally do not directly interact with the customers of our channel partners, who we refer to as the “end-users” of our ECVs, and substantially all marketing and sales of our ECVs are handled through our channel partners. We focus our efforts on locating potential business partners who may be interested in joining our channel partner network and act as regional partners in the promotion, sale, distribution and servicing of our ECVs in their local markets. In the future, we may transact directly with delivery service companies to provide our ECVs for their delivery fleets.

Pursuant to a manufacturing license agreement, Ayro markets a model ECV called the “411” that we manufacture in China and ship to Ayro in vehicle kits. We own the design of the Ayro 411, which is substantially based on our Metro® model, and license to Ayro the right to market and distribute the licensed product. Ayro assembles the “411” units at their own facilities, then markets and services such vehicles similar to our other channel partners. Ayro currently has exclusive distribution and service rights to the 411 in a number of jurisdictions in the United States. Through our partnership, we also invested in Ayro and, as of June 30, 2021, own approximately 2.03% of the common stock of Ayro.

While we develop, design and manufacture ECVs, our channel partners are responsible for marketing, sales, financing, distribution, after-market support and vehicle servicing. Currently, our “private label” channel partners are also responsible for assembly of our vehicle kits into fully assembled ECVs, but substantially all of our channel partners receive fully assembled ECVs from our manufacturing facilities. Due to these assembly responsibilities, the “private label” channel partners are typically the manufacturer of record of our ECVs. By 2022, we expect that all of our ECVs in the North American and European Union markets will be assembled by our own local assembly facilities with the exception of the vehicles assembled by our “private label” channel partners, while our channel partners will focus on market promotion, product distribution and vehicle service. Our channel partners, in certain target markets, also are responsible for vehicle homologation.

The length of time to onboard a channel partner is dependent on their role. Onboarding for “private label” channel partners that assemble and upfit their own branded versions of our ECVs can take up to two years from the time that we contract with them until the time they are selling ECVs as these channel partners need to establish and become familiar with our assembly technology and processes. In contrast, onboarding for a channel partner that does not intend to assemble our vehicles on site may take up to one year or as little as six months from contract to sale, depending on their familiarity with electric commercial vehicles and the types of services they will provide. We believe that establishing our own local assembly facilities has the benefit of facilitating the growth of our channel partner network by reducing onboarding time.

We provide a warranty program to our channel partners intended to cover defects in certain parts of our ECVs such as the chassis, brake system, electric systems, battery and power train. Our warranty obligations generally extend for a period of one to two years beginning on the day the ECV is sold to the end-user, unless a longer period is required, for instance pursuant to European regulations. Our “private label” channel partners who currently assemble our ECVs are generally required to indemnify us against claims for any liability that arises due to workmanship by the “private label” channel partners with respect to the Metro®. We believe our channel partners maintain comprehensive liability insurance for defects related our ECVs.

While we generally own all intellectual property rights including patents, patent applications, design rights, trade secrets and technical data related to the design and manufacturing of our ECVs, certain of our channel partners have been granted licenses to use our intellectual property subject to our approval. We have agreed to indemnify our channel partners from third-party claims relating to infringement concerning our intellectual property.

We believe our channel partner network provides significant advantages to us as we are able to outsource the cost of marketing, distribution and maintenance (and in some markets, homologation) to businesses with local know-how in their respective markets and avoid the cost of developing this local know-how. Our channel partner network provides significant advantages to our channel partners because they avoid the time and capital associated with vehicle design, the development of manufacturing processes and the establishment of a supply chain. In addition, our channel partners have access to customized fittings for our ECVs, allowing them to potentially expand their existing market and increase sales.

As of November 30, 2021, we had established business relationships with 16 channel partners in 13 countries, including three “private label” channel partners in the United States and Germany. We expect to add up to 16 additional channel partners in 2022.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, Tropos, Upsilon Resources Pte Ltd and Ayro represented approximately 58%, 13% and 11% of our net revenues, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, Tropos, Ayro and JINWOO SMC Co., Ltd represented approximately 55%, 21% and 12% of our net revenues, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2020 and the six months ended June 30, 2021, our channel partners purchased approximately 589 and 273 ECVs from us, respectively. As of November 30, 2021, we had approximately 710 ECVs on backlog, through non-cancelable committed orders with deposits.

Our quality control efforts are divided between product quality, supplier quality, and channel partner quality. Our product quality and supplier quality efforts are focused on designing and manufacturing products and processes with high levels of reliability. Our product quality engineers work with our engineering team and our suppliers to confirm that the product designs meet functional specifications and durability requirements. Our supplier quality engineers work with our suppliers to ensure that their processes and systems are capable of delivering the parts we need at the required quality level, on time, and on budget. Our quality systems engineers create and manage our systems, such as configuration management and corrective action systems, to help ensure product developers, supply chain managers, and production controllers have the requisite product information.

Our channel partner quality control efforts are focused on monitoring the marketing, sales, repair and other processes (including, some limited cases, assembly) to ensure they meet standards. Prior to selling our ECVs, our “private label” channel partners and manufacturing partners undergo performance testing designed to ensure they can assemble our ECVs correctly, timely and otherwise to standards mandated by the respective countries in which the ECVs are sold. We conduct routine monitoring and compliance audit activities to make sure such channel partners (and manufacturing partners) continue to meet our standards once in operation.

Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on a combination of patents, patent applications, trade secrets, including know-how, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyright laws, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to establish and protect our proprietary rights in our technology. As of June 30, 2021, we had 132 discovery patents, nine design patents and 104 innovation patents granted by the Chinese Patent Office, and 11 innovation patent applications and 56 discovery patent applications pending in the Chinese Patent Office (including seven currently pending PCT patents), covering our technological innovations relating to power systems, vehicle electronics and structure, production processes and other new technologies. Apart from our pending PCT patents (which, if granted, will provide reciprocal protection under the treaty jurisdictions of the Patent Coordination Treaty), substantially all of our patents are granted under PRC law and have not been given reciprocal treatment and protection under the laws of either the United States or the European Union. Our issued patents will begin to expire in April 2024. We intend to continue to file additional patent applications with respect to our innovation and know-how. We also intend to continue to apply for more PCT patents in the ordinary course. We do not know whether any of our pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents or whether the examination process will require us to narrow our claims. Even if granted, there can be no assurance that such patents will provide us with adequate protection.

Currently, there are relatively few global competitors in the light- and medium-duty ECV market. However, with the expected growth of last-mile delivery and city delivery services, new regulatory requirements for vehicle emissions, technological advances and shifting consumer demands, we expect increased competition in the ECV market. For example, Workhorse and Daimler have introduced their first light-duty ECV models in the United States, and Rivian, Nikola, Via, Nissan, Ford and GM are expected to launch light-duty ECVs in the United States in the next several years. The European light-duty commercial market is more developed, with light-duty ECV models currently being sold by Fiat Group, Renault, DHL, Piaggio, StreetScooter and other vehicle manufacturers. We believe the primary competitive factors between companies in the light- and medium-duty ECV market include:

Traditional ICE manufacturers and new entrants in the ECV market may have higher brand name recognition, greater capital resources and longer operating histories than we do. Nonetheless, we believe we have the benefit of lower operating costs to our end-users as well as superior core technology, which we believe are advantageous when introducing new technology. We cannot provide assurances that our competitors will not build ECVs that favorably compete with our ECVs, or that end-users will choose our ECVs over those of our competitors.

Our ECVs are subject to, and are designed to comply with, numerous regulatory requirements and industry standards established by the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”). These include early warning reporting requirements regarding warranty claims, field reports, death and injury reports; foreign recalls; owner’s manual requirements; and various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSSs”), established by the NHTSA.

Examples of the FMVSSs that apply to our vehicles include:

In addition to the FMVSSs, we also design our vehicles to meet the requirements of the DOT’s Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”), which has numerous Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Safety Requirements (“FMCSRs”) that apply to our vehicles. These include specifications and requirements applicable to auxiliary lamps, speedometers, and step, handhold, and deck placement.

Our ECVs sold in the European Union require type approval to confirm that they meet a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Our ECVs are subject to the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval framework regulations set out in EU Regulation 168/2013, which applies to L7 vehicles, and EU Regulation 2018/858, which applies to certain vehicles of Categories M, N and O, including the N1, which applies to light vehicles.

The current version of the Metro® meets European Union L7e requirements for a quadricycle and we have obtained type approval for this model. The new version of the Metro® (with the addition of more components such as airbags, air conditioning and advanced brake systems) will not meet the weight requirements for L7e classification but it is intended to meet N1 classification requirements. We have obtained Small Series Type Approval for our new model of the Metro®. The Neibor® 200 is designed to meet the requirements for, and was recently successfully homologated under, L7e classification as a quadricycle. The Logistar™ 200 is designed to meet the European Union N1 Class truck requirements and homologation in the European Union was completed in December 2021.

Our ECVs, once approved by the EU Approval Authority, will receive a certificate of conformity, which is used to demonstrate compliance with the applicable type approval requirements during the vehicle registration process. Any vehicle with a certificate of conformity can be sold throughout Europe with no further regulation requirements.

Given the ECV industry is rapidly developing, requirements and regulations are likely to change over time and in various countries to which we import our ECVs for sale or assembly. It may be expensive or time consuming to comply with any changes to these requirements.

The UK has adopted the EU requirements post Brexit, so in addition to European Type Approval we need to obtain a UK National Type Approval for vehicles imported to or assembled in the UK. Applications may be based on an existing valid EU type approval. No additional testing is required and the technical requirements are the same as for the EU market. We intend to obtain the applicable approval for the EU and UK markets as needed.

The U.S. federal Clean Air Act requires that we obtain either a Certificate of Conformity issued by the EPA or a California Executive Order issued by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) with respect to emissions for our vehicles. The Certificate of Conformity is required for vehicles sold in states covered by the Clean Air Act’s standards, and an Executive Order is required for vehicles sold in states that have sought and received a waiver from the EPA to utilize California standards. The California standards for emissions control for certain regulated pollutants for new vehicles and engines sold in California are set by CARB. Manufacturers who sell vehicles in violation of these standards may be subject to penalties of up to $37,500 per violation, as well as product recall and corrective action requirements. We received our California Executive Order of New Zero-Emission Vehicle in the Light-Duty Truck classification from CARB in 2017 for the Metro® 2018 Model. We are in the process of applying for a California Executive Order from CARB for the Logistar™ 400 and a Certificate of Conformity for our Terramak™.

Our ECVs contain battery packs, the cells of which are composed mainly of lithium-ion. Our ECVs are designed to meet ISO standards for battery systems and electrically propelled road vehicles. The latter standards address aspects of in-vehicle safety, connecting to external power supplies, conductive charging, battery pack enclosure protection from effects due to the ingress of water, and vibration, thermal-cycling, overcharge, and thermal control testing for lithium-ion battery packs and systems.

Our battery pack shipments comply with regulations governing the transport of “hazardous materials” in the United States and “dangerous goods” in the European Union. In the United States, the governing regulations, are promulgated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) at 49 C.F.R. Parts 171–180 and are based on the UN Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations, and related UN Manual Tests and Criteria. The latter form the basis for the EU regulations regarding the transportation of lithium-ion batteries. Under both regulatory regimes, packaging requirements vary based on the mode of transportation: e.g., ocean vessel, rail, truck, or airplane.

Our battery packs are designed to meet the compliance requirements of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, so that our battery packs and vehicles may be shipped by any method. These tests include:

The lithium-ion battery packs include packaging containing trace amounts of various hazardous chemicals whose use, storage and disposal is regulated under federal law. Moreover, lithium-ion batteries themselves may present risks to human health and the environment – including fire hazards – if improperly disposed. Our potential liability for such risks is not eliminated by virtue of our innovative distributed manufacturing methodology. Therefore, consistent with the approach of certain traditional, vertically integrated ECV manufacturers, we intend to perform product stewardship in the form of a “take-back” program to return potentially harmful materials into the circular economy. Specifically, we intend to enter into a service agreement with a third-party vendor with advanced direct cycling technology to recycle our lithium-ion batteries.

The EU has specific regulations on batteries and the disposal of batteries to minimize the negative environmental effects of batteries and hazardous waste.

The EU Battery Directive (2006/66/EC) (the “EU Battery Directive”) is intended to reduce mercury, cadmium, lead and other metals in the environment by minimizing the use of these substances in new batteries and treating and re-using old batteries. The directive applies to all types of batteries except those used to protect European Member States’ security, for military purposes, or sent into space. To achieve these objectives, the EU Battery Directive prohibits the marketing of some batteries containing hazardous substances. Among other things, it establishes quantified collection and recycling targets and product labeling requirements. We currently ship our ECVs pursuant to the requirements of the directive. Our current estimated costs to comply with this directive is not significant. However, we continue to evaluate the impact of this directive as European Union member states implement guidance, and actual costs could differ from our current estimates.

In December 2020, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new regulation on batteries and waste batteries. Although in its early stages, the proposal is designed to modernize the EU’s regulatory framework for batteries to secure the sustainability and competitiveness of battery value chains. It would introduce mandatory requirements on sustainability (such as carbon footprint rules, minimum recycled content, performance and durability criteria), safety and labelling for the marketing and putting into service of batteries, and requirements for end-of-life management. The proposal also includes due diligence obligations for economic operators regarding the sourcing of raw materials.

The EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC (the “RoHS Directive”) places restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. All applicable products sold in the European Union market after July 1, 2006 must comply with EU RoHS Directive. While this directive does not currently affect our ECVs in any meaningful way, should any changes occur in the directive that would affect our ECVs, we will need to comply with any new regulations that are imposed.

China has implemented several regulations, policies and measures to regulate the batteries used in ECVs, which cover the security standards, recycling activities and other specifications. For example, the Interim Measures for the Management of the Recycling of Power Battery in New Energy Vehicles (“PRC Battery Measures”) regulate the recycling and disposal of end-of-life batteries for new energy vehicles. The PRC Battery Measures provide that manufacturers of new energy vehicles must take primary responsibilities of the recycling of batteries and are required, for instance, to transfer batteries that have been damaged during manufacturing to vendors that provide recycling services, and to maintain records of the vehicles they have manufactured, the identification codes of the batteries incorporated into the vehicles, and the owners of the vehicles. The batteries used in our ECVs are also subject to a number of national standards in China, including functional safety requirements and testing methods for the battery management system of electric vehicles.

Our noncompliance with any of these regulations may materially and adversely affect our operations or financial condition.

In connection with the delivery and placement into service of our zero-emission vehicles, we or our channel partners in the United States have the ability to earn tradable credits that can be sold under current laws and regulations. Under regulations implemented by the EPA, each ECV may earn a credit multiplier of 4.5 for use in the calculation of emission credits. Notably, the regulations do not limit the number of battery-electric credits sold within the same commercial vehicle categories. These credits may be sold to other manufacturers who do not comply with emissions reduction standards. For example, EPA regulations require vehicle manufacturers to meet the nitrogen oxide emission standard for each type of vehicle produced. These emission standards are set to lower over time, increasing the difficulty for conventional diesel vehicles to meet the standard. It is expected that manufacturers of diesel trucks will need to purchase GHG credits to cover their emission deficit. We do not currently have any agreements with third parties to trade GHG credits but plan to enter into such agreements as our production and sales in the United States grow.

Various states have their own systems for accumulating and trading GHG credits, which generally resemble EPA’s. For example, California’s Low-Emission Vehicle Regulations, and similar laws in other states, require vehicle manufacturers to ensure that a portion of the vehicles delivered for sale in that state during each model year are zero emission vehicles. These laws provide that a manufacturer of zero emission vehicles may earn credits and that they may sell excess credits to other manufacturers who are not in compliance with emissions-related regulatory requirements. Currently, eleven states, besides California, have established such programs: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. As a manufacturer of zero emission vehicles, we plan to pursue paths to potentially earn tradable credits on each vehicle sold in California and these other states, to the extent permitted by applicable laws.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard — The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) was initially developed in California and is quickly gaining traction in other jurisdictions around the world. The goal is to reduce the well-to-wheel carbon intensity of fuels by providing both mandated reduction targets as well as tradeable/sellable credits. The main benefit to ECV manufacturers is an indirect incentive, in the form of credits offered to suppliers of the electricity used to charge ECVs. A portion of the LCFS credits that electric utilities generate is then contributed to the Clean Fuel Reward Program and is used to offer rebates to purchasers of ECVs.

Grant Programs — Government entities at all levels from federal, including DOE, state (for example, CARB), and local (for example, North Texas Council of Governments) have grant programs designed to increase and accelerate the development and deployment of zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure technologies.

Operations and facilities involved in the manufacture of our ECVs are subject to extensive environmental, safety, and health (“EHS”) regulations. Moreover, the general trend over the past few decades has been for EHS requirements to become more stringent over time. The laws and regulations to which our operations and facilities are subject govern, among others, the storage, handling, treatment, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials and hazardous wastes; wastewater and air emissions; resource conservation and recovery; the protection of natural resources and endangered species; and the remediation of environmental contamination. In connection with the establishment of our anticipated Jacksonville, Florida facility, we believe we may need to acquire a warehouse zoning permit in order to store batteries or contract with a third party for such warehousing services. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations, including permitting requirements, is an important aspect of our ability – as well as that of our channel partners – to continue our operations both in the United States and in other markets. Violations of EHS laws and regulations or permits may result in substantial governmental enforcement, civil penalties, criminal fines, and orders to cease operations or to conduct or pay for corrective action. In some instances, violations may also result in the suspension or revocation of permits and licenses. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), the primary federal remedial statute, any party that contributes to an unauthorized release of hazardous substances at a contaminated site may be jointly and severally liable for the full range of remedial and governmental oversight costs associated with the cleanup. In addition to statutory liability, noncompliance with EHS laws and releases of hazardous substances, materials, or wastes may give rise to toxic tort claims, which in theory could result in material liabilities. As we expand our local assembly capabilities in our target markets, we expect our environmental liability exposure to increase. This may require us to spend additional capital resources on environmental compliance matters.

Pursuant to the Environmental Protection Law of the PRC, which was adopted on December 26, 1989, and amended on April 24, 2014, effective on January 1, 2015, any entity which discharges pollutants must adopt measures to prevent and treat waste gas, waste water, waste residue, medical waste, dust, malodorous gas, radioactive substances generated in manufacturing, construction or any other activities as well as environmental pollution and hazards such as noise, vibration, ray radiation, electromagnetic radiation etc. Environmental protection authorities impose various administrative penalties on entities in violation of the Environmental Protection Law, including warnings, fines, orders to rectify within a prescribed period, cease construction, restrict or suspend production, make recovery, disclose relevant information or make an announcement, or seize and confiscate facilities and equipment which cause pollutant emissions, the imposition of administrative action against relevant responsible persons, and orders to shut down enterprises. In addition, pursuant to the Civil Code of the PRC, which was adopted on May 28, 2020, and effective on January 1, 2021, in the event of damage caused to others as a result of environmental pollution and ecological destruction, the actor will bear tortious liability. In the event a party, in violation of laws and regulations, intentionally pollutes the environment or damages the ecology, thereby causing serious consequences, the infringed party is entitled to claim appropriate punitive damages. Any violations of the Environmental Protection Law or the Civil Code could expose us to liabilities including fines and damages that could impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The EU end-of-life vehicle (“ELV”) regulations ensure manufacturers design, produce, and manage their vehicles to reduce waste and maximize material recovery at the point a vehicle is dismantled. For applicable vehicles, we believe we comply with applicable ELV regulations and rely on third party recyclers to recycle ELVs manufactured by us.

International jurisdictions have their own data security and privacy legal framework with which companies or their customers must comply. The collection, use, storage, transfer, and other processing of personal data regarding individuals in the European Economic Area is governed by the GDPR, which came into effect in May 2018. It contains numerous requirements and changes from previously existing EU law, including more robust obligations on data processors and heavier documentation requirements for data protection compliance programs by companies. Among other things, the GDPR regulates transfers of personal data subject to the GDPR to counties outside of the European Union that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data, including the United States. The European Data Protection Board has issued draft guidance requiring additional measures be implemented to protect EU personal data from foreign law enforcement, including in the U.S. These additional measures may require us to expend additional resources to comply.

The GDPR also introduced numerous privacy-related changes for companies operating in the EU, including greater control for data subjects, increased data portability for EU consumers, data breach notification requirements and increased fines. Fines of up to 20 million Euros or up to 4% of the annual global revenue of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater, could be imposed for violations of certain GDPR requirements. Such penalties are in addition to any civil litigation claims by customers and data subjects. The GDPR requirements apply not only to third-party transactions but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, including employee information.

The European Commission has another draft regulation in the approval process that focuses on a person’s right to conduct a private life, in contrast to the GDPR, which focuses on protection of personal data. The proposed legislation, known as the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications, or ePrivacy Regulation, would replace the current ePrivacy Directive. While the new legislation contains protections for those using communications services (for example, protections against online tracking technologies), the timing of its proposed enactment following the GDPR means that additional time and effort may need to be spent addressing differences between the ePrivacy Regulation and the GDPR. New rules related to the ePrivacy Regulation are likely to include enhanced consent requirements to use communications content and communications metadata.

China has laws relating to the supervision of data and information protection. The Cybersecurity Law regulates the activities of “network operators,” which include companies that manage any network under PRC jurisdiction. The Cyber Security Law requires that network operators, including internet information services providers, take technical measures and other necessary measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and the compulsory requirements of the national and industrial standards to safeguard the safe and stable operation of its networks. As such, certain of our PRC subsidiaries may be regarded as network operators under the Cybersecurity Law, since our ECVs are fitted with networking devices. The Cybersecurity Law requires that the collection of personal data is subject to consent by the person whose data is being collected. Any violation of the Cyber Security Law may subject an internet information services provider to warnings, fines, confiscation of illegal gains, revocation of licenses, cancellation of filings, shutdown of websites, or criminal liabilities.

On June 10, 2021, China enacted the DSL, which will be effective as of September 1, 2021. The DSL introduces several changes and new features to data security regulation and a comprehensive data security regime, which authorizes national departments to conduct stricter supervision of data in China. For example, the PRC government will establish a catalogue of crucial data categories and promulgate stricter regulations over the protection of such crucial data listed in the catalogue. The DSL also will introduce the concept of “National Core Data,” which refers to data related to, among other topics, national security, the PRC economy, and significant public interests, and provides that stricter regulations may be imposed on such National Core Data. The cross-border transfer of domestic data as required by non-PRC judicial or enforcement authorities is also subject to the approval of competent Chinese authorities.

Compliance with the GDPR, the new ePrivacy Regulation, as well as the Cybersecurity Law and DSL in China, may involve substantial operational costs or require us to change business practices. We currently do not have a substantial presence in the European Union (other than through our channel partner network) and our business model relies on channel partners rather than direct-to-consumer sales operations. As a result, it is unlikely that we will need to incur any material costs in the near term to comply with such privacy laws and regulations. However, given our plans to open an assembly facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, and thus establish a presence in the European Union, we will likely be required to comply with certain provisions of the GDPR and the new ePrivacy Regulation (once effective). If we are required to comply with the GDPR and ePrivacy Regulation due to our Dusseldorf facility, we will need to undertake an update of certain of our business practices, which could include (i) updating internal records, policies and procedures; (ii) updating publicly facing privacy notices and consent mechanisms, where required; (iii) implementing employee privacy training; (iv) appointing an individual responsible for privacy compliance; (v) implementing an inter-group data transfer agreement; (vi) reviewing/updating contracts with vendors that process data on our behalf, and (vii) implementing an audit framework. Furthermore, if we begin selling our ECVs directly to end-users in either of these markets, we would likely be required to comply with additional regulatory requirements. However, we currently have no plan to sell ECVs directly to end-users in any market and will continue to rely on and expand our channel partner network. To the extent we become subject to any such regulations, our noncompliance could result in proceedings by governmental entities, customers, data subjects or others and may result in fines, penalties, and civil litigation claims.

We have developed data retrieving and interfacing capabilities, which enable our end-users to collect, use and store user-specific data as they desire. End-users can utilize this data to, for instance, monitor vehicle and driver’s behavior to manage fleet activities. Leasing or insurance company could also potentially use this data, with permission from end-users.

With the permission of the end-users of the vehicles, we received data collected from approximately 950 Metro® units that we put into service through an affiliated company in the Chinese market. This data included vehicle-specific data collected for operational analysis, which we used to make improvements in the quality and durability of such components. We enable end-users to collect, store and analyze data using tools that we have developed but we do not have access to this end-user collected data unless we request and receive access from the end-user. We do not currently and do not intend to collect, use or store any vehicle-specific or driver-specific data in the future in any region.

Pursuant to the Patent Law of the PRC and the Implementation Regulations for the Patent Law of the PRC, each as amended, the patent system of the PRC adopts the principle of “first to file”, where two or more applicants have made their respective application for patent for the same invention-creation, the patent rights will be granted to the applicant who has filed first. Inventions and utility models for which patent rights are granted are required to possess novelty, creativity and practicality. The duration of patent rights for an invention is 20 years, the duration of patent rights for a utility model is 10 years and the duration of patent rights for a design is 15 years, commencing from the filing date. Implementation of a patent without licensing of the patentee constitutes an infringement of patent rights. Our issued patents will begin to expire in April 2024.

The PRC Copyright Law, which became effective on June 1, 1991 and was amended in 2001 and in 2010, provides that Chinese citizens, legal persons, or other organizations own copyright in their copyrightable works, whether published or not, which include, among others, works of literature, art, natural science, social science, engineering technology, and computer software. Copyright owners enjoy certain legal rights, including right of publication, right of authorship, and right of reproduction. The Copyright Law as revised in 2010 extends copyright protection to Internet activities, products disseminated over the Internet, and software products. In addition, the Copyright Law provides for a voluntary registration system administered by the China Copyright Protection Center. Pursuant to the Copyright Law, an infringer of copyrights is subject to various civil liabilities, which include ceasing infringement activities, apologizing to the copyright owners, and compensating the loss of the copyright owners. Infringers of copyright may also be subject to fines and/or administrative or criminal liabilities in severe situations.

Pursuant to the Computer Software Copyright Protection Regulations promulgated by the State Council on December 20, 2001 and amended on January 30, 2013, the software copyright owner may go through the registration formalities with a software registration authority recognized by the State Council’s copyright administrative department. The software copyright owner may authorize others to exercise that copyright and is entitled to receive remuneration.