UQM Technologies Inc was an American manufacturer of electrical motors, generators, motor controllers, fuel cell compressor systems and hybrid systems for passenger and commercial vehicles. Established in 1967 as Unique Mobility Inc, UQM was based in

Longmont, Colorado Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

. UQM's products were sold direct to original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

History

The company was involved in the late 1970s Unique Mobility Electrek vehicle, a 2-door 2+2 seater made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic and powered by 16 six-volt batteries. The Electrek featured regenerative braking and could reach a claimed maximum speed of 75 mph and an urban driving range of 75 miles. Given its contribution to the application of hybrid electric propulsion to small military boats, UQM received a $70,000 Phase I contract which was awarded by the Office of Naval Research from the U.S. Navy, in 2003. UQM provided ''PowerPhase'' propulsion systems for Zenith Motors shuttles, RegenNautics marine applications,

Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpora ...

electric city buses and Proterra electric composite buses, among others and has been used by several

concept cars A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

such as the

Audi A1 e-tron The Audi e-tron is a series of electric and hybrid cars shown by Audi from 2009 onwards. In 2012 Audi unveiled a plug-in hybrid version, the A3 Sportback e-tron, released to retail customers in Europe in August 2014, and slated for the U.S. ...

and

Rolls-Royce 102EX The Rolls-Royce 102EX, also known as the Phantom Experimental Electric (EE), is a one-off Electric car, electric prototype version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom (2003), Rolls-Royce Phantom VII. It was created by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Rolls-Royce to ...

Electric Phantom. The PowerPhase Pro system entered production in October 2011. The German company

Ruf Automobile Ruf Automobile GmbH (stylized as RUF) is a German car manufacturer. Formerly using Porsche body in white, bodies in white to build cars, today they build vehicles on their own bodies and chassis. They also manufacture performance parts for vari ...

modified a

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

into an electric version called

eRuf Model A The eRuf Model A is a late-2000s all-electric concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, con ...

, using UQM's 150kW PowerPhase motor. In 2008,

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

made aviation history by achieving the first crewed flight of a fuel-cell-powered aircraft which used a UQM motor. In 2010, UQM received a visit from vice-president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to promote the $45 million of Stimulus Act money the company received. In 2019, the company was acquired by

Danfoss Danfoss is a Danish multinational company, based in Denmark, with more than 41,928 employees globally. Danfoss was founded in 1933 by engineer Mads Clausen. History Beginning (1933–1966) In 1933 Mads Clausen (1905–1966) founded ''D ...

, effective on July 31.

References

External links

* {{official, https://uqm.com * https://www.uniquemobility.org/ Manufacturing companies based in Colorado Longmont, Colorado Motor vehicle engine manufacturers Engine manufacturers of the United States Companies formerly listed on NYSE American