The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. Neither we nor the selling securityholders may sell or distribute the securities described herein until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell and is not soliciting an offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARKET, RANKING AND OTHER INDUSTRY DATA

Certain market, ranking and industry data included in this prospectus, including the size of certain markets, are based on estimates of our management. These estimates have been derived from our management’s knowledge and experience in the markets in which we operate, as well as information obtained from surveys, reports by market research firms, our customers, distributors, suppliers, trade and business organizations and other contacts in the markets in which we operate, which, in each case, we believe are reliable.

We are responsible for all of the disclosure in this prospectus and while we believe the data from these sources to be accurate and complete, we have not independently verified data from these sources or obtained third-party verification of market share data and this information may not be reliable. In addition, these sources may use different definitions of the relevant markets. Data regarding our industry is intended to provide general guidance, but is inherently imprecise. Market share data is subject to change and cannot always be verified with certainty due to limits on the availability and reliability of raw data, the voluntary nature of the data gathering process and other limitations and uncertainties inherent in any statistical survey of market shares.

Assumptions and estimates of our future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk factors — Risks Related to Our Business.” These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADE NAMES

This prospectus contains some of our trademarks, service marks and trade names. Each one of these trademarks, service marks or trade names is either (1) our registered trademark, (2) a trademark for which we have a pending application, or (3) a trade name or service mark for which we claim common law rights. All other trademarks, trade names or service marks of any other company appearing in this prospectus belong to their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this prospectus are presented without the TM, SM and ® symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our respective rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, service marks and trade names.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future financial and operating results, our objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimated,” “believe,” “intend,” “plan,” “projection,” “outlook” or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our industry and market sizes, future opportunities for us, our estimated future results and the Business Combination, including the implied enterprise value. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

In addition to factors identified elsewhere in this prospectus, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements:

•        a delay or failure to realize the expected benefits from the Business Combination;

•        risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the Business Combination;

•        the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;

•        changes in the highly competitive market in which we compete, including with respect to our competitive landscape, technology evolution or regulatory changes;

•        changes in the markets that we target;

•        risk that we may not be able to execute our growth strategies or achieve profitability;

•        the risk that we are unable to secure or protect our intellectual property;

•        the risk that our customers or third-party suppliers are unable to meet their obligations fully or in a timely manner;

•        the risk that our customers will adjust, cancel or suspend their orders for our products;

•        the risk that we will need to raise additional capital to execute our business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all;

•        the risk of product liability or regulatory lawsuits or proceedings relating to our products or services;

•        the risk that we may not be able to develop and maintain effective internal controls;

•        the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us or any of our directors or officers;

•        risks of operations in the PRC; and

•        the failure to realize anticipated pro forma results and underlying assumptions.

Actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially, and potentially adversely, from any projections and forward-looking statements and the assumptions on which those forward-looking statements are based. There can be no assurance that the data contained herein is reflective of future performance to any degree. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a predictor of future performance as projected financial information and other information are based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to various significant risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.

All information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date hereof except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Forecasts and estimates regarding our industry and end markets are based on sources we believe to be reliable, however there can be no assurance these forecasts and estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part. Annualized, pro forma, projected and estimated numbers are used for illustrative purpose only, are not forecasts and may not reflect actual results.

Our manufacturing process incorporates pulverized solids, which can be toxic to employees when allowed to become airborne in high concentrations. We have incorporated safety controls and procedures into our manufacturing processes designed to maximize the safety of our employees and neighbors. Any related incident, including fire or personnel exposure to toxic substances, could result in significant manufacturing delays or claims for damages resulting from injuries, which could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

We have a limited customer base and depend on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues to date and this dependence is likely to continue.

Due to the nature of our industry and our limited operating history, we have a limited customer base and have depended on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue. In the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and six months ended June 30, 2021, we sold our electric battery products to 119, 221, 231 and 181 customers, respectively. Our top five customers accounted for approximately 45.8%, 42.7%, 31.4% and 39.9% of our revenues in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. Our limited customer base and customer concentration could make it difficult to negotiate attractive prices for our products and could expose us to the risk of substantial losses if a single dominant customer stops purchasing, or significantly reduces orders for, our products. We expect that a limited number of customers will continue to contribute a significant portion of our sales in the near future. Our ability to maintain close relationships with these top customers is essential to the growth and profitability of our business. If we fail to sell our products to one or more of these top customers in any particular period, or if a large customer purchases fewer of our products, defers orders or fails to place additional orders with us, or if we fail to develop additional major customers, our revenue could decline, and our results of operations could be adversely affected.

The unavailability, reduction or elimination of, or uncertainty regarding, government and economic incentives or subsidies available to end-users and original equipment manufacturers in the PRC and abroad could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

We believe that, currently, the availability of government subsidies and incentives available to end-users and original equipment manufacturers (“OEM”) is an important factor considered by our customers when purchasing our batteries for electric vehicles, and that our growth depends in part on the availability and amounts of these subsidies and incentives. Our sales volume decreased from approximately 497.9 megawatt hours (“MWh”) for the year ended December 31, 2018 to approximately 234.3 MWh for the year ended December 31, 2019. This decrease in sales volume was primarily attributable to a change in subsidy policies in the PRC in 2019 that resulted in delayed purchases by customers based in the PRC. Any further reduction or elimination of government and economic incentives or subsidies may result in the diminished competitiveness of the alternative fuel vehicle industry generally or electric vehicles that use our batteries in particular.

Currently, government programs in the PRC and in Europe favor the purchase of electric vehicles, including through disincentives that discourage the use of gasoline-powered vehicles. If such government programs are reduced or eliminated, or the available benefits thereunder are exhausted earlier than anticipated, demand for electric vehicles may decrease and our sales of electric battery products could be adversely affected. In addition, customers may delay taking delivery of our battery products if they believe that certain electric vehicle incentives will be available at a later date, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud, and investor confidence and the market price of the common stock may be adversely impacted.

Prior to the Business Combination, Microvast was a private company with limited accounting personnel and other resources with which to address its internal control over financial reporting. In the course of auditing our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 in accordance with PCAOB auditing standards, Microvast and its independent registered public accounting firm identified two material weaknesses and other control deficiencies in its internal control over financial reporting. As defined in the standards established by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a “material weakness” is a

deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

One material weakness that has been identified related to the insufficient financial reporting and accounting personnel with appropriate U.S. GAAP knowledge and SEC reporting requirements to properly address complex U.S. GAAP technical accounting issues and to prepare and review financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP and financial reporting requirements set forth by the SEC. The other material weakness that has been identified related to the lack of comprehensive accounting policies and procedures manual including comprehensive book closing procedures in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Either of these material weaknesses, if not timely remedied, may lead to significant misstatements in our consolidated financial statements in the future. For example, such material weaknesses have resulted in not consolidating a variable interest entity of which Microvast was a primary beneficiary, which has been rectified by restatements of the consolidated balance sheets and statements of operations as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019. Another example is that due to the lack of comprehensive book closing procedures, a cutoff error was rectified by restatement of the consolidated balance sheet and statement of operations as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019. In the future, we may identify additional material weaknesses. In addition, if our independent registered public accounting firm attests to, and reports on, the management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls, our independent registered public accounting firm may disagree with our management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls.

Neither Microvast nor its independent registered public accounting firm undertook a comprehensive assessment of our internal control for purposes of identifying and reporting material weakness and other control deficiencies in its internal control over financial reporting. Had Microvast performed a formal assessment of its internal control over financial reporting or had its independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of its internal control over financial reporting, additional deficiencies may have been identified.

Following the identification of the material weakness, we have taken measures and plans to continue to take measures to remediate these control deficiencies. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.” However, the implementation of these measures may not fully address the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and we cannot conclude that they have been fully remediated. Our failure to correct the material weakness or our failure to discover and address any other deficiencies could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis.

We are now a public company in the United States subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will require that we include a report from management on our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 10-K beginning with our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. In addition, once we cease to be an “emerging growth company” as such term is defined in the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting our own independent testing, may issue a report that is qualified if it is not satisfied with our internal control over financial reporting or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, now that we are a public company, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, we may identify other or more material weaknesses or deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. Generally speaking, if we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we

could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations and lead to a decline in the trading price of our stock. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our consolidated financial statements for prior periods.

Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult, and may increase the risk of your investment.

We have a limited operating history on which investors can evaluate our business, operating results and prospects. To date, we have derived our revenues principally from sales of our LpTO and LpCO battery systems, primarily for use in electric buses. Our LpTO battery system was first launched in 2009 and deployed into commercial operation the same year. Our revenues were $174.2 million, $76.4 million, $107.5 million and $48.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. In line with our Clean City Transit plan (the “CCT Plan”), we intend in the longer term to derive substantial revenues from the sales of our battery solutions to other business segments including electric taxis, electric passenger cars, commercial vehicles and others, but have limited operating history with respect to these markets, which limits our ability to accurately forecast the take-up of our battery packs by such manufacturers. Our component manufacturing plans will also be available to outside sales, and may not be adopted or may take longer to adopt than anticipated. Our efforts to expand beyond our existing markets may never result in new products that achieve market acceptance, create additional revenue or become profitable and if this occurs, our financial results will be harmed.

We have incurred losses in the operation of our business and anticipates that we will continue to incur losses in the future. We may never achieve or sustain profitability.

We incurred a net loss of approximately $33.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and an accumulated deficit of approximately $384.6 million from our inception in 2006 through the year ended December 31, 2020. We believe that we will continue to incur operating and net losses each quarter until at least the time we begin significant production of our higher energy cell products, which is not expected to occur until 2024, and may occur later.

We expect the rate at which we will incur losses to be significantly higher in future periods as we, among other things, continue to incur significant expenses in connection with the design, development and manufacturing of our batteries; as we expand our R&D activities; invest in manufacturing capabilities; build up inventories of components for our batteries; increase our sales and marketing activities; develop our distribution infrastructure; and increase our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations. We may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in revenues, which would further increase our losses.

We may be unable to meet our future capital requirements, which could limit our ability to grow and have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

The development, design, manufacture and sale of batteries is a capital-intensive business, which we currently finance through various types of financings. As a result of the capital-intensive nature of our business, we expect to sustain substantial operating expenses without generating sufficient revenues to cover expenditures for a number of years. Over time, we expect that we will need to raise additional funds, including through entry into joint venture arrangements, through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from financial institutions to fund, together with our principal sources of liquidity, ongoing costs such as R&D relating to our batteries, the construction of large factories, any significant unplanned or accelerated expenses, and new strategic investments. We cannot be certain that additional capital will be available on attractive terms, if at all, when needed, which could be dilutive to stockholders, and our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

The demand for batteries in the transportation and other markets depends on the attractiveness of fossil fuel alternatives. Extended periods of low oil prices could adversely affect demand for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

Lower oil prices over extended periods of time may lower the perception in government and the private sector that cheaper, more readily available energy alternatives should be developed and produced and governments may eliminate or modify regulations or economic incentives related to fuel efficiency and alternate forms of energy. If oil prices remain at deflated levels for extended periods of time, the demand for hybrid and electric vehicles may decrease and the demand for our batteries could be reduced, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, alternatives to gasoline such as compressed natural gas and biofuels could impact the demand for electric vehicles if the distribution and costs of these alternative fuels become more attractive through innovation. Biodiesel for trucks and specialty vehicles could become more commonplace, which would directly compete with our bus and specialty vehicle batteries, which may result in decreased demand for our product.

We may not be able to maintain our competitive position if we face intense competition from other battery manufacturers, many of which have significantly greater resources.

The market for batteries used in electric vehicles and light electric vehicles is intensely competitive and is characterized by frequent technological changes and evolving industry standards. We expect competition to become more intense. Increased competition may result in declines in average selling prices, causing a decrease in gross profit margins. We have faced and will continue to face competition from other manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries, as well as from companies engaged in the development of batteries incorporating new technologies. There are other competitors capable of manufacturing and delivering fast-charging battery systems that can charge as quickly as our LpTO and LpCO power battery solutions and we cannot assure you that they will not also enter the markets that we are currently in or intending to enter. For example, certain battery manufacturers offer lithium-based battery solutions that can be fully charged with similar amount of time as our battery solutions, but with much shorter life cycles compared to our solutions. Other major manufacturers of high-power lithium batteries currently include Panasonic, Samsung SDI, BYD Auto, Tianjin Lishen, Boston-Power, Wanxiang Group, Amperex Technology and LG Chem. In addition, we expect vehicle manufacturers will enter the markets for our products and become our competitors. Potential customers may choose to do business with established vehicle manufacturers, because of their perception that vehicle manufacturers are more stable, have greater manufacturing capacity and capability to adapt battery products to their vehicles.

Many of these competitors have greater financial, personnel, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and other resources than we do. As a result, these competitors may be in a stronger position to respond quickly to market opportunities, new or emerging technologies and evolving industry standards. Many of our competitors are developing a variety of battery technologies, such as lithium polymer, silicon anode and solid-state batteries, which are expected to compete with our existing product lines. Other companies undertaking R&D activities of solid-polymer lithium-ion batteries have developed prototypes and are constructing commercial scale manufacturing facilities. It is possible that our competitors will be able to introduce new products with more desirable features than ours and their new products will gain market acceptance. If our competitors successfully do so, we may not be able to maintain our competitive position and our future success would be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to anticipate customer preferences and successfully develop attractive products, we might not be able to maintain or increase our revenue and profitability.

Our success depends on our ability to identify and originate product trends as well as to anticipate and react to changing customer demands in a timely manner. If we are unable to introduce new products or novel technologies in a timely manner or our new products or technologies are not accepted by customers, our competitors may introduce more attractive products, which could hurt our competitive position. Our new products might not receive customer acceptance if customer preferences shift to other products, and our future success depends in part on our ability to anticipate and respond to these changes. Failure to anticipate and respond in a timely manner to changing customer preferences could lead to, among other things, lower revenue and excess inventory levels.

As we continually seek to enhance our products, we may incur additional costs to incorporate new or revised features. We might not be able to, or determine that it is not in our interests to, raise prices to compensate for these additional costs.

Developments in alternative technology may adversely affect the demand for our battery products.

Significant developments in alternative technologies, such as fuel cell technology, advanced diesel, ethanol or natural gas, or breathing batteries, may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results in ways that we may not currently anticipate. Existing and other battery technologies, fuels or sources of energy may emerge as customers’ preferred alternatives to our battery products. Any failure by us to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay our development and introduction of new and enhanced alternative products, which could result in decreased revenue and a loss of market share to our competitors.

Our R&D efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in alternative fuel and electric vehicle technology. As technologies evolve, we plan to upgrade or adapt our energy solutions with the latest technology, in particular lighter weight modules and packs, advanced cooling methods, and advanced battery chemistry, which may also negatively impact the adoption of our other products. However, we may not compete effectively with alternative systems if we are not able to source and integrate the latest technology into our battery products.

We mainly manufacture and market lithium-based battery systems. If a viable substitute product or chemistry to lithium-based battery systems emerges and gains market acceptance, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, our failure to keep up with rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards within the lithium-based battery market may cause our products to become obsolete and less marketable, resulting in loss of market share to our competitors.

We mainly manufacture and market lithium-based battery systems. As we believe that the market for lithium-based batteries has good growth potential, we have focused our R&D activities on exploring new lithium chemistries and formulas to enhance our product quality and features while reducing cost. Some of our competitors are conducting R&D on alternative battery technologies, such as fuel cells and super capacitors, and academic studies are ongoing as to the viability of sulphur and aluminum-based battery technologies. If any viable substitute products emerge and gain market acceptance because they have more enhanced features, more power, more attractive pricing, or better reliability, the market demand for our products may decrease, and accordingly our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

Furthermore, the lithium-based battery market is characterized by rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards, which are difficult to predict. This, coupled with the frequent introduction of new products and models, has shortened product life cycles and may render our products obsolete or less marketable. For example, research on the electrochemical applications of carbon nanotechnology and other storage technologies is developing at a rapid pace, and many private and public companies and research institutions are actively engaged in the development of new battery technologies based on carbon nanotubes, nanostructured carbon materials and other non-carbon materials. If we fail to adopt these new technologies, such technologies may, if successfully developed by our competitors, offer significant performance or price advantages compared with our technologies and our technology leadership and competitive strengths may be adversely affected.

Our ability to adapt to evolving industry standards and anticipate future standards will be a significant factor in maintaining and improving our competitive position and our prospects for growth. To achieve this goal, we have invested and plan to continue investing significant financial resources in our R&D infrastructure. R&D activities, however, are inherently uncertain, and we might encounter practical difficulties in commercializing our research results. Accordingly, our significant investment in our R&D infrastructure may not lead to marketable products. On the other hand, our competitors may improve their technologies or even achieve technological breakthroughs either as alternatives to lithium-based battery systems or improvements on existing lithium-based battery systems that would render our products obsolete or less marketable. Therefore, our failure to effectively keep up with rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards by introducing new and enhanced products may cause us to lose our market share and to suffer a decrease in our revenue.

We may be subject to declining average selling prices, which may harm our revenue and gross profits.

We have experienced declines in the average selling prices of our battery systems, which decreased by 6.8% from $349.9 per kWh in 2018 to $326.2 per kWh in 2019, increased by 8.9% to $355.3 per kWh in 2020, and decreased by 16.7% to $296.0 per kWh in the six months ended June 30, 2021. As production of electric power battery systems scales up and technology continues to improve, we expect the average selling prices of our power battery systems to decline over time. As a result, manufacturers of these electric products expect us to cut our costs and lower the price of our products. We may have to reduce the price of our products in order to meet market demand due to market-driven downward pricing pressures in the future. Our revenue and profitability will suffer if we are unable to offset any declines in our average selling prices by developing new or enhanced products with higher selling prices or gross profit margins, increasing our sales volumes or reducing our manufacturing costs on a timely basis.

The battery efficiency of electric vehicles declines over time, which may negatively influence potential customers’ decisions whether to purchase an electric vehicle.

Over time vehicles using our battery systems will see performance decline as the battery decays, particularly in the driving range. If this turns off potential customers of electric vehicles built using our battery system, it could negatively impact our sales.

Our future depends on the needs and success of our customers, as well as the demand for our customers’ products or services.

The demand for our battery products will ultimately depend on our end-market users. Decisions to purchase our battery packs and modules may depend on the performance of the industries of our customers and if demand for output in those industries decreases, then the demand for our products may decrease as well. Demand in these industries is impacted by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, commodity prices, infrastructure spending, consumer spending, customer fleet replacement schedules, travel restrictions, fuel costs, energy demands, municipal spending and government mandates and incentives. Increases or decreases in these variables may significantly impact the demand for our products. If we are unable to predict demand accurately, we may be unable to meet our customers’ needs, resulting in the loss of potential sales, or we may produce excess products, resulting in increased inventories and overcapacity in our production facilities, increasing our unit production cost and decreasing our operating margins.

Further, our customers’ inability to market and sell their products or services successfully, whether from lack of market acceptance or otherwise, could materially and adversely affect our business and prospects because such customers may not order new or additional products from us. If we cannot achieve the expected level of sales, we will not be able to make sufficient profits to offset the expenditures we have incurred to expand our production capacity, nor will we be able to grow our business. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future success would be materially and adversely affected.

Our products might fail to qualify as “domestic origin” for purposes of “Buy America” requirements imposed on the recipients of U.S. Government grants.

Some of our customers may be recipients of grants subject to regulations implemented by the U.S. Federal Transit Authority for purchases of rolling stock, including “Buy America” requirements codified at 49 C.F.R. Part 661. In some cases, our customers must ensure that our products, when incorporated into rolling stock subject to “Buy America” requirements, qualify as “domestic origin” components or subcomponents. All of our products are manufactured using parts or components that are imported from other countries. If our products manufactured from imported parts or components fail to meet the regulatory thresholds to qualify as “domestic origin” under the applicable regulations, we might be disqualified or otherwise precluded from supplying those products to customers that are subject to applicable “Buy America” requirements, or we might be liable to those customers for having failed to comply with certifications or representations that are products are “domestic origin,” each of which would likely adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may incur significant costs because of the warranties we supply with our products and services.

With respect to our battery products, we typically offer warranties against any defects due to product malfunction or workmanship for a period of five years from the date of purchase with the option to purchase additional warranty up to a maximum of 8 years. We provide a reserve for these potential warranty expenses, which is based on an analysis of historical warranty issues. There is no assurance that future warranty claims will be consistent with past history, and in the event we experience a significant increase in warranty claims, there is no assurance that our reserves will be sufficient. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we cannot continue to develop and commercialize new products in a timely manner, and at favorable margins, we may not be able to compete effectively. Even if we are able to develop new products, a change in our product, customer or geographic mix may cause our results of operations to differ substantially from our anticipated results in any particular period.

The battery industry has seen a fast pace of innovation in product life, product design and technology application. We and our competitors have made, and continue to make, investments in R&D with the goal for further innovation. The successful development and introduction of new products face the uncertainty of customer acceptance and reaction from competitors, which could materially affect the sales of our existing products. In addition, our ability to develop new products and to sustain existing products is affected by whether we can:

•        develop and fund research and technological innovations;

•        receive and maintain necessary protections for our proprietary intellectual property rights;

•        obtain necessary governmental approvals and registrations;

•        comply with relevant governmental regulations; and

•        anticipate customer needs and preferences successfully.

The failure to develop and launch new products successfully could hinder the growth of our business and any delay in the development or launch of a new product could also compromise our competitive position. If competitors introduce new or enhanced products that significantly outperform ours, or if they develop or apply manufacturing technology which permits them to manufacture at a significantly lower cost relative to ours, we may be unable to compete successfully in the market segments affected by these changes.

Even if we are able to develop new products, our manufacturing capability may not be equipped to engage in high volume manufacturing of such new products and our ability to commercialize these new products may be hindered. We may be required to invest in upgrades or modifications to our existing manufacturing processes and our technical personnel may be required to expend significant time and resources in order to enable our existing manufacturing lines to produce our new products. Any such requirement to make such upgrades or modifications may be costly and affect our ability to commercialize any new products, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Even if we are able to develop and commercialize new products, our overall profitability may not meet expectations if our products, customers or geographic mix are substantially different than anticipated. We also may not effectively transition our components design and technology to achieve acceptable manufacturing yields using the technologies necessary to satisfy our customers’ product needs, or we may encounter quality problems with the battery systems we manufacture. If we are unable to timely and cost-effectively develop components with leading technology and overall quality, our ability to sell our battery systems may be significantly diminished, which could materially and adversely affect our business and financial results.

In addition, as a result of our vertical integration of components manufacturing, we make more capital investments and carry a higher percentage of fixed costs than we would if we were not vertically integrated. If our overall level of manufacturing decreases for any reason, and we are unable to reduce our fixed costs to match sales, our components manufacturing assets may face under-utilization that may impact our operating results. We are therefore subject to additional risks related to overall asset utilization, including the need to operate at high levels of utilization to drive competitive costs and the need for assured supply of components that we do not manufacture

ourselves. In addition, as a result of adverse labor rates or availability, we may be required to increase investments in automation, which may cause our capital expenditures to increase. If we do not adequately address the challenges related to our components manufacturing operations, our ongoing operations could be disrupted, resulting in a decrease in our revenue or profit margins and negatively impacting our operating results.

We may experience significant delays in the design, production and launch of our new products, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our R&D team is continually looking to improve our battery systems. Any delay in the financing, design, production and launch of our new products could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. There are often delays in the design, production and commercial release of new products, and to the extent we delay the launch of the items identified above, our growth prospects could be adversely affected as we may fail to grow our market share, to keep up with competing products or to satisfy customers’ demands or needs.

We may not be able to substantially increase our manufacturing output in order to fulfill orders from our customers.

We expect to expand our battery manufacturing capacity to meet the expected demand for our products. This expansion will impose significant added responsibilities on our senior management and our resources, including financial resources and the need to identify, recruit, maintain, and integrate additional employees. Our proposed expansion will also expose us to greater overhead and support costs and other risks associated with the manufacture and commercialization of new products. Difficulties in effectively managing the budgeting, forecasting and other process control issues presented by such expansion could harm our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we succeed in expanding our manufacturing capacity, we may not have enough demand for our products to justify the increased capacity. If there is persistent mismatch in the demand for our products and our manufacturing capacity, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We expect to use some of the proceeds from the Business Combination to expand our manufacturing facilities to increase our manufacturing output to meet increased demand for our products. However, our ability to substantially increase our manufacturing output is subject to significant constraints and uncertainties, including:

•        delays by our suppliers and equipment vendors and cost overruns as a result of a number of factors, many of which may be beyond our control, such as increases in raw material prices and problems with equipment vendors;

•        delays in government approval process or denial of required approvals by relevant government authorities;

•        diversion of significant management attention and other resources; and

•        failure to execute our expansion plan effectively.

If we are unable to increase our manufacturing output because of any of the risks described above, we may be unable to fulfill customer orders or achieve the growth we expect. Under our supply agreements with our customers, we would typically be liable to pay a charge of between 0.001% and 0.5% of the total contract price per day for our delay in delivering products, as well as any resulting costs and expenses incurred by the customers. In addition, if we are unable to fulfill customer orders, our reputation could be affected, and our customers could source battery systems from other companies. The combination of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to cost-effectively manufacture our batteries in quantities which satisfy our customers’ demand and product specifications and their expectations for product quality and reliable delivery could damage our customer relationships and result in significant lost business opportunities for us.

We manufacture our products rather than relying upon third-party outsourcing. To be successful, we must cost-effectively manufacture commercial quantities of our complex batteries that meet our customer specifications for quality and timely delivery. To facilitate the commercialization of our products, we will need to further reduce our manufacturing costs, which we intend to do by improving our manufacturing and development operations.

Historically we have manufactured our product in the PRC, but intend to perform more manufacturing in Europe and North America in the future. We depend on the performance of our manufacturing operations to manufacture and deliver our products to our customers. If we are unable to manufacture products in commercial quantities on a timely and cost-effective basis, we could lose our customers and be unable to attract future customers.

We may not be able to accurately plan our manufacturing based on our sales contracts, which may result in excess product inventory or product shortages.

We typically have a short delivery window to deliver goods to our customers once an order has been placed. To meet short delivery deadlines, we generally decide on our manufacturing level and timing, procurement, facility requirements, personnel needs, and other resources requirements based on an estimate taking into account forecasted demand, our past dealings with such customers, market conditions and other relevant factors. Our customers’ final purchase orders may not be consistent with our estimates. If the final purchase orders substantially differ from our estimates, we may have excess product inventory or product shortages. Excess product inventory could result in unprofitable sales or write-offs as our products are susceptible to obsolescence and price declines. Producing additional products to make up for any product shortages within a short time frame may be difficult, making us unable to fulfill the purchase orders. In either case, our results of operation maybe adversely affected.

We rely on complex machinery for our operations and production involves a degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of operational performance and costs.

Both our pilot manufacturing facilities and our large-scale manufacturing facility require large-scale machinery. Such machinery suffers unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will require repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. Unexpected malfunctions of our production equipment may significantly affect the intended operational efficiency. While the manufacturing equipment field is maturing there are still significant changes and improvements occurring with respect to manufacturing devices. Such changes pose a risk that our manufacturing line will become outdated faster than anticipated. Expenses to upgrade equipment to more cutting-edge designs may be necessary, raising costs.

New component materials developed through our vertically integrated manufacturing process may require new, advanced equipment to produce. During the scale-up of new components it may be difficult to predict a number of cost and risk factors including material yields, operation times, environmental hazards, utility needs, optimal equipment design, and necessary maintenance cycles which could add time and cost risks. Once scaled, the process may be found economically unfeasible.

Operational problems with our manufacturing equipment could result in the personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment, damage to manufacturing facilities, monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production. In addition, operational problems may result in environmental damage, administrative fines, increased insurance costs and potential legal liabilities. All of these operational problems could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition or prospects.

Our battery packs rely on software and hardware that are highly technical, and if these systems contain errors, bugs or vulnerabilities, or if we are unsuccessful in addressing or mitigating technical limitations in our systems, our business could be adversely affected.

Our products rely on software and hardware, including software and hardware developed or maintained internally or by third parties, that are highly technical and complex and will require modification and updates over the life of a battery pack. In addition, certain of our products depend on the ability of such software and hardware to store, retrieve, process and manage immense amounts of data. Our software and hardware may contain errors, bugs or vulnerabilities, and our systems are subject to certain technical limitations that may compromise our ability to meet the objectives. Some errors, bugs or vulnerabilities inherently may be difficult to detect and may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, design defects or technical limitations may be found within our software and hardware. Although we attempt to remedy any issues that we observe in our products as effectively and rapidly as possible, such efforts may not be timely, may hamper production, or may not be to the satisfaction of our customers. If we are unable to prevent or effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects in our software and hardware, we may suffer damage to our brand, loss of customers, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.

We rely on third parties to manufacture chargers and charging poles and to build charging stations that are necessary for using our products. Our ability to market our products depends on the establishment of charging station networks that meet the needs of our products. If any of the charging station networks are not compatible with our products and technologies, our sales could be adversely affected. The lack of a network or a compatible network could affect the implementation of our strategy and adversely affect our business and our operating results.

We design, develop and manufacture electric power battery systems for electric vehicles. However, we do not manufacture chargers or charging poles that are necessary for using our products. In addition, we rely on third parties, such as city governments, utility providers and private investors, to build charging stations. A key part of our CCT Plan that aims to introduce our battery systems to electric buses, then to taxis and finally to passenger cars is premised on establishing compatible charging station networks in urban areas that accommodate our technologies and products. If no charging station network is built in markets in which we target our products, there would be little demand for electric battery products in that area. Even if such a network were built, it might not be compatible with our products, in which case the demand for our technologies and products in those markets would be limited, which could affect the implementation of our strategy and our business and our operating results may be adversely affected.

Further, existing charging station networks have not been established under a uniform standard and could diminish our sales if any of the networks are not compatible with our products and technologies. In particular, our products and technologies require charging stations that can provide high voltages compared to existing charging stations for ultra-fast charging to function. In order for our fast-charging battery systems to become widely adopted in electric buses, electric taxis and electric passenger cars, a critical mass of compatible fast-charging stations must be installed and in operation in any given urban area that we plan to enter. Establishing a network of fast-charging stations requires significant capital investment and government approvals. It also requires government regulators to believe that the merits of fast-charging stations support the costs of such construction. If a sufficient number of charging stations that accommodate our products and technologies cannot be built up and be functional in a timely manner, it will be difficult for us to retain our existing customers and to attract new customers. As a result, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

The ultra-fast charging infrastructure created for electric city buses are presumed to be compatible with electric taxis and electric passenger vehicles installed with our battery systems, which ensure that the voltage system, connector and control communications are compatible with the taxi or passenger vehicle battery system. As we do not produce or own the charging stations, there can be no assurance that they would be made available to or continue to be compatible with taxis and passenger vehicles that are installed with our batteries. If the charging stations are not made available or are no longer compatible, the implementation of our strategy and our business and our operating results may be adversely affected.

If emerging standards in charging station networks are not compatible with our current products or in-development products and technologies, we may miss market opportunities and our financial performance will suffer. If other companies’ products and services, including industry-standard technologies or other new standards, emerge or become dominant in any of these areas, or differing standards emerge in global markets, demand for our technology and products could diminish. As standards emerge, such as those in the PRC which include specifications for hardware, connecting equipment and service networks and standards for communication and inspection, compatibility of prior fast charging stations envisioned in our CCT Plan could be made obsolete.

We also incorporate materials manufactured by third parties into our products. If there are quality issues with respect to these third-party components included in our battery systems, we may not discover the issue until after our products have been shipped and installed. In addition, we may have little or no recourse against these third-party suppliers arising out of warranty claims made by our customers. We have determined that certain “tabs” manufactured by a third-party and included in a batch of our batteries were defective and have, as a result of claims made by our customers, incurred warranty claims to date of approximately $5 million to cover this issue.

We currently purchase certain key raw materials and components from third parties, some of which we only source from one supplier or from a limited number of suppliers.

We currently purchase certain key raw materials for our electrodes and a variety of other components from third parties, some of which we only source from one supplier or from a limited number of suppliers. We do not have any long-term contracts with suppliers of raw materials and components, and our current suppliers may be unable to

satisfy our future requirements on a timely basis. Moreover, the price of purchased raw materials, components and assembled batteries could fluctuate significantly due to circumstances beyond our control. If our current suppliers are unable to satisfy our long-term requirements on a timely basis, we may be required to seek alternative sources for necessary materials and components, produce the raw materials or components in-house or redesign our proposed products to accommodate available substitutes or at reasonable cost. However, given our current state of business, we may not be able to enter into the required manufacturing supply agreements with the battery manufacturers and component suppliers. If we fail to secure a sufficient supply of key raw materials and components and we are unable to produce them in-house in a timely fashion, it would result in a significant delay in our manufacturing and shipments, which may cause us to breach our sales contracts with our customers. Furthermore, failure to obtain sufficient supply of these raw materials and components or produce them in-house at a reasonable cost could also harm our revenue and gross profit margins.

If we are unable to integrate our products into vehicles manufactured by our OEM customers, our results of operations could be impaired.

We cooperate with our OEM customers to integrate the design of our LpTO, LpCO, MpCO and HnCO products, and any future products, into commercial and specialty electric vehicles, such as electric buses, electric cars and electric taxis. Our battery systems are composed of modules assembled from battery cells that we manufacture. OEMs often require unique configurations or custom designs for battery systems. We tailor the design of our battery systems to the electric vehicles manufactured by our OEM customers. This development process requires not only substantial lead time between the commencement of design efforts for customized battery systems and the commencement of volume shipments of the battery products to the customer, but also the cooperation and assistance of the OEMs in order to determine the requirements for each specific application. Technical problems may arise that affect the acceptance of our product by the OEMs. If we are unable to design and develop products that meet the OEMs’ requirements, we may lose opportunities to obtain purchase orders, and our reputation may be damaged. In addition, we may not receive adequate assistance from OEMs to successfully commercialize our products, which could impair our results of operations.

To the extent we enter into strategic relationships, we will be dependent upon our partners.

Some of our products are not intended for direct sale to end users and our business may require us to enter into strategic relationships with manufacturers of other power industry equipment that use batteries and other energy storage devices as important components of their finished products. The agreements governing any future strategic relationships may not provide us with control over the strategic relationship activities and our future partners, if any, could retain the right to terminate the strategic relationship at their option. Our future partners will have significant discretion in determining the efforts and level of resources that they dedicate to our products and may be unwilling or unable to fulfill their obligations to us. In addition, our future partners may develop and commercialize, either alone or with others, products that are similar to or competitive with the products that we intend to produce.

Any failure to offer high-quality technical support services may adversely affect our relationships with our customers and harm our financial results.

Our customers depend on our support organization to resolve any technical issues relating to our products. In addition, our sales process is highly dependent on the quality of our products, our business reputation and on strong recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality and highly-responsive technical support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality and highly-responsive support, could harm our reputation, adversely affect our ability to sell our products to existing and prospective customers, and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

We offer technical support services with our products and may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in demand for support services, particularly as we increase the size of our customer base. We also may be unable to modify the format of our support services to compete with changes in support services provided by competitors. It is difficult to predict demand for technical support services and if demand increases significantly, we may be unable to provide satisfactory support services to our customers. Additionally, increased demand for these services, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our results of operations.

Under certain circumstances, our customers can cancel or terminate their contracts.

We have ongoing arrangements with our customers and target customers. Some of these arrangements are evidenced by non-binding letters of intent and memoranda of understanding, early stage agreements that are used for design and development purposes but will require renegotiation at later stages of development or production or master agreements that have yet to be implemented under separately negotiated statements of work, each of which could be terminated or may not materialize into next-stage contracts or long-term contract partnership arrangements. If these arrangements are terminated or if we are unable to enter into next-stage contracts or long-term operational contracts, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected.

Our lengthy and variable sales cycle makes it difficult for us to accurately forecast our revenue and other operating results. As a result, we expect our results of operation to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis, which could cause our stock price to fluctuate or decline.

The sales cycle for our products is lengthy, beginning from initial contact with a prospective customer to routine commercial utilization of our products, which makes it difficult for us to accurately forecast our revenue in a given period, and may cause our revenue and operating results to vary significantly from period to period. Some potential customers of our products typically need to commit significant time and resources in evaluating the technology used in our products and their decision to purchase our products may be further limited by budgetary constraints, lack of funding and numerous rounds of internal review and approval, which are beyond our control. We spend substantial time and effort assisting potential customers in evaluating our products, including providing demonstrations and validation. Even after initial approval by appropriate decision makers, the negotiation and documentation processes for the actual adoption of our products can be lengthy. As a result of these factors, based on our experience to date, our sales cycle has varied and can sometimes be four years or longer. In addition, the revenue generated from sales of our products may fluctuate from time to time due to market and general economic conditions. As a result, our financial results may fluctuate on a quarterly basis which may adversely affect the price of our stock.

We experience fluctuations in quarterly and annual operating results.

Our quarterly and annual operating results have fluctuated in the past and likely will fluctuate in the future. The demand for our products is driven largely by the demand for the end-product applications that are powered by our products. Accordingly, the battery industry is affected by market conditions that are often outside our control. Our results of operations may fluctuate significantly from period to period due to a number of factors, including general economic, industry and market conditions, capacity ramp up by competitors, industrywide technological changes, the loss of a key customer and the postponement, rescheduling or cancellation of large orders by a key customer. As a result of these factors and other risks discussed in this section, year-over-year comparisons should not be relied upon to predict our future performance.

Our working capital requirements involve estimates based on demand expectations and may decrease or increase beyond those currently anticipated, which could adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.

In order to fulfill the product delivery requirements of our customers, we plan for working capital needs in advance of customer orders. As a result, we base our funding and inventory decisions on estimates of future demand. If demand for our products does not increase as quickly as we have estimated or drops off sharply, our inventory and expenses could rise, and our business and operating results could suffer. Alternatively, if we experience sales in excess of our estimates, our working capital needs may be higher than those currently anticipated. Our ability to meet this excess customer demand depends on our ability to arrange for additional financing for any ongoing working capital shortages, since it is likely that cash flow from sales will lag behind these investment requirements.

Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our senior executives and other key personnel, and our business may be severely disrupted if we lost their services.

Our future success heavily depends on the continued service of our senior executives and other key employees. In particular, we rely on the expertise and experience of our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President, Mr. Yang Wu, our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Yanzhuan Zheng, and our Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Wenjuan Mattis. If one or more of our other senior executives are unable or unwilling to continue to work for us in their

present positions, we may encounter similar problems, but on a compounded basis. Moreover, if any of our current or former senior executives joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose customers, suppliers, know-how and key personnel. Each of our executive officers has entered into an employment agreement with us, which contains non-competition and confidentiality clauses. However, if any dispute arises between our current or former executive officers and us, it is hard to predict the extent to which any of these agreements could be enforced in different countries.

The success of our business depends on our ability to attract, train and retain highly skilled employees and key personnel.

Because of the highly specialized, technical nature of our business, we must attract, train and retain a sizable workforce comprising highly skilled employees and other key personnel. Since our industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talent, we may have to pay higher salaries and wages and provide greater benefits in order to attract and retain highly skilled employees or other key personnel that we will need to achieve our strategic objectives. As we are still a relatively young company and our business has grown rapidly, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may not meet the requirements of our growing business. Our failure to attract, train or retain highly skilled employees and other key personnel in numbers that are sufficient to satisfy our needs would materially and adversely affect our business. Staff that we are unable to retain also pose a risk, since they can inform competitors of our know-how and may lessen the technological advantages over our competitors that we have developed.

Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.

Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could significantly increase the amount of time they devote to these activities that result in less time being devoted to our management and growth. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the United States. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the United States may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company which will increase our operating costs in future periods.

We may acquire or invest in other companies or technologies, which could divert our management’s attention, result in dilution to our stockholders and otherwise disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business.

We may selectively acquire or invest in other companies or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our platform, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. However, acquisitions are complex, costly and time-consuming processes and involve numerous risks. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated. Acquisitions also could result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to integrate the acquired personnel, operations and technologies successfully or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition. We also may not achieve the anticipated benefits from the acquired business due to a number of factors, including:

•        inability or difficulty integrating and benefiting from acquired technologies, services or clients in a profitable manner;

•        unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with the acquisition;

•        difficulty integrating the accounting systems, operations and personnel of the acquired business;

•        adverse effects to our existing business relationships with business partners and clients as a result of the acquisition;

•        assuming potential liabilities of an acquired company;

•        possibility of overpaying for acquisitions, particularly those with significant intangibles and those assets that derive value using novel tools or are involved in niche markets;

•        difficulty in acquiring suitable businesses, including challenges in predicting the value an acquisition will ultimately contribute to our business;

•        the potential loss of key employees of the acquired business; and

•        use of substantial portions of our available cash to consummate the acquisition.

Any of the above difficulties could adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with clients, partners, suppliers and associates or our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, or could reduce our earnings or otherwise adversely affect our business and financial results.

In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we acquire may be allocated to acquired goodwill and other intangible assets, which must be assessed for impairment at least annually. In the future, if our acquisitions do not yield expected returns, we may be required to take charges to our operating results based on this impairment assessment process, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We have expanded our presence in markets other than our main manufacturing site in PRC and may continue to do so, including acquiring foreign companies or otherwise, which could expose us to business risks not encountered in the PRC, including risks associated with the marketing, distribution and sale of our products internationally, that could limit the effectiveness of our growth strategy and cause our operating results to suffer.

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and the six month ended June 30, 2021, we derived 16.1%, 35.4%, 38.5% and 33.2%, respectively, of our sales from outside the PRC. We currently have one wholly owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom and have made sales to the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and Turkey. As a result, we are subject to the legal, political, regulatory and social requirements and economic conditions in these jurisdictions. We may in the future seek to expand our presence in markets other than the PRC, including making acquisitions that help us access new markets. Operating in new markets requires significant resources and management’s attention. Furthermore, expansion into new markets requires us to make significant expenditures, including the establishment of local operating entities, hiring of local employees and establishing facilities in advance of generating any revenue. Any efforts to expand into new markets might not be successful in creating demand for our products outside of the PRC or in effectively selling our products in the markets we enter. In addition, conducting operations in new markets, including the marketing, distribution and sale of our products, subjects us to new or unfavorable regulatory, economic and political risks that we have not generally faced in the PRC market. These risks include:

•        localization of the marketing and deployment of our products;

•        lack of familiarity with, and burdens of, complying with foreign laws, legal and commercial standards, regulatory requirements, export requirements, tariffs and other barriers, including laws related to employment or labor;

•        conforming our products to various international regulatory and safety requirements where our products are sold, or homologation;

•        difficulty in establishing, staffing and managing foreign operations;

•        difficulties attracting customers in new jurisdictions;

•        difficulty in engaging and retaining distributors that are knowledgeable about, and can function effectively, in overseas markets;

•        management, communication and integration problems resulting from cultural or language differences and geographic dispersion;

•        different pricing environments, longer sales cycles and longer accounts receivable payment cycles and collections issues;

•        increased costs associated with maintaining marketing efforts in various countries;

•        new and different sources of competition;

•        increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;

•        diversion of our management’s attention and resources to explore, negotiate, or close acquisitions and to integrate, staff and manage geographically remote operations and employees;

•        sufficiency of qualified labor pools in various international markets;

•        foreign government taxes, regulations and permit requirements, including foreign taxes that we may not be able to offset against taxes imposed upon us in the United States, and foreign tax and other laws limiting our ability to repatriate funds to the United States;

•        changes in global currency systems or fluctuations in exchange rates that may increase the volatility of or adversely affect our foreign-based revenue;

•        our ability to enforce our contractual rights;

•        compliance with the anti-corruption laws, economic sanction laws and regulations, export controls and other laws and regulations regarding international business operations;

•        foreign government trade restrictions, customs regulations, tariffs and price or exchange controls;

•        preferences of foreign nations for domestically produced products;

•        uncertain political and economic climates; and

•        inability to obtain, maintain or enforce intellectual property rights in some countries.

These factors may cause our costs of doing business in markets other than the PRC to exceed our comparable costs incurred in the PRC market. Any negative impact from our business efforts in new markets could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition as a whole.

Additionally, as we have expanded into new markets, we have faced challenges with ensuring that our charging equipment works successfully with the charging infrastructure in such markets, including United Kingdom and Germany. If customers experience problems with the way our charging equipment works with the local charging infrastructure, or we are unable to adapt our equipment to resolve such problems, then the viability and acceptance of our vehicles in such markets could be materially and adversely affected. If we fail to successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially harmed.

Our planned expansion into new applications and markets poses additional risks which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

To date we have focused our business on the sale of our LpTO and LpCO battery systems, primarily for use in electric buses. However, we intend to expand into new applications and expand our customer demographic in order to further grow our business. The lithium-based battery market is highly competitive and there can be no assurance that use of our products for these new applications will gain market acceptance.

In addition, we are expanding our sales in the United States and Europe and are seeking to further expand our presence in Asia as our businesses in those regions continues to grow. However, these markets are less tested for our products and we face risks in expanding the business to these markets, which include differences in regulatory requirements for product testing, intellectual property protection (including patents and trademarks), tax incentive policy, legal systems and rules, marketing costs, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and changes in political and economic conditions. If we cannot successfully expand into these markets as we planned, our strategic goal will be impacted and our prospects will be materially and adversely affected.

We may require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.

We intend to continue to make investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our products, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Our capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

•        technological advancements;

•        market acceptance of our products and product enhancements, and the overall level of sales of our products;

•        R&D expenses;

•        our relationships with our customers and suppliers;

•        our ability to control costs;

•        sales and marketing expenses;

•        enhancements to our infrastructure and systems and any capital improvements to our facilities;

•        our ability to maintain existing manufacturing equipment;

•        potential acquisitions of businesses and product lines; and

•        general economic conditions, including the effects of international conflicts and their impact on the automotive industry in particular.

Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be adversely affected.

We may be subject to financial and reputational risks due to product recalls and product liability claims, and we could face substantial liabilities which exceed our resources.

Lithium-based battery systems for use in electric vehicles are inherently complex and subject to failure, accidents or other malfunctions. Accordingly, we may be exposed to product recalls and product liability claims. The risk of product recalls and product liability claims, and associated adverse publicity, is inherent in the development, manufacturing and sale of our products. Our products and the products of third parties in which our products are a component are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complicated as advancements in technologies occur, and as demand increases for lighter and more powerful rechargeable batteries. At the same time, product quality and liability issues present significant risks. Product quality and liability issues may affect not only our own products but also the third-party products in which our battery products are a component. Our efforts and the efforts of our development partners to maintain product quality may not be successful, which may result in us incurring expenses in connection with, for example, product recalls and product liability claims, and adversely impact our brand image and reputation as a producer of high-quality products. Any product recall or product liability claims seeking significant monetary damages could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. A product recall or product liability claim could generate substantial negative publicity about our products and business, interfere with our manufacturing plans and product delivery obligations as we seek to replace, or repair affected products, and inhibit or prevent commercialization of other future product candidates.

Our operations expose us to litigation, environmental and other legal compliance risks.

We are subject to a variety of litigation, environmental, health and safety and other legal compliance risks. These risks include, among other things, possible liability relating to product liability matters, personal injuries, intellectual property rights, contract-related claims, government contracts, health and safety liabilities, environmental matters and compliance with U.S. and foreign laws, competition laws and laws governing improper business practices. We or one of our business units could be charged with wrongdoing as a result of such matters. If convicted or found liable, we could be subject to significant fines, penalties, repayments or other damages (in certain cases, treble damages). As a business with international reach, we are subject to complex laws and regulations in jurisdictions in which we operate, including the United States, the PRC, European Union and the United Kingdom. Those laws and regulations may be interpreted in different ways. They may also change from time to time, as may related interpretations and other guidance. Changes in laws or regulations could result in higher expenses and payments, and uncertainty relating to laws or regulations may also affect how we conduct our operations and structures our investments and could limit our ability to enforce our rights. See the section titled “Business — Legal Proceedings.”

Changes in environmental and climate laws or regulations, including laws relating to greenhouse gas emissions, could lead to new or additional investment in manufacturing designs, subject us to additional costs and restrictions, including increased energy and raw materials costs, and could increase environmental compliance expenditures.

We may fail to comply with certain health and production safety laws and regulations governing hazardous materials.

In the sourcing of our products throughout the world, we process, store, dispose of and otherwise use large amounts of hazardous materials. As a result, we are subject to extensive and evolving health and production safety laws and regulations governing, among other things: the health of our employees and safety production requirements regarding the generation, handling, storage, use and transportation of hazardous materials. Compliance with these laws and regulations results in ongoing costs. Failure to comply with these laws or regulations, or to obtain or comply with the relevant permits, could result in fines, criminal charges or other sanctions by regulators. Furthermore, we may be ordered to rectify a noncompliance within a stipulated deadline; and if we fail to do so, we may be ordered to cease operations. From time to time we have had instances of alleged or actual noncompliance that may result in the imposition of fines, penalties and required corrective actions. For instance, we are required under PRC law to design and build occupational disease prevention facilities concurrently with the construction of our manufacturing facilities, where hazardous elements which adversely affect the health of our employees are generated or used. Our ongoing compliance with health and safety laws, regulations and permits could require us to incur significant expenses, limit our ability to modify or expand our facilities or continue manufacturing and make other capital improvements. In addition, private parties, including current or former employees, could bring personal injury or other claims against us due to the presence of, or exposure to, hazardous substances used, stored or disposed of by us or contained in our products.

As components of electric vehicles, our products as installed in the products of our customers are subject to motor vehicle standards and the failure of the vehicles to satisfy such mandated safety standards could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products, our business and our operating results.

Our products are used as components in electric vehicles. All vehicles sold must comply with applicable international, federal, and state motor vehicle safety standards, which vary by national and other jurisdictions. In the United States, vehicles that meet or exceed all federally mandated safety standards are certified under federal regulations. Rigorous testing and the use of approved materials and equipment are among the requirements for achieving federal certification. Failure by our vehicle manufacturing customers to satisfy motor vehicle standards could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Moreover, we may incur our own significant costs in complying with these regulations. Regulations related to the electric vehicle industry and alternative energy are currently evolving and we face risks associated with changes to these regulations.

To the extent the laws become more stringent or otherwise change, our components or the vehicles into which they are incorporated may not comply with applicable international, federal, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected.

Internationally, there may be laws in jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws of which we are unaware in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our sales or other business practices. Even for those jurisdictions we have analyzed, the laws in this area can be complex, difficult to interpret and may change over time. Continued regulatory limitations and other obstacles interfering with our business or our customer’s ability to sell products could have a negative and material impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Compliance with environmental regulations can be expensive, and our failure to comply with these regulations may result in monetary damages and fines, adverse publicity and a material adverse effect on our business.

As a manufacturer, we are subject to various environmental laws and regulations on air emission, waste water discharge, solid waste, noise and the disposal of hazardous materials. Cobalt and lithium are toxic materials that are important raw materials in our batteries. We also use, generate and discharge other toxic, volatile and hazardous chemicals and wastes in our research, development and manufacturing activities. At our primary manufacturing site, under the PRC environmental regulations, we are required to maintain the pollutant emission levels at each of our facilities within the levels prescribed by the relevant governmental authorities and obtain a pollution discharge permit for our water and air emissions. We are also required to design and build environmental treatment facilities concurrently with the construction of our manufacturing facilities, where waste air, waste water and waste solids we generate can be treated in accordance with the relevant requirements. In addition, certain laws and regulations require enterprises like us that generate hazardous wastes, to engage companies which are licensed and qualified to process the hazardous wastes, and to collect, store, dispose of and transfer the hazardous waste. If we fail to comply with national and local environmental protection laws and regulations, the relevant governmental authorities may impose fines or deadlines to cure instances of noncompliance, and may even order us to cease operations if we fail to comply with their requirements. In particular, any breach by us in connection with requirements relating to the handling of hazardous wastes may subject us to monetary damages and fines. In addition, if any third party suffers any loss as a result of our pollutant emission practices, our improper handling of hazardous wastes or our noncompliance with environmental regulations, such third parties may seek damages from us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with all environmental laws and regulations at all times as the environmental legal regime is evolving and becoming more stringent, especially in the PRC. Therefore, if the PRC government imposes more stringent regulations in the future, we will have to incur additional substantial costs and expenses in order to comply with new regulations, which may negatively affect our results of operations. If we fail to comply with any of the present or future environmental regulations in any material aspect or cause any loss to any third parties due to our pollutant emission practices, improper handling of hazardous wastes or other environmental noncompliance, we may suffer from negative publicity and may be required to pay substantial fines, pay damages to such third parties, or suspend or even cease operations. Failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

To the extent we ship our products outside of the PRC, or to the extent our products are used in products sold outside of the PRC, they may be affected by the following: the transportation of non-rechargeable and rechargeable lithium batteries is regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (the “ICAO”), and corresponding International Air Transport Association (the “IATA”), Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (the “PHMSA”), Dangerous Goods Regulations and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (the “IMDG”), and in the PRC by General Administration of Civil Aviation of China and Maritime Safety Administration of the PRC. These regulations are based on the United Nations, or UN, Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations and the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. We currently ship our products pursuant to ICAO, IATA and PHMSA hazardous goods regulations. The regulations require companies to meet certain testing, packaging, labeling and shipping specifications for safety reasons. We comply with all current PRC and international regulations for the shipment of our products, and will comply with any new regulations that are imposed. We have obtained certificates for safe transport of goods for shipping our lithium battery products by air and water. If we are unable to comply with the new regulations, however, or if regulations are introduced that limit our ability to transport our products to customers in a cost-effective manner, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our general liability insurance may not be sufficient to cover potential liability from product liability claims.

We currently have general liability insurance with an annual limit of up to approximately $56.9 million to cover liabilities arising from product liability claims or product recalls worldwide (excluding the United States and Canada), which may not be sufficient to cover potential liability claims. Inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or otherwise to protect against potential product recalls and product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of our product or could result in a loss of customers and decrease in revenue, unexpected expenses and a loss of market share, and if any of our products are found to have reliability, quality or compatibility problems, we will be required to accept returns, provide replacements, provide refunds, or pay damages. We cannot assure you that as we continue distribution of our products that we will be able to obtain or maintain adequate coverage on acceptable terms, or that such insurance will provide adequate coverage against all potential claims. Even if we maintain adequate insurance, any successful claim could materially and adversely affect our reputation and prospects, and divert management’s time and attention. If we are sued for any injury allegedly caused by our future products, our liability could exceed our total assets and our ability to pay such liability. In any case, we may still be required to incur substantial amounts to cover costs associated with product recalls and/or to indemnify our customers in respect of their product quality claims against us, which would materially and adversely affect the results of our operations and severely damage our reputation.

The enactment of legislation implementing changes in the United States of taxation of international business activities or the adoption of other tax reform policies could materially impact our financial position and results of operations.

Changes to U.S. tax laws, including limitations on the ability of taxpayers to claim and utilize foreign tax credits and the deferral of certain tax deductions until earnings outside of the United States are repatriated to the United States, as well as changes to U.S. federal income tax laws that may be enacted in the future, could impact the tax treatment of our foreign earnings. Due to our international business activities, any changes in the U.S. federal income taxation of such activities may increase our worldwide effective tax rate and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

We could be subject to additional tax liabilities.

We are subject to federal, state and local taxes in the United States and are also subject to tax in certain foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions and our worldwide provision for taxes. During the ordinary course of business, there are many activities and transactions for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. In addition, our tax obligations and effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in the relevant tax, accounting and other laws, regulations, principles and interpretations, including those relating to income tax nexus, by our earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, or by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. We may be audited in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional taxes against us. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of any tax audits or litigation could be materially different from our historical tax provisions and accruals, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which a determination is made.

Our international operations subject us to potentially adverse tax consequences.

We generally conduct our international operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, branches and representative offices and report our taxable income in various jurisdictions worldwide based upon our business operations in those jurisdictions. Our intercompany relationships are subject to complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. The relevant taxing authorities may disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position was not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows and lower overall profitability of our operations. We believe that our financial statements reflect adequate reserves to cover such a contingency, but there can be no assurances in that regard.

According to the Enterprise Income Tax Law of the PRC (the “EIT Law”) and the Regulation on Implementing the EIT Law, related party transactions must be conducted on an arm’s-length basis. Such transactions between related parties may be subject to audit or scrutiny by the PRC tax authorities within 10 years after the taxable year when the transactions are conducted. If the relevant PRC tax authorities determine that the related party transactions occurred in PRC have not been conducted on an arm’s-length basis, they may adjust the taxable income of our PRC subsidiary through a transfer pricing adjustment and impose additional taxes (together with applicable interest) on our PRC subsidiary, as well as penalties for under-reporting of taxable income.

The uncertainty in global economic conditions could negatively affect our operating results.

Our operating results are directly affected by the general global economic conditions of the industries in which our major customer groups operate. Our business segments are highly dependent on the economic and market conditions in each of the geographic areas in which we operate. The uncertainty in global economic conditions varies by geographic segment and can result in substantial volatility in global credit markets. Credit volatility could impact our working capital for manufacturing, or result in cost changes or interruptions to suppliers whose components we rely upon if we are unable to access the needed credit for our operations. These conditions affect our business by reducing prices that our customers may be able or willing to pay for our products or by reducing the demand for our products, which could in turn negatively impact our sales and result in a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, results of operations and financial condition.

We face risks related to health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We face various risks related to public health issues, including epidemics, pandemics, and other outbreaks, including the pandemic of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19, including changes in consumer and business behavior, pandemic fears and market downturns, and restrictions on business and individual activities, has created significant volatility in the global economy and led to reduced economic activity. The spread of COVID-19 has also created a disruption in the manufacturing, delivery and overall supply chain of vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, and has led to a global decrease in vehicle sales in markets around the world.

The pandemic has resulted in government authorities implementing numerous measures to try to contain the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, and business shutdowns. These measures may adversely impact our employees and operations and the operations of our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners, and may negatively impact our sales and marketing activities, the construction schedule of manufacturing plants, and the production schedule of our battery systems. For example, our manufacturing site in the PRC was ordered closed in February 2020 for approximately one month due to COVID-19, and as a result, production and development plans were delayed. In addition, various aspects of our business and manufacturing plant cannot be conducted remotely. These measures by government authorities may remain in place for a significant period of time and they are likely to continue to adversely affect our manufacturing and building plans, sales and marketing activities, business and results of operations.

The spread of COVID-19 has caused us to modify our business practices (including employee travel, recommending that all non-essential personnel in the United States work from home and cancellation or reduction of physical participation in sales activities, meetings, events and conferences), and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. There is no certainty that such actions will be sufficient to mitigate the risks posed by the virus or otherwise be satisfactory to government authorities. If significant portions of our workforce are unable to work effectively, including due to illness, quarantines, social distancing, government actions or other restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, our operations will be impacted.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business, prospects and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the pandemic, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating activities can resume. The COVID-19 pandemic could limit the ability of our customers, suppliers, vendors and business partners to perform, including third party suppliers’ ability to provide components and materials used in our products. We may also experience an increase in

the cost of raw materials used in our commercial production. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience an adverse impact to our business as a result of its global economic impact, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future.

Specifically, difficult macroeconomic conditions, such as decreases in per capita income and level of disposable income, increased and prolonged unemployment or a decline in consumer confidence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reduced spending by businesses, could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our customers products. Under difficult economic conditions, potential customers may seek to reduce spending by forgoing electric vehicles for other traditional options. Decreased demand for our electric vehicles, could negatively affect our business.

There are no comparable recent events which may provide guidance as to the effect of the spread of COVID-19 and a pandemic, and, as a result, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or a similar health epidemic is highly uncertain and subject to change. We do not yet know the full extent of COVID-19’s impact on our business, our operations, or the global economy as a whole. However, the effects could have a material impact on our results of operations, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Our facilities or operations could be damaged or adversely affected as a result of natural disasters and other catastrophic events.

Our facilities or operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars, health epidemics such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and other calamities. We cannot assure you that any backup systems will be adequate to protect us from the effects of fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events. Any of the foregoing events may give rise to interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to provide services.

Our batteries and our website, systems, and data we maintain may be subject to intentional disruption, other security incidents, or alleged violations of laws, regulations, or other obligations relating to data handling that could result in liability and adversely impact our reputation and future sales.

We expect to face significant challenges with respect to information security and maintaining the security and integrity of our systems and other systems used in our business, as well as with respect to the data stored on or processed by these systems. Advances in technology, an increased level of sophistication, and an increased level of expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or others can result in a compromise or breach of the systems used in our business or of security measures used in our business to protect confidential information, personal information, and other data.

The availability and effectiveness of our batteries, and our ability to conduct our business and operations, depend on the continued operation of information technology and communications systems, some of which we have yet to develop or otherwise obtain the ability to use. Systems used in our business, including data centers and other information technology systems, will be vulnerable to damage or interruption. Such systems could also be subject to break-ins, sabotage and intentional acts of vandalism, as well as disruptions and security incidents as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent acts or omissions by employees, service providers, or others. We anticipate using outsourced service providers to help provide certain services, and any such outsourced service providers face similar security and system disruption risks as we do. Some of the systems used in our business will not be fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Any data security incidents or other disruptions to any data centers or other systems used in our business could result in lengthy interruptions in our service.

Social media platforms present risks and challenges that could cause damage to our brand and reputation, and which could subject us to liability, penalties and other restrictive sanctions.

Social media platforms present risks and challenges that could cause damage to our brand and reputation, and which could subject us to liability, penalties and other restrictive sanctions. We have adopted internal policies and procedures regarding social media, which may not be effective in preventing the inappropriate use of social media platforms, including blogs, social media websites and other forms of Internet-based communications. These

platforms allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers, investors and other interested persons. The considerable expansion in the use of social media over recent years has increased the volume and speed at which negative publicity arising from these events can be generated and spread, and we may be unable to timely respond to, correct any inaccuracies in, or adequately address negative perceptions arising from such media coverage. The use of such platforms by our officers and other employees and former employees could in the future increase our costs, cause damage to our brand and reputation, result in the disclosure of confidential information, lead to litigation or subject us to regulatory inquiries, penalties and other restrictive sanctions and adverse consequences if the SEC, the Department of Justice, or any other government agency were to pursue legal action in the future. In addition, negative or inaccurate posts or comments about us on social media platforms could damage our reputation, brand image and goodwill, and we could lose the confidence of our customers and partners, regardless of whether such information is true and regardless of any number of measures we may take to address them.

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property

We rely substantially on unpatented proprietary technologies.

Our success depends in part on our ability to protect our proprietary trade secrets, confidential information and know-how, technology, trademarks and other intellectual property and intellectual property rights. To do so, we rely generally on copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with employees and third parties, and other agreements with consultants, vendors and clients. Specifically, we rely substantially on unpatented proprietary technology. A significant number of our material proprietary technologies are know-how or trade secrets. For example, our proprietary polyvinylidene fluoride separator that allows for faster charge rates is unpatented. To protect our trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot assure you that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information. There can be no assurance that employees, consultants, vendors and clients have executed such agreements or have not breached or will not breach their agreements with us, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or independently developed by competitors. Despite the protections we do place on our intellectual property, a third party could, without authorization, copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology, or develop similar technology. The theft or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information could reduce the differentiation of our products and harm our business, the value of our investment in development or business acquisitions could be reduced and third parties might make claims against us related to losses of their confidential or proprietary information. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business.

Further, it is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology, and in such cases, we may not be able to assert any trade secret rights against such parties. Costly and time-consuming litigations could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our trade secret rights and related confidentiality and nondisclosure provisions. If we fail to obtain or maintain trade secret protection, or if our competitors obtain our trade secrets or independently develop technology similar to our or competing technologies, our competitive business position could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States may be less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets and agreement terms that address non-competition are difficult to enforce in many jurisdictions and might not be enforceable in certain cases.

Our success depends on our ability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights.

We rely on our trademarks, service marks, trade names and brand names to distinguish our products from the products of our competitors, and have registered or applied to register many of these trademarks. Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks, and we cannot assure you that our trademark applications will be approved. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections. Although we are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark

applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources towards advertising and marketing new brands. Further, we cannot assure you that competitors will not infringe our trademarks or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected.

We also rely, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection for our proprietary products and processes. The process of applying for and obtaining a patent is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions where protection may be commercially advantageous, or we financially may not be able to protect our proprietary rights at all. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may be able to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. In addition, the issuance of a patent does not ensure that it is valid or enforceable, so even if we obtain patents, they may not be valid or enforceable against third parties. In addition, the issuance of a patent does not give us the right to practice the patented invention. Third parties may have blocking patents that could prevent us from marketing our own products and practicing our own technology. Alternatively, third parties may seek approval to market their own products similar to or otherwise competitive with our products. In these circumstances, we may need to defend and/or assert our patents, including by filing lawsuits alleging patent infringement.

    In any of these types of proceedings, a court or agency with jurisdiction may find our patents invalid and/or unenforceable. Even if we have valid and enforceable patents, these patents still may not provide protection against competing products or processes sufficient to achieve our business objectives. Some of our patents and patent applications may be co-owned with third parties. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such third-party co-owners’ interest in such patents or patent applications, such co-owners may be able to license their rights to other third parties, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. In addition, we may need the cooperation of any such co-owners of our patents in order to enforce such patents against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided to us. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Issued patents may be challenged, narrowed, invalidated or circumvented. The legal systems of certain countries do not favor the aggressive enforcement of patents, and the laws of non-U.S. countries may not allow us to protect our inventions with patents to the same extent as the laws of the United States and Europe. Because patent applications in the United States, Europe and many other non-U.S. jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all, and because publications of discoveries in scientific literature lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our issued patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for protection of the inventions set forth in our patents or patent applications. As a result, we may not be able to obtain or maintain protection for certain inventions. Therefore, the enforceability and scope of our patents in the United States, Europe, and the PRC and in other non-U.S. countries cannot be predicted with certainty and, as a result, any patents that we own may not provide sufficient protection against competitors. We may not be able to obtain or maintain patent protection from our pending patent applications, from those we may file in the future, or from those we may license from third parties. Moreover, even if we are able to obtain patent protection, such patent protection may be of insufficient scope to achieve our business objectives.

In some instances, we may have legal grounds to enforce our rights related to our patented technology, but may elect not to do so because of the cost of litigation or the limited value in enforcing our patent rights.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights in the PRC.

The validity, enforceability and scope of protection available under the relevant intellectual property laws in the PRC is uncertain and still evolving. Implementation and enforcement of PRC intellectual property-related laws has historically been deficient and ineffective. Accordingly, the protection of intellectual property rights in the PRC may not be as effective as in the U.S. or other developed countries. There can be no assurance that our intellectual property rights will not be challenged by third parties or found by a governmental authority to be invalid or unenforceable. Furthermore, policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive, and we may need to resort to litigation to enforce or defend patents issued to us or our other intellectual property rights or to determine the enforceability, scope and validity of our proprietary rights or those of others. Such litigation and an adverse determination in any such litigation, if any, could result in substantial costs, loss of our proprietary rights, and diversion of resources and management’s attention.

We could incur substantial costs as a result of any claim of infringement of another party’s intellectual property rights.

In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the United States, Europe and the PRC involving patents and other intellectual property rights. Companies in the battery industry are increasingly bringing and becoming subject to suits alleging infringement of proprietary rights, particularly patent rights, and our competitors and other third parties may hold patents or have pending patent applications which could be related to our business. For example, we are aware of third-party patents and patent applications (if issued) that may be construed to cover one or more of our products or technologies. If these patents or patent applications (if issued) are asserted against us and we are found to infringe any of these patents, and we are unsuccessful in demonstrating that such patents are invalid or unenforceable, then we could be required to pay substantial monetary damages or cease further development or commercialization of one or more of our products or technologies. Although we generally conduct a freedom to operate search and review with respect to our products and technologies, we cannot guarantee that our search and review is complete and thorough, nor can we be sure that we have identified each and every patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant or necessary to the commercialization of our products or use of our technology. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our products or technologies may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents. These risks have been amplified by the increase in third parties, which we refer to as non-practicing entities, whose primary business is to assert infringement claims or make royalty demands. It is difficult to proceed with certainty in a rapidly evolving technological environment in which there may be patent applications pending related to our technologies, many of which are confidential when filed. We rely substantially on unpatented proprietary technology, which may make it more difficult to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that we will have meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other intellectual property and proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure, which could have a material adverse impact on our business.

Third parties may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate our intellectual property or proprietary rights or we may be required to defend against claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of the intellectual property or proprietary rights of a third party. To counter infringement or unauthorized use claims or to defend against such claims can be expensive and time consuming. If we are party to an intellectual property-related proceeding and even if such proceeding is resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, manufacturing, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Moreover, many of our current and potential competitors may dedicate substantially greater resources than we can to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, especially patents. Incurring significant expenses and distracting our personnel for an intellectual property-related proceeding could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may be exposed to infringement or misappropriation claims by third parties, which, if determined adversely to us, could cause us loss of significant rights and inability to continue providing our existing product offerings.

Our success also depends largely on our ability to use and develop our technology and know-how without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties. The validity and scope of claims relating to lithium-ion battery technology patents involve complex scientific, legal and factual questions and analysis and, therefore, may be highly uncertain, expensive and time-consuming. We may receive in the future notices that claim we or our clients using our products have misappropriated or misused other parties’ intellectual property rights, particularly as the number of competitors in our market grows and the functionality of products among competitors overlaps. If we are sued by a third party that claims that our technology infringes its rights, the litigation, whether or not successful, could be extremely costly to defend, divert our management’s time, attention, and resources, damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business. Further, in some instances, our agreements with our clients include indemnification provisions under which er agree to indemnify such parties for losses suffered or incurred in connection with third party claims for intellectual property infringement. The results of any intellectual property litigation to which we might become a party, or for which we are required to provide indemnification, may also require us to do one or more of the following:

•        cease offering or using technologies that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;

•        make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement payments or other costs or damages to the party claiming infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights;

•        obtain a license to sell or use the relevant technology, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or

•        redesign technology to avoid infringement, which may not be feasible.

Our failure to develop non-infringing technologies or license the intellectual property or the proprietary rights on a timely basis would harm our business, possibly materially. Protracted litigation could result in our customers, or potential customers, deferring or limiting their purchase or use of our products until resolution of such litigation. Parties making the infringement claim may also obtain an injunction that can prevent us from selling our products or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing contents. If we were to discover that our products violate third-party proprietary rights, there can be no assurance that we would be able to continue offering our products on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, to redesign our technology to avoid infringement or to avoid or settle litigation regarding alleged infringement without substantial expense and damage awards. Any intellectual property litigation or proceeding could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

We may have difficulties transferring and communicating technology globally, especially if communications and visa processes between the PRC and other countries worsen.

In different parts of the world the technology platforms that are used to facilitate communication between staff are different, or in some cases banned. For example, the PRC has banned a number of technology apps, and the United States has recently discussed banning the communication platform WeChat. As the options for communication becomes restricted, it may become difficult to efficiently coordinate complex manufacturing supply chains in a global setting, causing delays or missed income opportunities.

In addition, as most of our historical business is located in PRC, visa’s being issued for staff to be trained in the PRC, or vice versa, may be restricted or denied, limiting our ability to train and pass along proprietary information efficiently. In some cases, the software used may need to be different, which makes it difficult to share certain engineering documents and resources between global subsidiaries. Delays due to inefficiencies in communication and file sharing may impact decision making, lead to errors, and affect our ability to maximize profit.

of power batteries. Therefore, the current business scope of our PRC subsidiary and our shareholding structure are in compliance with the current Chinese foreign investment laws and regulations. However, we cannot rule out that the historic irregularity may give rise to any risk on part of our PRC subsidiary.

Changes in the economic and political policies of the PRC government could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.

All of our operations and manufacturing and most of our customers are in the PRC. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are significantly dependent on economic and political developments in the PRC. The PRC’s economy differs from the economies of developed countries in many aspects, including the level of development, growth rate and degree of government control over foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC’s economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, the growth has been uneven across different regions and periods and among various economic sectors in the PRC. We cannot assure you that the PRC’s economy will continue to grow, or that if there is growth, such growth will be steady and uniform, or that if there is a slowdown, such slowdown will not have a negative effect on our business and results of operations.

The PRC government exercises significant control over the PRC’s economic growth through the allocation of resources, control over payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, implementation of monetary policy, and preferential treatment of particular industries or companies. Certain measures adopted by the PRC government may restrict loans to certain industries, such as changes in the statutory deposit reserve ratio and lending guidelines for commercial banks by the People’s Bank of China (the “PBOC”). These current and future government actions could materially affect our liquidity, access to capital, and ability to operate our business.

The global financial markets experienced significant disruptions in 2008 and the United States, Europe and other economies went into recession. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall PRC economy but may also have a negative effect on us. Our financial condition and results of operation could be materially and adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us. In addition, any stimulus measures designed to boost the Chinese economy, may contribute to higher inflation, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Changes in the policies of the PRC government, including more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers, could have a significant impact on the business we may be able to conduct in the PRC, the profitability of our business and the value of our common stock.

The PRC’s economy is in a transition from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy subject to five-year and annual plans adopted by the government that set national economic development goals. Policies of the PRC government can have significant effects on the economic conditions within the PRC. The PRC government has confirmed that economic development will follow the model of a market economy. Under this direction, we believe that the PRC will continue to strengthen its economic and trading relationships with foreign countries and business development in the PRC will follow market forces. While we believe that this trend will continue, there can be no assurance that this will be the case. A change in policies by the PRC government could adversely affect our interests by, among other factors: changes in laws, regulations or the interpretation thereof, confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports or sources of supplies, or the expropriation or nationalization of private enterprises. Although the PRC government has been pursuing economic reform policies for more than two decades, there is no assurance that the government will continue to pursue such policies or that such policies may not be significantly altered, especially in the event of a change in leadership, social or political disruption, confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports or sources of supplies, or ability to continue as a for-profit enterprise, expropriation or nationalization of private enterprises, changes in the allocation of resources or other circumstances affecting the PRC’s political, economic and social environment.

In addition, recent regulatory developments in China, in particular with respect to restrictions on China-based companies raising capital offshore, may lead to additional regulatory review in China over our financing and capital raising activities in the United States. Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions, which were made available to the public on July 6, 2021. The Opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal

securities activities and the supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies. These opinions proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems, to deal with the risks and incidents facing China-based overseas-listed companies and the demand for cybersecurity and data privacy protection. The aforementioned policies and any related implementation rules to be enacted may subject us to additional compliance requirements in the future. As the Opinions were recently issued, official guidance and interpretation of the Opinions remain unclear in several respects at this time. Therefore, we cannot assure you that we will remain fully compliant with all new regulatory requirements of the Opinions or any future implementation rules on a timely basis, or at all.

On July 30, 2021, in response to the recent regulatory developments in China and actions adopted by the PRC government, the Chairman of the SEC issued a statement asking the SEC staff to seek additional disclosures from offshore issuers associated with China-based operating companies before their registration statements will be declared effective. On August 1, 2021, the China Securities Regulatory Commission stated in a statement that it had taken note of the new disclosure requirements announced by the SEC regarding the listings of Chinese companies and the recent regulatory development in China, and that both countries should strengthen communications on regulating China-related issuers. We cannot guarantee that we will not be subject to tightened regulatory review and we could be exposed to government interference in China. Any actions by the Chinese government to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

Our operations are subject to extensive PRC government regulation, and changes to such regulations could increase our costs or limit our ability to sell products and conduct activities in China. Specifically, because of our extensive and significant operations in China, we could in the future become subject to regulations issued by the CAC and the requirements of the PRC’s Cyber Security Law or Data Security Law.

The PRC government has broad discretion and authority to regulate the technology industry in China. Additionally, China’s government has implemented policies from time to time to regulate economic expansion in China. Personal privacy, cyber security, and data protection are becoming increasingly significant issues in China. To address these issues, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the Cyber Security Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Cyber Security Law”), which took effect on June 1, 2017. The Cyber Security Law sets forth various requirements relating to the collection, use, storage, disclosure and security of data, among other things. On June 10, 2021, the National People’s Congress passed the Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Data Security Law”), which took effect on September 1, 2021. The Data Security Law is the first comprehensive data security legislation in China, which becomes a key supplement to the Cyber Security Law and aims to regulate a wide range of issues in relation to the collection, storage, processing, use, provision, transaction and publication of any kind of data. Various Chinese agencies are expected to issue additional regulations in the future to define these requirements more precisely. Among them is the CAC, which is considering requiring that any entity operating in the PRC which holds the personal information of more than one million individuals be required to apply to the CAC for a cyberspace security review if it seeks to list on a non-PRC exchange. While we do not believe that such a regulation would impact our operations since neither we nor our PRC subsidiaries collect any personal information, it is possible that other requirements may increase our costs of compliance or even materially affect our ability to operate our business. It is also possible that the CAC elects to impose rules or regulations with respect to the collection of personal information that apply more broadly and that would apply to us or our operations. Further, while we are compliant in all material respects with the regulations and policies that have been issued to date by the CAC, we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with all of these regulatory requirements. Any failure to comply with the Cyber Security Law, the Data Security Law or the relevant regulations and policies could result in further cost and liability to us and could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Additionally, increased costs to comply with, and other burdens imposed by, the Cyber Security Law, the Data Security Law or relevant regulations and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our suppliers, vendors and other service providers, as well as our customers, could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system, including risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and that rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice, could limit the legal protections available to you and us and could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations as well as the value of our common stock.

Historically, we have conducted substantially all of our business through our PRC subsidiary, though we expect other global regions to become a main part of our business in the coming years. Our PRC subsidiary is generally subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investments in the PRC and, in particular, laws applicable to FIEs. The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes, and prior court decisions may be cited for reference, but have limited precedential value. The PRC legal system is evolving rapidly and may change quickly with little advance notice. Since the late 1970s, a series of new PRC laws and regulations have significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in the PRC. However, since the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties for you and us. Moreover, there can be no assurance that the PRC government will not amend or revise existing laws, rules or regulations, or promulgate new laws, rules or regulations, in a manner which materially and adversely affects our business, results of operations or financial condition. For example, the PRC government may require additional approvals, licenses or permits for our business and operations, or impose stricter requirements or conditions for the maintenance or renewal of approvals, licenses or permits required for our business and operations. Any loss of or failure to obtain, maintain or renew our approvals, licenses or permits could disrupt our operations or subject us to fines or penalties imposed by the PRC government. Further, given the significance of our operations in the PRC, any adverse change in law or the interpretation or enforcement of any law, or the loss of or failure to obtain, maintain or renew necessary approvals, licenses or permits could significantly and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our profitability and, as a result, the value of our common stock.

The Foreign Investment Law came into effect on January 1, 2020 and replaced the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in the PRC, namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend of rationalizing the foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. The Foreign Investment Law, together with our implementation rules and ancillary regulations, may materially impact our shareholding structure, corporate governance practice and increase our compliance costs, for example through the imposition of stringent ad hoc and periodic information reporting requirements.

The PRC government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities and may intervene, at any time and with no notice. If the PRC government at any time substantially intervenes, influences or establishes new policies, regulations, rules, or laws, such actions may result in a material change to our operations and/or the value of our common stock.

The PRC government may exert, at any time and with no notice, substantial interventions and influences over the manner in which we conduct our business activities, which we may not be able to anticipate. If the PRC government decides to substantially intervene, influence or establish new policies, regulations, rules or laws affecting our business, said substantial intervention or influence may result in a material change to our operations and/or the value of our common stock, and could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or to continue to offer securities to investors, and/or cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Government actions have had, and may continue to have, a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC and businesses which are subject to such government actions. Our ability to operate in the PRC may be harmed by changes in the PRC’s laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, import and export tariffs, environmental regulations, production safety, land use rights, property, data security and other matters. In addition, the PRC or local governments of the Chinese jurisdictions in which we operate may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations.

Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC or particular regions thereof and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese properties or joint ventures.

PRC regulations of loans to PRC entities and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies may delay or prevent us from using the proceeds of the Business Combination to make loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary.

We may transfer funds to our PRC subsidiary or finance our PRC subsidiary by means of shareholder loans or capital contributions upon completion of the Business Combination. Any loans from us to our PRC subsidiary, which is a foreign-invested enterprise, cannot exceed statutory limits determined by (1) the formula under the Notice of the People’s Bank of China on Matters concerning the Macro-Prudential Management of Full-Covered Cross-Border Financing issued by PBOC; or (2) the difference between the investment amount and the registered capital of such subsidiary (if applicable), and shall be registered with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the “SAFE”), or our local counterparts. Any capital contributions we make to our PRC subsidiary are subject to the approval by or filing and registration with Administration for Market Regulation (the “AMR”), the Ministry of Commerce of PRC (the “MOFCOM”), the National Development and Reform Commission of PRC (the “NDRC”) and SAFE, or their local counterparts. We may not be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. If we fail to receive such registrations or approvals, our ability to provide loans or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary in a timely manner may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

We may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our subsidiaries, including our subsidiaries in China, for our cash needs, and laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which our subsidiaries operate, including China, may restrict our ability to make any such dividends or distributions.

We are a holding company, and we conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries, and principally through our subsidiaries in China. Because of the Business Combination, most of our cash is held by our holding company in the United States. We intend to use the cash from the Business Combination to fund our growth. However, because all of our operations are conducted through subsidiaries, all revenue generated from our operations and all capital expenditures we make in our business are generated by or made through subsidiaries, including subsidiaries based in the PRC. Certain of these subsidiaries, including our PRC-based subsidiaries, are subject to statutory and regulatory limitations on the payment of dividends to the Company, which could result in limitations on the availability of cash to fund dividends or distributions to investors in our securities. Further, if our subsidiaries are unable to make dividend payments to us and sufficient cash or liquidity is not otherwise available, we may not be able to make principal and interest payments on our outstanding debt or repurchase shares of our common stock.

In particular, we may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our PRC subsidiary for our cash needs, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our stockholders, to service any debt we may incur and to pay our operating expenses. Current regulations in the PRC permit payment of dividends only out of accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. According to the PRC corporate law, our PRC subsidiary is required to set aside at least 10% of our after-tax profit based on the PRC accounting standards and regulations each year to our statutory surplus reserve, until the balance in the reserve reaches 50% of the registered capital of our PRC subsidiary. Funds in the reserve are not distributable to us in forms of cash dividends, loans or advances. In addition, if our PRC subsidiary incurs debt on our own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us, which in turn will adversely affect our available cash. Any limitations on the ability of our PRC subsidiary to transfer funds to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business and otherwise fund and conduct our business.

In addition, under the EIT Law, dividends payable by a FIE to any of our foreign non-resident enterprise investors shall be subject to a 10% withholding tax, unless such foreign non-resident enterprise investor’s jurisdiction of incorporation has signed a tax treaty or arrangement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income with the PRC that provides for a reduced rate of withholding tax on dividends.

In response to the persistent capital outflow in China and the RMB’s depreciation against the U.S. dollar in the fourth quarter of 2016, the People’s Bank of China and SAFE promulgated a series of capital control measures in early 2017, including stricter vetting procedures for domestic companies to remit foreign currency for overseas investments, dividends payments and shareholder loan repayments. The PRC government may continue to strengthen its capital controls, and more restrictions and substantial vetting process may be put forward by SAFE for cross-border transactions falling under both the current account and the capital account. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends or make other kinds of payments to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Discontinuation of preferential tax treatments we currently enjoy or other unfavorable changes in tax law could result in additional compliance obligations and costs.

Our PRC subsidiary is qualified as a high and new technology enterprise under PRC law. As a result, our PRC subsidiary enjoys a preferential PRC enterprise income tax rate of 15%. The high and new technology enterprise qualification is reassessed by the relevant authorities every three years. The discontinuation of the preferential tax treatment we enjoy could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Components of Results of Operations — Income Tax Expense.”

Our PRC subsidiary may not continue to receive government subsidies.

Our PRC subsidiary has historically received subsidies from the PRC government for technology innovation and expansion of manufacturing capacity. Government subsidies are granted in connection with government’s efforts to promote the development of the local economy and other policies. Some local government subsidies may also be challenged by higher level government authorities. Therefore, government subsidies may be modified or terminated at the sole discretion of the relevant governmental authorities. Since the PRC laws, regulations and policies with respect to subsidies are developing and may change, we cannot assure you that such government subsidies will continue. In the event that our PRC subsidiary ceases to receive any government subsidies, any subsidy is reduced, or any of our past subsidies are challenged, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to receive and use our sales revenue effectively.

The majority of our sales will be settled in Renminbi (“RMB”), Euros and U.S. dollars, and any future restrictions on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use revenue generated in RMB to fund any future business activities outside the PRC or to make dividend or other payments in U.S. dollars. Although the Chinese government introduced regulations in 1996 to allow greater convertibility of the RMB for current account transactions, significant restrictions still remain, including primarily the restriction that foreign- invested enterprises may only buy, sell or remit foreign currencies after providing valid commercial documents, at those banks in the PRC authorized to conduct foreign exchange business. In addition, conversion of RMB for capital account items, including direct investment and loans, is subject to various degrees of governmental approval or regulation in the PRC, and companies may be required to open and maintain separate foreign exchange accounts for capital account items.

The PRC government has issued several rules and regulations to lift the restriction on foreign currency for capital account items. For instance, on June 9, 2016, SAFE issued a circular entitled the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Regulating the Policies for the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement under the Capital Account, under which, foreign exchange received by PRC companies under the capital account and RMB capital converted therefrom may be used for expenditure under current accounts within their respective business scope as well as expenditure under the capital account permitted by laws and regulations, subject to the following restrictions that the funds shall not be: (1) directly or indirectly, used for expenditures beyond the business scope of the companies or prohibited by the laws and regulations; (2) directly or indirectly, used for securities investment or financial products other than banks’ financial products with principal guaranteed, unless otherwise provided for by any law or regulation; (3) used to grant loans to non-affiliated enterprises, except those circumstances expressly permitted in the business scope; (4) used to build or purchase the real estate not for self-use (except real estate enterprises).

On October 23, 2019, SAFE issued a circular entitled the Notice by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of Further Facilitating Cross-border Trade and Investment, under which, non-investing FIEs are permitted to legally make domestic equity investments with their capital funds provided that the current Negative List is not violated, and domestic investment projects are real and legitimate.

As it is uncertain how the SAFE regulations will be interpreted or implemented, we cannot predict how these regulations will affect our business operations or future strategy, including the remittance of dividends and foreign currency-denominated borrowings, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

If currency exchange rates fluctuate substantially in the future, our financial results, which are reported in U.S. dollars, and the value of our securities could be adversely affected.

The value of our securities will be indirectly affected by the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and RMB and between those currencies and other currencies in which our sales may be denominated. Appreciation or depreciation in the value of the RMB relative to the U.S. dollar would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms without giving effect to any underlying change in our business or results of operations. Fluctuations in the exchange rate will also affect the relative value of any dividend we issue that will be exchanged into U.S. dollars, as well as earnings from, and the value of, any U.S. dollar-denominated investments we make in the future.

Since July 2005, the RMB has no longer been pegged to the U.S. dollar. However, the PBOC regularly intervenes in the foreign exchange market to limit fluctuations in RMB exchange rates and achieve policy goals. Following the removal of the U.S. dollar peg, the RMB appreciated more than 20% against the U.S. dollar over the following three years. From July 2008 to June 2010, the RMB traded within a narrow range against the U.S. dollar. Since June 2010 the RMB further depreciated against the U.S. dollar, from approximately RMB 6.83 per U.S. dollar as of June 1, 2010 to approximately RMB 7.15 per U.S. dollar as of September 29, 2019. However, the RMB has since depreciated against the U.S. dollar to approximately RMB 6.53 per U.S. dollar as of December 31, 2020. It is difficult to predict how RMB exchange rates may change going forward.

Very limited hedging transactions are available in the PRC to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions. While we may enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these transactions may be limited, and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exposure at all. In addition, our foreign currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currencies. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have a material adverse effect on your investment.

Failure to comply with PRC foreign exchange regulations relating to the investment in offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident stockholders to personal liability, limit our ability to acquire PRC companies or to inject capital into our PRC subsidiary, limit our PRC subsidiary’s ability to distribute profits to us or otherwise materially adversely affect us.

On July 14, 2014, SAFE issued the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Residents’ Investment and Financing and Round-trip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or Circular 37, which replaced the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Financing and Round-trip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or Circular 75, promulgated by SAFE on October 21, 2005. Circular 37 requires PRC residents to register with local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity, for the purpose of overseas investment and financing, with such PRC residents’ legally owned assets or equity interests in domestic enterprises or offshore assets or interests, referred to in Circular 37 as a “special purpose vehicle.” Circular 37 further requires an amendment to the registration in the event of any changes with respect to the basic information of the special purpose vehicle, such as changes in a PRC resident individual shareholder, name or operation period; or any significant changes with respect to the special purpose vehicle, such as increase or decrease of capital contributed by PRC individuals, share transfer or exchange, merger, division or other material events.

We have requested PRC residents who we know hold direct or indirect interest in us to make the necessary applications, filings and amendments as required under Circular 37 and other related rules. Xiang Li, Diaokun Xiao, Xiaoping Zhou and Guoyou Deng have completed required registrations with Circular 75 in relation to their holding of interest in us and are preparing to make amendments in connection with our financing and restructuring. However, we cannot assure you that the amendments in connection with our financing restructuring will be duly

and timely completed with the local SAFE branch. In addition, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents holding direct or indirect interest in us, and we cannot provide any assurance that these PRC residents will comply with our request to make or obtain any applicable registrations or comply with other requirements under Circular 37 or other related rules. The failure or inability of our PRC resident shareholders to comply with the registration procedures set forth in these regulations may in practice, subject us to fines and legal sanction, restrict our cross-border investment activities, prevent repatriating our profits and dividends to our PRC resident shareholders, limit the ability of our wholly foreign- owned subsidiaries in the PRC to distribute dividends and the proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the various foreign exchange registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for circumventing applicable foreign exchange restrictions. As a result, our business operations and our ability to distribute profits to you could be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to comply with PRC regulations relating to the offshore investment by our PRC enterprise stockholders or our PRC subsidiary may restrict our PRC subsidiary from continuing to operate or otherwise materially adversely affect us.

Under current PRC laws, PRC enterprises investing in offshore projects, including both greenfield projects and mergers and acquisitions, should obtain an offshore investment certificate from MOFCOM and complete the foreign exchange registration with SAFE before remittance of any investment amount offshore. In addition, in accordance with the Administrative Measures on the Approval and Filing of Offshore Investment Projects promulgated by the NDRC, on April 8, 2014 and amended on December 27, 2014, offshore investment projects locating at sensitive area or country or involving sensitive industries are subject to NDRC prior approval, and if the Chinese party’s investment amount is $2 billion or above, the NDRC shall issue an examination and approval opinion and submit it to the State Council for approval. All other offshore investment projects should be subject to NDRC filing prior to their execution. The above requirements apply to the establishment of our U.K. subsidiary and our Singapore subsidiary by our PRC subsidiary in 2014 and 2017 respectively and, the investment by our PRC enterprise stockholders in us in September 2015. Our PRC subsidiary and our PRC enterprise stockholders had each procured the relevant offshore investment certificates from local MOFCOM and foreign exchange registration from SAFE, except for the establishment of our Singapore subsidiary by our PRC subsidiary. In addition, none of them had completed the required filing with the relevant NDRC. Based on discussions with Zhejiang NDRC, our understanding is that, in practice, NDRC filings are not required for establishment of our U.K. subsidiary by our PRC subsidiary and investment by our PRC enterprise stockholders in us. So far, our PRC subsidiary has not made any capital injection to our Singapore subsidiary and our Singapore subsidiary has not run any business. However, we cannot assure you that the provincial Zhejiang NDRC or the NDRC will not order our PRC subsidiary or our PRC enterprise stockholders to take corrective actions in the future, neither can we make any guarantee that our PRC subsidiary or our PRC enterprise stockholders will be able to conduct such corrective actions in time, or at all. If our PRC subsidiary or our PRC enterprise stockholders fail to conduct the corrective actions required by NDRC, our equity investment in and operation of the U.K. subsidiary and the Singapore subsidiary may be adversely affected, and our PRC subsidiary and PRC enterprise stockholders may be subject to penalties and fines. The capability of our PRC subsidiary to conduct further overseas investment may also be negatively affected. In addition, failure to register the establishment of our Singapore subsidiary by our PRC subsidiary with SAFE will affect our PRC subsidiary’s ability to receive any dividends distributed by our Singapore subsidiary.

Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for stock ownership plans or stock option plans may subject PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

Under SAFE regulations, PRC residents who participate in an employee stock ownership plan or stock option plan in an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with SAFE or our local branch and complete certain other procedures. Participants of a stock incentive plan who are PRC residents must retain a qualified PRC agent, which could be a PRC subsidiary of such overseas publicly listed company, to conduct the SAFE registration and other procedures with respect to the stock incentive plan on behalf of these participants. Such participants must also retain an overseas entrusted institution to handle matters in connection with their exercise or sale of stock options. In addition, the PRC agent is required to amend the SAFE registration with respect to the stock incentive plan if there is any material change to the stock incentive plan, the PRC agent or the overseas entrusted institution or other material changes.

We and our PRC resident employees who participate in our share incentive plans became subject to these regulations when we became publicly listed in the United States. If we or our PRC resident option grantees fail to comply with these regulations, we or our PRC resident option grantees may be subject to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

In addition, the State Administration for Taxation has issued certain circulars concerning employee share options or non-vested shares. Under these circulars, the employees working in the PRC who exercise share options or are granted non-vested shares will be subject to PRC individual income tax. The PRC subsidiaries of such overseas listed companies have obligations to file documents related to employee share options or non-vested shares with relevant tax authorities. When a withholding agent withholds taxes or an individual files a tax return, such withholding agent or the individual shall submit to the competent tax authority information with respect to, among other things, the type of equity they have accepted or transferred, their subscription of shares of stock, names of the people under the incentive plan, taxable income and taxes payable. If any of our employees fail to pay or the withholding agent fails to withhold the income taxes payable by our employees according to relevant laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiary may face sanctions imposed by the tax authorities or other PRC government authorities.

The M&A Rule establishes more complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in the PRC.

On August 8, 2006, six PRC regulatory agencies, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission, promulgated the Provisions Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rule, which became effective on September 8, 2006 and was amended on June 22, 2009. The M&A Rule establishes additional procedures and requirements that could make some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including in some situations, requiring approval of MOFCOM when a foreign investor takes control of a Chinese domestic enterprise. Since January 1, 2020, the Foreign Investment Law and our implementation rules have come into force. Consequently, as a matter of PRC law, no approval by or filing with the MOFCOM will be required for the offshore investors’ investment in a Chinese domestic enterprise whose industry falls out of the Negative List. However, since the M&A Rule has not been formally abolished yet, it remains uncertain in practice as to whether the M&A Rule still applies. In addition, in recent years, the PRC government authorities have heightened their scrutiny over acquisition transactions by imposing anti-trust review and national security review, which may greatly complicate the transaction process if these reviews are triggered. In the future, we may grow our business in part by acquiring complementary businesses; however, the above rules may affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

Investors may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing original actions in the PRC based upon U.S. laws, including the federal securities laws or other foreign laws against us or our management.

Most of our current operations are conducted in the PRC through our majority owned subsidiary MPS. Moreover, some of our current directors and officers are nationals or residents of the PRC. All or a substantial portion of the assets of these persons are located outside the United States and in the PRC. As a result, it may not be possible to effect service of process within the United States or elsewhere outside the PRC upon these persons. In addition, uncertainty exists as to whether the courts of the PRC would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or such officers and/or directors predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof, or be competent to hear original actions brought in the PRC against us or such persons predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof.

The PRC’s legal and judicial system may not adequately protect our business and operations and the rights of foreign investors.

The legal and judicial systems in the PRC are still rudimentary, and enforcement of existing laws is uncertain. As a result, it may be impossible to obtain swift and equitable enforcement of laws that do exist, or to obtain enforcement of the judgment of one court by a court of another jurisdiction. The PRC’s legal system is based on the civil law regime, that is, it is based on written statutes. A decision by one judge does not set a legal precedent that is required to be followed by judges in other cases. In addition, the interpretation of Chinese laws may be varied to reflect domestic political changes.

The promulgation of new laws, changes to existing laws and the pre-emption of local regulations by national laws may adversely affect foreign investors. There can be no assurance that a change in leadership, social or political disruption, or unforeseen circumstances affecting the PRC’s political, economic or social life, will not affect the PRC government’s ability to continue to support and pursue these reforms. Such a shift could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been unable, and is currently unable, to inspect our independent registered public accounting, and, as such, you are deprived of the benefits of such inspection. In addition, various legislative and regulatory developments related to U.S.-listed PRC-based companies due to lack of PCAOB inspection and other developments may have a material adverse impact on our listing and trading in the U.S. and the trading prices of the common stock.

Our independent registered public accounting firm that will issue the audit reports included in our annual reports filed with the SEC, as auditors of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess our compliance with the laws of the United States and professional standards. Since our auditor is located in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, the PCAOB has been, and is currently, unable to inspect our auditor. This lack of PCAOB inspections in the PRC prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our independent registered public accounting firm’s audits and our quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections.

On May 24, 2013, PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”), and the Ministry of Finance (the “MOF”), which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations in the United States and the PRC. On inspection, it appears that the PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the PRC regulators, CSRC and the MOF to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with PCAOB in relation to the audit of the PRC companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. On December 7, 2018, the SEC and the PCAOB issued a joint statement highlighting continued challenges faced by the U.S. regulators in their oversight of financial statement audits of U.S.-listed companies with significant operations in the PRC. The joint statement reflects a heightened interest in this issue. On April 21, 2020, the SEC and the PCAOB issued another joint statement reiterating the greater risk that disclosures will be insufficient in many emerging markets, including the PRC, compared to those made by U.S. domestic companies. In discussing the specific issues related to the greater risk, the statement again highlights the PCAOB’s inability to inspect audit work paper and practices of accounting firms in the PRC, with respect to their audit work of U.S. reporting companies. However, it remains unclear what further actions the SEC and PCAOB will take and our impact on the PRC companies listed in the U.S.

On June 4, 2020, the U.S. President issued a memorandum ordering the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (the “PWG”) to submit a report to the President within 60 days of the memorandum that includes recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch and by the SEC or PCAOB on Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their audit firms, in an effort to protect investors in the U.S. On August 6, 2020, the PWG released a report recommending that the SEC take steps to implement the five recommendations outlined in the report. In particular, to address companies from jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfil its statutory mandate, or “Non-Cooperating Jurisdictions” (NCJs), the PWG recommends enhanced listing standards on U.S. stock exchanges. This would require, as a condition to initial and continued exchange listing, PCAOB access to work papers of the principal audit firm for the audit of the listed company. Companies unable to satisfy this standard as a result of governmental restrictions on access to audit work papers and practices in NCJs may satisfy this standard by providing a co-audit from an audit firm with comparable resources and experience where the PCAOB determines it has sufficient access to audit work papers and practices to conduct an appropriate inspection of the co-audit firm. The report permits the new listing standards to provide for a transition period until January 1, 2022 for listed companies. If we fail to meet the new listing standards before the deadline specified thereunder due to factors beyond our control, we could face possible de-listing from the NASDAQ, deregistration from the SEC and/or other risks, which may materially and adversely affect, or effectively terminate, the common stock’s trading in the United States. There were recent media reports about the SEC’s proposed rulemaking in this regard. It is uncertain whether the PWG recommendations will be adopted, in whole or in part, and the impact of any new rule on us cannot be estimated at this time.

Inspections of other firms that the PCAOB has conducted outside the PRC have identified deficiencies in those firms’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in the PRC makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of the PRC that are subject to PCAOB inspections. Investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.

As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular the PRC’s, in June 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress that would require the SEC to maintain a list of issuers for which PCAOB is not able to inspect or investigate an auditor report issued by a foreign public accounting firm. The Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges (EQUITABLE) Act prescribes increased disclosure requirements for these issuers and, beginning in 2025, the delisting from U.S. national securities exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange of issuers included on the SEC’s list for three consecutive years. On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed S. 945, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA. The HFCAA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 2, 2020. The HFCAA was signed into law by the president of the United States on December 18, 2020. In essence, the HFCAA requires the SEC to prohibit companies from listing securities on U.S. securities exchanges if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. The enactment of the HFCAA and any additional rulemaking efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information in the PRC could cause investor uncertainty for affected SEC registrants, including us, the market price of the common stock could be materially adversely affected, and we could be delisted if we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement in time. Specifically, if our independent public accounting firm continues to be a PRC-based auditor, then the enactment of the HFCAA could result in our common stock being delisted.

If additional remedial measures are imposed on the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, in the administrative proceedings brought by the SEC alleging the firms’ failure to meet specific criteria set by the SEC, with respect to requests for the production of documents, we could be unable to timely file future financial statements in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Starting in 2011, the PRC affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, were affected by a conflict between U.S. and PRC law. Specifically, for certain U.S. listed companies operating and audited in mainland China, the SEC and the PCAOB sought to obtain from the PRC firms access to their audit work papers and related documents. The firms were, however, advised and directed that under PRC law they could not respond directly to the U.S. regulators on those requests, and that requests by foreign regulators for access to such papers in the PRC had to be channeled through the CSRC.

In late 2012, this impasse led the SEC to commence administrative proceedings under Rule 102(e) of our Rules of Practice and also under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act against the PRC affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm. A first instance trial of the proceedings in July 2013 in the SEC’s internal administrative court resulted in an adverse judgment against the PRC accounting firms. The administrative law judge proposed penalties on the firms including a temporary suspension of their right to practice before the SEC, although that proposed penalty did not take effect pending review by the Commissioners of the SEC. On February 6, 2015, before a review by the Commissioner had taken place, the PRC accounting firms reached a settlement with the SEC whereby the proceedings were stayed. Under the settlement, the SEC accepts that future requests by the SEC for the production of documents would normally be made to the CSRC. The PRC accounting firms would receive matching Section 106 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and would be required to abide by a detailed set of procedures with respect to such requests, which in substance would require them to facilitate production via the CSRC. If they fail to meet specified criteria, the SEC retains authority to impose a variety of additional remedial measures on the firms depending on the nature of the failure. Remedies for any future noncompliance could include, as appropriate, an automatic six-month bar on a single firm’s performance of certain audit work, commencement of a new proceeding against a firm, or, in extreme cases, the resumption of the current proceeding against all four firms. If additional remedial measures are imposed on the PRC affiliates of the “big four” accounting firms, including our independent registered public accounting firm, in administrative proceedings

brought by the SEC alleging the firms’ failure to meet specific criteria set by the SEC with respect to requests for the production of documents, we could be unable to timely file future financial statements in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

In the event that the SEC restarts the administrative proceedings, depending upon the final outcome, companies listed in the United States with major operations in the PRC may find it difficult or impossible to retain auditors in respect of their operations in the PRC, which could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including possible delisting. Moreover, any negative news about any such future proceedings against these audit firms may cause investor uncertainty regarding PRC-based, United States-listed companies, and the market price of the common stock may be adversely affected.

If our independent registered public accounting firm were denied, even temporarily, the ability to practice before the SEC and we were unable to timely find another registered public accounting firm to audit and issue an opinion on our financial statements, our financial statements could be determined not to be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act. Such a determination could ultimately lead to the delisting of the common stock from the NASDAQ or deregistration from the SEC, or both, which would substantially reduce or effectively terminate the trading of the common stock in the United States.

Under the EIT Law, we may be classified as a “resident enterprise” of the PRC. Such classification will likely result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC stockholders.

Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a “resident enterprise,” meaning that it can be treated in a manner similar to a Chinese enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes. The Regulations on Implementing the EIT Law defines de facto management as “substantial and overall management and control over the production and operations, personnel, accounting, and properties” of the enterprise.

The State Administration of Taxation has issued the Notice Concerning Relevant Issues Regarding Cognizance of Chinese Investment Controlled Enterprises Incorporated Offshore as Resident Enterprises pursuant to Criteria of de facto Management Bodies, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2008, or the Notice, further interpreting the application of the EIT Law and our implementation to a non-Chinese enterprise or group controlled by onshore entities. Pursuant to the Notice, an enterprise incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction and controlled by a Chinese enterprise or group will be classified as a “non-domestically incorporated resident enterprise” if (1) our senior management in charge of daily operations reside or perform their duties mainly in the PRC; (2) our financial or personnel decisions are made or approved by bodies or persons in the PRC; (3) our substantial assets and properties, accounting books, corporate chops, board and shareholder minutes are kept in the PRC; and (4) at least half of our directors with voting rights or senior management often resident in the PRC. A resident enterprise would be subject to an enterprise income tax rate of 25% on our worldwide income and must pay a withholding tax at a rate of 10% when paying dividends to our non-PRC shareholders. However, detailed measures regarding the imposition of tax on non-domestically incorporated resident enterprises are unavailable. Therefore, it is unclear how tax authorities will determine tax residency based on the facts of each case.

We believe that we are not a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” If the PRC tax authorities determine that we and any of our subsidiaries outside of the PRC are a “PRC resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, a number of unfavorable PRC tax consequences could follow. First, we may be subject to the enterprise income tax at a rate of 25% on our worldwide taxable income as well as PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. Second, although under the EIT Law and our implementing rules dividends paid to us from our PRC subsidiary would qualify as “tax-exempt income,” we cannot guarantee that such dividends will not be subject to a 10% withholding tax, as the PRC foreign exchange control authorities, which enforce the withholding tax, have not yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises for PRC enterprise income tax purposes. Finally, if we are determined to be a “PRC resident enterprise,” it is possible that a 10% withholding tax may be imposed on dividends we pay to our non-PRC stockholders (other non-resident individual investors) and with respect to gains derived by our non-PRC stockholders from transferring our shares, while our non-resident individual investors may be subject to a PRC individual income tax rate of 20%, unless

otherwise provided by any tax treaties or similar arrangements. We are actively monitoring the possibility of “PRC resident enterprise” treatment for the 2021 tax year and are evaluating appropriate organizational changes to avoid this treatment, to the extent possible.

The heightened scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our business operations, our acquisition or restructuring strategy or the value of your investment in us.

The State Administration of Taxation has promulgated several rules and notices to tighten the scrutiny over acquisition transactions in recent years, including the Circular of State Administration of Taxation on Strengthening the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax on Income from Equity Transfers by Non-resident Enterprises on December 10, 2009 with retroactive effect from January 1, 2008, or SAT Circular 698, the Notice of State Administration of Taxation on Certain Issues Concerning the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises on March 28, 2011, or SAT Circular 24, and the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Certain Enterprise Income Tax Matters on Indirect Transfer of Properties by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises on February 3, 2015, or SAT Circular 7. For example, SAT Circular 7 provides that if a non-PRC resident enterprise indirectly transfers so-called PRC Taxable Properties, referring to properties of an establishment or a place of business in the PRC, real estate properties in the PRC and equity investments in a PRC tax resident enterprise, by disposition of the equity interests in an overseas non-public holding company without a reasonable commercial purpose and resulting in the avoidance of PRC enterprise income tax, such transfer will be re-characterized as a direct transfer of the PRC Taxable Properties and gains derived from such transfer may be subject to PRC withholding tax at a rate of up to 10%. SAT Circular 7 has listed several factors to be taken into consideration by the tax authorities in determining if an indirect transfer has a reasonable commercial purpose. However, despite these factors, an indirect transfer satisfying all the following criteria will be deemed to lack reasonable commercial purpose and be taxable under the PRC laws: (1) 75% or more of the equity value of the overseas enterprise being transferred is derived directly or indirectly from PRC Taxable Properties; (2) at any time during the one year period before the indirect transfer, 90% or more of the asset value of the overseas enterprise (excluding cash) is comprised directly or indirectly of investments in the PRC, or 90% or more of its income is derived directly or indirectly from the PRC; (3) the functions performed and risks assumed by the overseas enterprise and any of its subsidiaries that directly or indirectly hold the PRC Taxable Properties are limited and are insufficient to prove their economic substance; and (4) the foreign tax payable on the gain derived from the indirect transfer of the PRC Taxable Properties is lower than the potential Chinese tax on the direct transfer of those assets. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the indirect transfers falling into the scope of a safe harbor under SAT Circular 7 may not be subject to PRC tax. Safe harbors in SAT Circular 7 include qualified group restructurings, public market trades and tax treaty exemptions.

Under SAT Circular 7 and other PRC tax regulations, in case of an indirect transfer, entities or individuals obligated to pay the transfer price to the transferor shall be the withholding agent and are required to withhold the PRC tax from the transfer price. If the withholding agents fail to do so, the transferor is required to report to and pay the PRC tax to the PRC tax authorities. If neither party complies with the tax payment or withholding obligations under SAT Circular 7, the tax authority may impose penalties such as late payment interest on the transferor. In addition, the tax authority may also hold the withholding agents liable and impose a penalty. The penalty imposed on the withholding agents may be reduced or waived if the withholding agents have submitted the relevant materials in connection with the indirect transfer to the PRC tax authorities in accordance with SAT Circular 7.

Although the rules and notices discussed above have been promulgated for years, there is a lack of clear statutory interpretation for their implementation. As a result, there is no assurance that the tax authorities will not apply SAT Circular 24 and SAT Circular 7 to our restructuring. Consequently, we and our existing non-PRC resident investors may be at risk of being taxed, or subject to penalties under these rules and notices and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with or to establish that we should not be taxed under these rules and notices, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations or those non-PRC resident investors’ investments in us.

We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.K. Bribery Act, Chinese and other anti-corruption laws, and any determination that we violated these laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act and other applicable anti-corruption laws that prohibit improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials and political parties by U.S. persons and issuers as defined by the statute, for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We have operations, have agreements with third parties, and make most of our sales in the PRC. Since most of the end users and OEM bus manufacturers are state-owned companies in the PRC, substantially most of our interactions with our end users and customers are with “government officials,” as such term is defined in the FCPA. The PRC also strictly prohibits bribery of government officials. Our activities in the PRC create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by the employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors of our subsidiaries, even though they may not always be subject to our control. We have implemented safeguards that seek to discourage and prevent these practices by our employees. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and the employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors of our subsidiaries may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, or Chinese or other anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities in addition to adverse publicity, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold our subsidiaries liable for successor liability FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire.

The implementation of the new PRC employment contract law and increases in the labor costs in the PRC may hurt our business and profitability.

The PRC adopted the new Labor Contract Law on June 29, 2007, which became effective on January 1, 2008 and was amended on December 28, 2012. The Labor Contract Law and related rules and regulations impose more stringent requirements on employers with regard to, among others, minimum wages, severance payment and non-fixed-term employment contracts, and establish time limits for probation periods, as well as the duration and the times that an employee can be placed on a fixed-term employment contract. Due to the lack of clarity with respect to implementation of the Labor Contract Law and our implementation rules and regulations and potential penalties and fines, it is uncertain how they will impact our current employment policies and practices. In particular, compliance with the Labor Contract Law and our implementation rules and regulations may increase our operating expenses. In the event that we decide to terminate some of our employees or otherwise change our employment or labor practices, the Labor Contract Law and our implementation rules and regulations may also limit our ability to effect those changes in a manner that we believe to be cost-effective or desirable, and could result in a material decrease in our profitability.

Labor costs in the PRC may also be subject to high levels of wage inflation, as it is common for companies to offer high salaries to lure skilled staff away from established manufacturers. Thus, we may need to pay higher wages to keep current, or hire new, skilled staff.

Our failure to adequately contribute the statutory employee benefit plans may expose us to potential penalties.

Companies operating in the PRC are required to participate in various government sponsored employee benefit plans, including certain social insurance, housing funds and other welfare-oriented payment obligations, and contribute to the plans in amounts equal to certain percentages of salaries, including bonuses and allowances, of our employees up to a maximum amount specified by the local government from time to time at locations where we operate our businesses. The requirement of employee benefit plans has not been implemented consistently by the local governments in the PRC given the different levels of economic development in different locations. If we are subject to late fees or fines in relation to the underpaid employee benefits, or such noncompliance, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

If relations between the United States and China worsen, investors may be unwilling to hold or buy our stock and our stock price may decrease.

At various times during recent years, the United States and China have had significant disagreements over political and economic issues. Controversies may arise in the future between these two countries that may affect our

economic outlook both in the United States and in China. Any political or trade controversies between the United States and China, whether or not directly related to our business, could affect investors’ willingness to hold or buy our stock and reduce the price of our common stock.

Investors may face difficulties in protecting their interests and exercising their rights as a stockholder of ours since we conduct a significant amount of our operations in China.

We conduct a significant amount of our operations in China through MPS, our majority owned subsidiary in China. Because of this factor, it may be difficult for investors to conduct due diligence on our company. As a result, our public stockholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests through actions against our management, directors or major stockholders than would stockholders of a corporation doing business entirely or predominantly within the United States.

If we become directly subject to the recent scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies, we may have to expend significant resources to investigate and resolve the matter which could harm our business operations, stock price and reputation and could result in a loss of your investment in our stock, especially if such matter cannot be addressed and resolved favorably.

Recently, there have been cases where U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in the PRC have been the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity by investors, financial commentators and regulatory agencies, such as the SEC. Much of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity has centered on financial and accounting irregularities and mistakes, a lack of effective internal controls over financial accounting, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud. As a result of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity, the publicly traded stock of many U.S. listed Chinese companies has sharply decreased in value and, in some cases, has become virtually worthless. Many of these companies are now subject to shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions, and are conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations. It is not clear what effect this sector-wide scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity will have on us, our business and our stock price. If we become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we will have to expend significant resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. This situation will be costly and time consuming and distract our management from growing our business. If such allegations are not proven to be groundless, we and our business operations will be adversely affected and your investment in our stock could be rendered worthless.

In addition, the United States government has recently been highly critical of U.S. listed Chinese companies, in some cases working to bar them from U.S. markets or stock exchanges. So far, these allegations are mainly centered on communication companies, or companies with suspected ties to the Chinese military. While we believe these concerns don’t apply to us, future allegations or regulations might negatively impact us.

Risks Related to Ownership of Common Stock

We may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity securities without your approval, which would dilute your ownership interests and may depress the market price of common stock.

We have warrants outstanding to purchase up to an aggregate of 28,437,000 shares of common stock. We may also issue additional shares of common stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank in the future for any reason or in connection with, among other things, future acquisitions, the redemption of outstanding warrants, or repayment of outstanding indebtedness, without stockholder approval, in a number of circumstances.

Our issuance of additional shares of common stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank would have the following effects:

•        our existing stockholders’ proportionate ownership interest in us will decrease;

•        the amount of cash available per share, including for payment of dividends in the future, may decrease;

•        the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding share of common stock may be diminished; and

•        the market price of common stock may decline.

Future resales of the common stock issued in connection with the Merger may cause the market price of our securities to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

Under the Merger Agreement, the Microvast stockholders will receive their pro rata portion of an aggregate of 209,999,991 shares of common stock and could receive up to an additional 19,999,988 shares of common stock if certain earnout conditions are achieved.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the Sponsor Group and certain Microvast Holders will enter into the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, providing for certain lock-up periods with respect to the shareholders party thereto. Under the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, the stockholders party thereto will be entitled to certain demand and piggyback registration rights with respect to the resale of the shares owned by them. See the section titled “The Merger Agreement — Additional Agreements.”

In addition, we issued an aggregate of 6,736,106 shares of common stock upon the Bridge Notes Conversion and 48,250,000 shares of common stock in the PIPE Financing. Upon expiration of the applicable lock-up periods and upon the effectiveness of any registration statement we file pursuant to the above-referenced Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, in a registered offering of securities pursuant to the Securities Act, or otherwise in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act, the Sponsor Group, the PIPE Investors and Microvast stockholders may sell large amounts of common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, which could have the effect of increasing the volatility in our stock price or putting significant downward pressure on the price of our stock.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make the common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we are only required to provide two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related selected financial data and management discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations disclosure. In addition, we are not required to obtain auditor attestation of our reporting on internal control over financial reporting, have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and are not required to hold non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation. In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of these accounting standards until they would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of such extended transition period. We cannot predict whether investors will find the common stock to be less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions. If some investors find the common stock to be less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the common stock and the price of the common stock may be more volatile.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (1) the end of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion; (2) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date on which we consummated our initial public offering (“IPO”) (or December 31, 2024); (3) the date on which we issue more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three-year period; or (4) the end of the fiscal year in which the market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

Further, there is no guarantee that the exemptions available to us under the JOBS Act will result in significant savings. To the extent that we choose not to use exemptions from various reporting requirements under the JOBS Act, we will incur additional compliance costs, which may impact our financial condition.

The Charter provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.

The Charter provides that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee or stockholder to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim (A) arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Charter or the bylaws or (B) as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (iv) any action asserting a claim

governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be solely and exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have jurisdiction, any state or federal court located in the State of Delaware with jurisdiction. The forum provision further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any action asserting claims arising under the Securities Act. This forum selection provision does not apply to any action asserting claims arising under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in the Charter.

This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that we do not find favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the Charter to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

The Charter and Bylaws contain certain provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay, discourage or prevent takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.

The Charter and Bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, discouraging, delaying or preventing a takeover attempt that may be beneficial to our stockholders but that is deemed undesirable by Wu and therefore depress the trading price of our common stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for our stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by Wu or the Sponsor or amending the Charter. The Charter and Bylaws provide for, among other things:

•        the ability of the Board to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;

•        the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, our directors and officers;

•        the number of directors on the Board shall be determined by resolution of the Board, provided that any increase or decrease in the number of directors shall require the affirmative vote of the directors nominated by Wu as provided in the Stockholders Agreement;

•        the requirement that any Board vacancies occurring by reason of the death, resignation or removal of any director nominated by Wu or the Sponsor must be filled by the stockholder who was entitled to nominate such director to the Board;

•        the requirement that committees of the Board shall consist of the number of directors nominated by Wu that is proportionate to the number of directors on the Board nominated by Wu;

•        the prohibition of stockholder action by written consent for any action that is required or permitted to be taken at an annual or special stockholders meeting;

•        the ability to call for a special meeting of stockholders shall only be available to (i) the Board, (ii) the chairman of the Board and (iii) Wu, so long as Wu beneficially owns at least 10% of the total voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, which could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;

•        the limitation that directors on the Board may only be removed for a cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the total voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class;

•        the election that the Company not be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL, which would prohibit the Company from taking certain actions involving an “interested stockholder” for a certain period of time;

•        the requirement that any amendment to the Charter shall be approved by (i) the holders of 75% of the total voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote generally in

These broad market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of common stock is low. As a result, you may suffer a loss on your investment.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

We do not intend to pay dividends on common stock for the foreseeable future.

We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends on the common stock in the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of the Board and will depend on, among other things, the business prospects, results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, legal requirements, certain restrictions related to indebtedness, industry trends and other factors that the Board may deem relevant. Any such decision will also be subject to compliance with contractual restrictions and covenants in the agreements governing current and future indebtedness. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness, the terms of which may further restrict or prevent us from paying dividends on the common stock. As a result, you may have to sell some or all of your common stock after price appreciation in order to generate cash flow from your investment, which you may not be able to do. Our inability or decision not to pay dividends, particularly when others in our industry have elected to do so, could also adversely affect the market price of the common stock.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or industry or downgrade the common stock, the price of the common stock could decline.

The trading market for the common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about us and the industries in which we operate. We may be unable or slow to attract research coverage and if one or more analysts cease coverage on us, the price and trading volume of our securities would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts that may cover us change their recommendation regarding our securities adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our securities would likely decline. If any analyst that may cover us ceases covering us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, it could cause us to lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price or trading volume of the securities to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades the common stock, or if our reporting results do not meet their expectations, the market price of common stock could decline.

The issuance of additional shares of common stock or convertible securities could make it difficult for another company to acquire us, may dilute your ownership and could adversely affect the stock price.

We intend to file a registration statement with the SEC on Form S-8 providing for the registration of shares of common stock issued or reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan. Subject to the satisfaction of vesting conditions and the expiration of lockup agreements, shares registered under the registration statement on Form S-8 will be available for resale immediately in the public market without restriction. From time to time in the future, we may also issue additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock pursuant to a variety of transactions, including acquisitions. The issuance by us of additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock would dilute your ownership of the Company and the sale of a significant amount of such shares in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices of common stock.

In the future, we expect to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our capital stock or offering debt or other equity securities, including senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity, or shares of preferred stock. Issuing additional shares of our capital stock, other equity securities, or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders, reduce the market price of common stock, or both. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions

Under this method of accounting, Tuscan will be treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Business Combination will be treated as the equivalent of Microvast issuing stock for the net assets of Tuscan, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of Tuscan will be stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the Business Combination will be those of Microvast.

Description of the Business Combination

On February 1, 2021, Tuscan entered into the Merger Agreement. The consideration paid in connection with the Business Combination consisted of shares of common stock. At the closing of the Merger Agreement, a series of transactions occurred, including the following: (1) Tuscan issued 48,250,000 shares of common stock to certain investors for $482,500,000; (2) Tuscan issued 6,736,106 shares of common stock upon conversion of an aggregate of $57,500,000 outstanding Bridge Notes pursuant to the Bridge Note Conversion; (3) Merger Sub merged with and into Microvast with Microvast as the surviving corporation of the Merger; (4) all of the outstanding equity interests in Microvast were converted into 209,999,991 shares of common stock; (5) each of the 27,493,140 shares of publicly held common stock that was outstanding prior to the Merger remained outstanding unless the holders thereof elected to convert such shares into cash in connection with the Business Combination; and (6) the 708,589 Units and 6,900,000 shares of common stock owned by the Sponsor and the 128,411 Units and 300,000 shares of common stock held by EarlyBirdCapital remained outstanding. In connection with the Merger, the holders of 90,372 shares of common stock elected to convert those shares into their pro rata share of Tuscan’s trust account, resulting in payments to them of $922,698 and such conversions have been reflected in the pro forma adjustments. In addition, if, during the 3-year period following the closing of the Merger, the common stock trades above $18.00 per share, or there is a change of control in which equity holders receive $18.00 or more per share, 19,999,988 Earn-Out Shares will be issued to the former equity holders of Microvast. Since the Business Combination is accounted for as a reverse capitalization and the Earn-Out Shares are indexed to our equity, the Earn-Out Shares meet the criteria for equity classification and are accounted for as such in the pro forma financial statements.

Following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Microvast is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and former Microvast equity holders own 69.9% of the Company.

The following summarizes the pro forma shares of common stock legally outstanding following consummation of the Merger:

____________

(a)      Excludes the Earn-Out Shares, if any.

(b)      Includes 1,687,500 shares that may be subject to cancellation in accordance with the amended escrow agreement.

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet as of June 30, 2021, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2021, and the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 are based on the historical financial statements of Tuscan and Microvast. The unaudited transaction adjustments are based on information currently available, assumptions and estimates underlying the unaudited transaction adjustments and are described in the accompanying notes. Actual results may differ materially from the assumptions used to present the accompanying unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED BALANCE SHEET

AS OF JUNE 30, 2021

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED BALANCE SHEET

AS OF JUNE 30, 2021 — (Continued)

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2021
(in thousands, except share and per share data)

NOTES TO UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1. Basis of Presentation

The Business Combination will be accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with GAAP as Microvast has been determined to be the accounting acquirer, primarily due to the fact that former Microvast equity holders will continue to control Microvast Holdings. Under this method of accounting, while Tuscan is the legal acquirer, it will be treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the Business Combination will be treated as the equivalent of Microvast issuing stock for the net assets of Tuscan, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of Tuscan will be stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the Business Combination will be those of Microvast.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 assumes that the Business Combination occurred on June 30, 2021. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and for the year ended December 31, 2020 present pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if they have been completed on January 1, 2020.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 has been prepared using, and should be read in conjunction with, the following:

•        Tuscan’s unaudited condensed balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 and the related notes, included in this prospectus; and

•        Microvast’s unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 and the related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2021 has been prepared using, and should be read in conjunction with, the following:

•        Tuscan’s unaudited condensed statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the related notes, included in this prospectus; and

•        Microvast’s unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operation for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and the related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 has been prepared using, and should be read in conjunction with, the following:

•        Tuscan’s statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus; and

•        Microvast’s consolidated statement of operation for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Management has made significant estimates and assumptions in its determination of the transaction adjustments. As the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared based on these preliminary estimates, the final amounts recorded may differ materially from the information presented.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information does not give effect to any anticipated synergies, or dis-synergies, operating efficiencies, tax savings, or cost savings that may be associated with the Business Combination.

The transaction adjustments reflecting the consummation of the Business Combination is based on certain currently available information and certain assumptions and methodologies that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. The unaudited condensed transaction adjustments, which are described in the accompanying notes, may be revised as additional information becomes available and is evaluated. Therefore, it is likely that the actual adjustments will differ from the transaction adjustments and it is possible the difference may be material. The

Company believes that these assumptions and methodologies provide a reasonable basis for presenting all of the significant effects of the Business Combination based on information available to management at the time and that the transaction adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions and are properly applied in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is not necessarily indicative of what the actual results of operations and financial position would have been had the Business Combination taken place on the dates indicated, nor are they indicative of the future consolidated results of operations or financial position of Microvast Holdings. They should be read in conjunction with the historical financial statements and notes thereto of Tuscan and Microvast.

2. Accounting Policies

Upon consummation of the Business Combination, Microvast Holdings’ management will perform a comprehensive review of the two entities’ accounting policies. As a result of the review, management may identify differences between the accounting policies of the two entities which, when conformed, could have a material impact on the financial statements of Microvast Holdings. Based on its initial analysis, management did not identify any differences that would have a material impact on the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information. As a result, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information does not assume any differences in accounting policies.

3. Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared to illustrate the effect of the Business Combination and has been prepared for informational purposes only. The historical financial statements have been adjusted in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information to give pro forma effect to the Business Combination by using transaction accounting adjustments, autonomous entity adjustments and optional disclosure of management’s adjustments related to synergies and dis-synergies. Tuscan and Microvast have not had any historical relationship prior to the Business Combination. Accordingly, no transaction adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies.

The unaudited pro forma combined provision for income taxes does not necessarily reflect the amounts that would have resulted had Microvast Holdings filed consolidated income tax returns during the periods presented.

The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted earnings per share amounts presented in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of operations are based upon the number of shares of Microvast Holdings’ common stock outstanding, assuming the Business Combination occurred on January 1, 2020.

Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Balance Sheet

The adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 are as follows:

A.     Reflects the reclassification of cash held in the trust account that becomes available following the Business Combination.

B.      Reflects the settlement of accrued expenses pursuant to the Administrative Support Agreement which will be terminated upon the consummation of the Merger.

C.     Reflects the conversion of an unsecured promissory note into 150,000 units on the same terms as the private units.

D.     Reflects the conversion of $281.6 million conversion value of common stock subject to conversion to permanent equity after Tuscan stockholders holding 90,372 shares exercised their Conversion rights.

E.      Reflects the conversion of the Microvast Convertible Loans, Preferred Stock and noncontrolling interests into common stock in accordance with the Merger Agreement and the Framework Agreement.

F.      Reflects the elimination of Tuscan’s historical accumulated retained earnings.

G.     Represents preliminary estimated transaction costs incurred as part of the Business Combination totalling $58.0 million, consisting of (i) approximately $21.1 million of placement agent fees and related expenses payable to the placement agents upon the closing of the PIPE transaction, (ii) financial and transaction advisory fees of approximately $14.8 million payable upon consummation of the Business Combination, (iii) a fee of approximately $9.7 million payable to EarlyBirdCapital under the agreement that Tuscan entered into with EarlyBirdCapital in connection with the IPO, and (iv) printing, legal, accounting and other fees of $12.4 million. $42.5 million offering costs related to capital raise for Microvast has been recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital and the remainder as an increase to accumulated deficit.

H.     Reflects (i) proceeds of $482.5 million from the issuance of 48,250,000 shares of common stock at a price of $10.00 per share pursuant to the PIPE Subscription Agreements and (ii) automatic conversion of $64.3 million bonds issued in January and February 2021 to 6,736,106 shares of common stock pursuant to the subscription agreements for the Bridge Note Conversion (the price for the shares converted from convertible notes is $8 and $9 for Tranche I and Tranche II, respectively).

I.       Reflects actual redemption of 90,372 shares into $0.9 million in cash by Tuscan stockholders upon consummation of the Merger.

Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Statements of Operations

The transaction adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 and for the six months ended June 30, 2021 are as follows:

AA:  Reflects the elimination of interest income generated from investment held in trust account.

BB:   Reflects the elimination of interest expense as a result of loan repayment at Closing.

CC:   Reflects the elimination of unrealized gain on investment held in trust account.

DD:  Reflects the elimination of income tax expense as a result of elimination of the trust account income.

EE:   Reflects the elimination of changes in fair value of convertible promissory notes — related party.

FF:    Reflects the elimination of changes in fair value of convertible notes at fair value.

GG:  Reflects the transaction costs which are not offering costs related to capital raise for Microvast. Refer to note G above for details.

4. Earnings per Share

Represents net earnings per share calculated using the historical weighted average shares outstanding, and the issuance of additional shares in connection with the Business Combination, assuming the shares were outstanding since January 1, 2020. As the Business Combination is being reflected as if it had occurred at the beginning of the periods presented, the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted net loss per share assumes that the shares issuable relating to the Business Combination have been outstanding for the entire periods presented. If the maximum number of shares are converted, this calculation is retroactively adjusted to eliminate such shares for the entire periods.

COMPARATIVE SHARE INFORMATION

The following table sets forth selected historical comparative share information for Tuscan and Microvast and unaudited pro forma condensed combined per share information of Microvast Holdings after giving effect to the Business Combination.

The pro forma book value information reflects the Business Combination as if it had occurred on June 30, 2021. The weighted average shares outstanding and net earnings per share information reflect the Business Combination as if it had occurred on January 1, 2020. This information is only a summary and should be read together with the historical financial statements of Tuscan and Microvast and related notes. The unaudited pro forma combined per share information of Tuscan and Microvast is derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The unaudited pro forma combined earnings per share information below does not purport to represent the earnings per share which would have occurred had the companies been combined during the periods presented, nor earnings per share for any future date or period. The unaudited pro forma combined book value per share information below does not purport to represent what the value of Tuscan and Microvast would have been had the companies been combined during the periods presented.

____________

(1)      Book value per share = Total equity excluding mezzanine equity/shares outstanding

(2)      The equivalent pro forma basic and diluted per share data for Microvast is calculated by multiplying the combined pro forma per share data by the 160.3 Exchange Ratio.

(3)      Number of shares excluded from per share data because they were antidilutive (a) approximately 28.4 million shares of Tuscan common stock underlying the warrants sold in the Tuscan IPO and private placement, (b) approximately 33.6 million Microvast shares for unvested, and/or unexercised non-vested shares and stock options, (c) 20.0 million Earn-Out Shares issuable under the contingent consideration earnout section of the Merger Agreement and (d) 1.68 million Sponsor shares that may be subject to cancellation if certain stock price is not met.

(4)      There is no Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Balance Sheet required for December 31, 2020, so no pro forma book value per share for December 31, 2020 is presented.

(each, a “Wu Director”) less the number of Wu Directors then serving on the board and whose terms in office are not expiring at such meeting. Wu, Yanzhuan Zheng, Stanley Whittingham and Arthur Wong were nominated by Wu as the initial Wu Directors.

So long as the Sponsor beneficially owns at least 5,481,441 shares of common stock, the Sponsor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to nominate for election to the board at every meeting of the stockholders of the Company at which directors are elected, one individual (the “Sponsor Director”) less the number of Sponsor Directors then serving on the board and whose terms in office are not expiring at such meeting. Stephen Vogel was nominated by the Sponsor as the initial Sponsor Director.

Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement

At the Closing, the Company entered into a Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement (the “Registration Rights and Lockup Agreement”) with stockholders of Microvast prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, the affiliates of certain former investors in our subsidiary Microvast Power System (Houzhou) Co. Ltd., the Sponsor and certain officers and directors of the Company, pursuant to which the Company is obligated to file a registration statement promptly following the Closing to register the resale of certain securities of the Company held by the parties to the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement. The Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement provides the parties thereto with “piggy-back” registration rights, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions. There are no cash penalties under the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement for failure to timely file a required registration statement.

Subject to certain exceptions, the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement further provides (1) Wu will be subject to a lock-up of one year post closing with respect to 25% of his shares of common stock and a lock-up of two years for the remaining 75% of his shares of common stock, provided that, with respect to the 25% of his shares subject to the one-year lock-up, he can sell those shares if the shares trade at $15.00 or above for 20 days in any 30-day period, (2) the Microvast equity holders other than Wu are subject to a six-month lock-up post closing, and (3) with respect to the shares of common stock owned by the Sponsor, Stefan M. Selig, Richard O. Rieger and Amy Butte (collectively, the “Sponsor Group”), such shares shall be subject to the transfer restrictions provided in the Amendment to Escrow Agreement described below.

Escrow Agreement Amendment

In connection with the execution of the Parent Support Agreement, the Sponsor and related parties entered into an amendment to the Escrow Agreement between Tuscan, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Sponsor Group (“Escrow Agreement”) pursuant to which 6,750,000 shares held by Tuscan Holdings Acquisition LLC (“Sponsor”), and the 30,000 shares held by each of Stefan M. Selig, Richard O. Rieger and Amy Butte (together with the Sponsor, the “Founders”) are being held post-Closing. Pursuant to the amended Escrow Agreement:

•        The 5,062,500 shares of common stock held by Sponsor (“Sponsor Upfront Escrow Shares”) and all of the shares of common stock held by Founders other than Sponsor (the “Founder Upfront Escrow Shares”) shall be held until (i) with respect to 3,375,000 Sponsor Upfront Escrow Shares and 45,000 Founder Upfront Escrow Shares, the earlier of (A) one year following the date of the Closing (the “Anniversary Release Date”) and (B) the date on which the last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $12.50 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period following the Closing, and (ii) with respect to the remaining Sponsor Upfront Escrow Shares and Founder Upfront Escrow Shares, the Anniversary Release Date.

•        The Escrow Agent shall hold the 50% of the 1,687,500 shares of common stock held by Sponsor (the “Sponsor Earn-Out Escrow Shares”) until the later of (A) the Anniversary Release Date and (B) the date on which the last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period following the Closing (the “First Earn-Out Target”).

•        The Escrow Agent shall hold the other 50% of the Sponsor Earn-Out Escrow Shares until the later of (A) the Anniversary Release Date and (B) the date on which the last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $15.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period following the Closing (the “Second Earn-Out Target”).

In the event that neither the First Earn-Out Target Release Notice nor the Second Earn-Out Target Release Notice is delivered on or prior to the fifth anniversary of the Closing, then the Escrow Agent shall release all the Sponsor Earn-Out Escrow Shares to the Company for cancellation for no consideration. In the event that the Second Earn-Out Target Release Notice is not delivered (and the First Earn-Out Target Release Notice has been delivered) on or prior to the fifth anniversary of the Closing, then the Escrow Agent shall release 50% of the Sponsor Earn-Out Escrow Shares to the Company for cancellation for no consideration.

Termination IPO Registration Rights Agreement

The holders of the founders’ shares, as well as the holders of the private units issued in connection with Tuscan’s IPO and any units the Sponsor, initial stockholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans made to us (and all underlying securities), were entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement signed in connection with the IPO. At the Closing, the parties agreed to terminate this registration rights agreement and replace it with the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement.

Indemnity Agreements

On the Closing Date, we entered into indemnity agreements with Wu, Yanzhuan Zheng, Craig Webster, Wei Ying, Stanley Whittingham, Arthur Wong and Stephen Vogel, each of whom became a director following the Business Combination, and Wenjuan Mattis, Ph.D., Shane Smith, Shengxian Wu, Ph.D., Sascha Rene Kelterborn, Sarah Alexander and Lu Gao each of who became executive officers of the Company following the Business Combination. Each indemnity agreement provides that, subject to limited exceptions, and among other things, we will indemnify the director or executive officer to the fullest extent permitted by law for claims arising in his or her capacity as our director or officer.

BUSINESS

Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Microvast Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries following the Business Combination, other than certain historical information which refers to the business of Microvast prior to the consummation of the Business Combination.

We are a technology innovator for lithium ion (“Li-ion”) batteries. We design, develop and manufacture battery systems for electric vehicles and energy storage systems that feature ultra-fast charging capabilities, long life and superior safety. Our vision is to solve the key constraints in electric vehicle development and in high-performance energy storage applications. We believe the ultra-fast charging capabilities of our battery systems make charging electric vehicles as convenient as fueling conventional vehicles. We believe that the long battery life of our battery systems also reduces the total cost of ownership of electric vehicles and energy storage applications.

We offer our customers a broad range of cell chemistries: lithium titanate oxide (“LTO”), lithium iron phosphate (“LFP”), nickel manganese cobalt version 1 (“NMC-1”) and nickel manganese cobalt version 2 (“NMC-2”). Based on our customer’s application, we design, develop and integrate the preferred chemistry into our cell, module and pack manufacturing capabilities. Our strategic priority is to offer these battery solutions for commercial vehicles and energy storage systems. We define commercial vehicles as light, medium, heavy-duty trucks, buses, trains, mining trucks, marine and port applications, automated guided and specialty vehicles. For energy storage applications, we focus on high-performance applications such grid management and frequency regulation.

Additionally, as a vertically integrated battery company, we design, develop and manufacture the following battery components: cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator. We also intend to market our full concentration gradient (“FCG”) cathode and polyaramid separator to passenger car OEMs and consumer electronics manufacturers. Please see the illustration below for an explanation of the functions of different battery parts.

Since we launched our first ultra-fast battery system in 2009, we have sold and delivered approximately 2,327.7 MWh of battery systems or in terms of vehicles, approximately 28,000 vehicles have been powered by our battery systems. As of June 30, 2021, we had a backlog order of approximately $69.3 million for our battery systems equivalent to approximately 229.2 MWh. Our revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2021 increased $19.7 million, or 68.6%, compared to the same period in 2020.

After initially focusing on the PRC and Asia-Pacific regions, we have expanded our presence and product promotion to Europe and the United States to capitalize on the rapidly growing electrification markets.

In Europe, we have delivered over 1,500 units of ultra-fast charging battery systems to bus OEMs and operators as of June 30, 2021. A number of prototype projects are ongoing with regard to sports cars, commercial vehicles (through a partnership with FPT Industrial), trucks, port equipment and marine applications. In addition, we are jointly developing electric power-train solutions with leading commercial vehicle OEMs and a first-tier automotive supplier using LTO, NMC1 and NMC2 technologies. Set forth below is a diagram explaining the basic workings of batteries.

Industry and Market Opportunity

We believe global economic growth, greater awareness of environmental issues, government regulations and incentives and improved electric powertrain technologies are increasing the demand for environmentally friendly energy solutions, including electric vehicles. With the growing focus on, and the broad scientific acceptance of, the link between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, many countries are adopting increasingly stringent environmental standards, especially as regards the emissions of CO2 from many forms of transport. It will be increasingly difficult for the conventional combustion engine to meet the emission targets being proposed, and it is this which creates the huge opportunity for our battery technologies.

Advances in chemistry and materials, of which we have been a leading innovator, have significantly improved electric powertrains. This, combined with the growing investment in charging station infrastructure and clear air initiatives, is leading to higher penetration rates for electric vehicles globally. Many consumers and businesses are increasingly willing to consider buying electric vehicles with new features and capabilities as their preferred clean-energy solution. We believe the following factors will result in significant growth in the market for electric vehicles:

•        Emission regulations:    The introduction of public policies related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced energy efficiency and increasing restrictions on the use of diesel engines, especially in the EU, represent one of the key market drivers for Li-ion e-mobility solutions. In 2014, the EU member states agreed to the 2030 Framework, which includes targets and policy objectives to achieve a more competitive, secure and sustainable energy system within the European Union. The 2030 Framework seeks to reduce energy consumption by 27% by the end of 2030 compared to a “business as usual” scenario (base year 2014). The 2030 Framework also seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% when compared to 1990 levels by 2030. In addition, the European Union has adopted a European Green Deal with the goal of no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. We believe that electrifying the many types of commercial vehicles, which is one of our focus areas, is an important step for countries to meet the current CO2 and NOx targets, which make cities and, in particular, city centers cleaner.

•        Strong pull from transportation authorities and car manufacturers:    Transportation authorities across Europe (for example, in London, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Paris and Milan) have communicated their mid-to-long term plans to replace existing ICE-based bus fleets with new electrified buses. Moreover, regional and city governments across many countries in Europe have been active in general promotion

of e-mobility penetration, through, for example, introduction of bans on diesel cars in city centers and plans for free public transportation in certain towns and cities. More than 200 cities have already introduced emission and access regulation zones and a number of large cities, such as Paris and Madrid, have pledged to ban diesel vehicles from city centers by 2025. On December 15, 2020, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) announced that Europe’s truck manufacturers have concluded that by 2040 all new trucks sold need to be fossil free in order to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050. ACEA represents 16 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers.

•        Push for expanded electric vehicle market from major fleet companies:    In January 2020, Amazon.com, AT&T Inc., DHL Express USA Inc. and other select companies with major delivery fleets came together and joined the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance (CEVA). CEVA will help member companies make and achieve bold commitments to fleet electrification, and is expected to boost the electric vehicle market by signaling the breadth and scale of corporate demand for electric vehicles — expanding the business case for the production of a more diverse array of electric vehicle models:

•        Amazon:    As part of The Climate Pledge, which includes a commitment to deliver 50% of shipments with net zero carbon by 2030, it is pursuing the highest standards in transportation sustainability.

•        DHL:    As part of its commitment to achieve net zero emissions from transport activities by 2050 globally, it has set the ambitious interim target of performing 70% of first- and last-mile operations with green vehicles by 2025. Electric vehicles will play an important role in reaching that target.

•        IKEA:    It has a commitment to use electric vehicles for all of its in-home furniture deliveries by 2025.

Globally, the total addressable market for commercial vehicles is large and rapidly growing. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), electric vehicle penetration in the key markets for commercial vehicle sales (i.e., U.S., Europe, the PRC, Japan and South Korea) is expected to grow from approximately 1.5% of the total units sold in 2020 to approximately 8.5% by 2025. Based on this estimate, the growth in commercial vehicles will increase the demand for battery capacity from 17.5 gigawatt hours (“GWh”) in 2019 to 98.6 GWh in 2025.

We believe that the adoption of electric vehicles has been handicapped by many challenges imposed by conventional battery systems, including:

•        Range anxiety and reduced mobility.    Electric vehicles powered by conventional battery systems need significantly more time to be fully charged and many models (usually with battery capacity of no more than 40kw/h) only provide up to 100 miles of range. This has compared unfavorably to internal combustion engine vehicles which can travel more than 300 miles between fuel stops and can refuel within 10 minutes.

•        High replacement costs.    Most conventional battery systems have a shorter life span than the useful life of the vehicles that they are installed in. As a result of this mismatch, the battery typically needs to be replaced during the life of the vehicle, leading to significant replacement costs.

•        Safety.    Li-ion batteries are known to be a factor in consumer electronic and passenger vehicle fires.

•        Design and performance not optimized for commercial vehicles.    Conventional battery systems designed for passenger cars offer longer charge times and limited cycle life, thus reducing operational efficiency and battery life.

Our Solution

Our approach is offering a tailored battery solution based on the operating requirements of our customers. With a broad range of battery chemistries to select from, we can offer several different battery solutions to our customer. We offer lithium titanite oxide (LTO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and two version of nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC-1, NMC-2). We believe our technologies and battery systems offer the following advantages over commonly used battery systems:

•        Ultra-Fast Charging Capability.    Depending on the selected battery chemistry, we can offer battery solutions that can be fully charged within 10-30 minutes, significantly faster than commonly used battery systems. The ultra-fast charging capabilities of our battery systems significantly enhance electric vehicle mobility and have the potential to accelerate consumer adoption of electric vehicles. Our latest generation LTO cells can be fully charged within 10 minutes, while providing an energy density up to 180 watt hours per liter (“Wh/l”) and 95 Wh/kg. These ultra-fast charging capabilities and long battery life can meet the diverse vehicle design requirements of our OEM customers. Our NMC-2 products can be fully charged within 30 minutes, providing the highest energy density fast charge batteries available on the market today.

•        Long Battery Life.    Depending on the selected battery chemistry, we can offer battery solutions with a life between 2,500 and 20,000 full charge/discharge cycles. The longer battery life enables our battery systems’ useful life to match the life of the vehicles in which our systems are installed, avoiding the need to replace the battery and thereby lowering our customers’ total cost of ownership. For example, our LTO batteries retain 90% of their initial capacity after approximately 10,300 full charge/discharge cycles, according to a test report produced by WMG, an academic department at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

•        Enhanced Margin of Safety.    Drawing from an intellectual property library that took over a decade to develop, we work to increase the margin of safety of our products, beginning with the initial design and through the use of carefully selected battery components. Our LTO battery is inherently safer than other battery chemistries, with very good thermal stability, the ability to operate in a broad range of temperatures, and lower risk of internal short circuits and fire-related hazards. For products demanding higher energy densities, our in-house manufactured battery components, the aramid separator, non-flammable electrolyte, and full concentration gradient cathode individually or collectively are being implemented in certain current and future products to improve product safety. Our in-depth knowledge of how these battery components interact with each other in the battery cell is utilized in the design and build of our products, helping ensure our products have better safety margins.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following strengths position us well to capitalize on and lead the global vehicle electrification trend:

Breakthrough battery solutions

Our vision is to solve the key constraints in electric vehicle batteries and to design electric vehicle power systems that facilitate the mass adoption of electric vehicles. Our battery solutions have a proven track record enabled by our transformational technologies that make electric vehicles more convenient, affordable and safe.

•        We believe our ultra-fast charging battery technology makes charging electric vehicles as convenient as fueling conventional vehicles and has the potential to accelerate consumer adoption of electric vehicles. In addition, our ultra-fast charging battery technology significantly increases the utilization and efficiency of charging stations with its short charging time requirements.

•        Our battery solutions significantly reduce the total cost of ownership of an electric vehicle. Our ultra-fast charging battery technology enables our customers to install fewer battery packs per vehicle, while the longer battery life matches with the life of the vehicle, eliminating the need to replace the battery during the life of the vehicle.

Since the first electric buses powered with our battery system were put into commercial operation in 2009, we have sold and delivered over 28,000 battery systems for commercial vehicles. As of June 30, 2021, our systems are in use in 170 cities from 19 countries under diverse weather conditions, accumulating an estimated 3.8 billion miles of operational distance.

We believe our battery solutions best position us to be a key player in the vehicle electrification revolution and to pave the way for mass adoption of electric vehicles.

Market leader in providing ultra-fast charging battery solutions

We are a provider of ultra-fast charging battery solutions to electric vehicles globally. We believe our ultra-fast charging battery technology best positions us to continue penetrating the fast-growing global electric vehicle market. Since we first launched our LTO ultra-fast charging battery technology in 2009, we have successfully deployed our product portfolio in large scale commercial operations in the PRC, the Asia-Pacific and in Europe. With our expanding customer base in Europe, we believe we are well on our way of establishing ourselves as a leading supplier of Li-ion battery solutions for commercial vehicles in Europe.

Vertical integration from initial concept development to final system manufacturing

We have adopted a customer-oriented product development approach to provide highly customized solutions. This is facilitated by our vertical integration which extends from core battery chemistry to application technologies such as battery management systems and other power control electronics. Our vertical integration capability is supported by our unique R&D and design capabilities across the complete battery system and our established in-house manufacturing capability. This vertical integration capability gives us the flexibility to produce key materials in-house to manage supply and cost of materials. We believe we are one of the very few leading battery solution providers that can provide highly customized battery systems with the ability to address a range of battery materials, manufacturing, application engineering and design issues. The ability to work with partners and customers across the design process enables us to better understand customers’ needs and allows us to customize our products to their specific requirements.

Our vertical integration also enables a quicker and more coordinated development process for new technologies and products. It also ensures better quality and cost control during the manufacturing process. Furthermore, by managing each design step, from battery chemistry to power system, we can better protect our intellectual property and know-how.

Proven track record of innovation

We have adopted a customer focused approach in directing our R&D efforts in order to develop battery technologies that are bespoke to the requirements of commercial vehicle owners. We focus on building our battery systems from the ground up, not relying on any third-party technologies or approaches. The combination of our vertically integrated manufacturing system and cutting-edge lab research has helped us to innovate, develop and quickly commercialize new technologies and products.

We have a strong track record of product innovation, the successful commercialization of such innovations, and those products being proven over many years and across many different types of commercial vehicles. For example, we first launched LTO ultra-fast charging battery technology in 2009 and put it into commercial operation in the same year. As of December 31, 2020, our LTO ultra-fast charging battery system has been sold and delivered for use in over 1,200 buses.

In 2013 we launched the second generation LTO battery system which offers higher energy density while retaining fast charging and long cycle life capabilities. In 2017 we launched the NMC-1 battery system which offers much higher energy density while maintaining market leading fast charging and long cycle life attributes. Most recently, in 2019, we launched the NMC-2 battery system which can be fully charged in 30 minutes while providing the highest energy density fast charge batteries available on the market today.

We have a R&D team of over 500 scientists and engineers, including leading electric vehicle battery industry veterans as well as experts in the research and science community, who are focused on developing cutting edge technologies. As of June 30, 2021, we have been granted 352 patents and have 132 patent applications pending.

Large and growing customer base and applications

We have strategically prioritized the development of battery systems for commercial vehicles and energy storage applications. We believe that our battery systems have a unique combination of features: ultra-fast charging capabilities, long battery life and enhanced safety. These features are highly valued by commercial vehicles and high-performance energy storage customers who are sensitive to the total cost of ownership.

We can count as our customers some of the leading global bus OEMs including Yutong, Higer, Foton, King Long, VDL and Wright Bus. With our batteries being deployed across a broad range of commercial vehicles, including automated guided vehicles, port equipment, mining trucks, fork-lift trucks, we have customer relationships with the likes of Kion, Kalmar, Kone Cranes, Linde, PSA Singapore and Gaussin. All of these names are recognized as leading OEMs in their particular area of focus.

Experienced and visionary senior management team with highly motivated employees

Our founder Mr. Yang Wu, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and Dr. Wenjuan Mattis, our Chief Technology Officer, have led us in successfully innovating and commercializing new technologies. Wu is a visionary leader and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in technology development. While most of our competitors were still focusing on developing lithium iron phosphate-based battery technologies, he focused on developing a new battery technology to create an ultra-fast charging battery to address the key constraints for electric vehicle development. Dr. Mattis has over 16 years of experience in lithium-ion battery business and has 22 publications and 81 patents. Our senior management team also includes Mr. Yanzhuan Zheng, our chief financial officer. Mr. Zheng has over 20 years of experience in accounting, finance and capital markets. Our expansion to regions beyond the Asia Pacific region is led, for the United States, Canada and South America markets, by Mr. Shane Smith, and for Europe, Middle East and North Africa markets, by Mr. Sascha Kelterborn. Mr. Smith and Mr. Kelterborn are both experienced senior managers with more than 20 years international business experience.

As we grow, we remain focused on hiring employees who share the same ethos. We have built a team focused on developing innovative solutions to the problems faced by electric vehicle batteries, and we believe our employees’ shared passion, experience and vision represent an increasingly important competitive advantage.

Our Strategies

Our strategy is to globally market our competitive product portfolio. Initially, we intend to focus our sales and marketing efforts for our battery solutions on commercial vehicle and energy storage customers, where our vertical integration and high-performance technology can address the challenging and diverse set of requirements desired by these customers. For passenger electric vehicles and consumer electronics application we are marketing our FCG cathode and polyaramid separator components to manufacturers that need better materials to meet demands for higher energy densities and greater intrinsic safety.

Global market presence

After primarily being focused on the PRC and Asia-Pacific regions, we are expanding our presence and product promotion to Europe and the United States to capitalize on the rapidly growing electrification markets. In 2021, we are launching a marketing campaign to introduce us to more potential customers in regions outside the Asia Pacific region and adding more headcounts to support business development.

The European market presents enormous growth opportunities for electric vehicles, driven by higher emission standards, reduced total cost of ownership compared to gas-based combustion engines, and growing environmental awareness. In the United States, we believe a new political administration is likely to push the electrification revolution through regulation. In pursuing contract opportunities with industry-leading companies in the United States, we have seen how our potential customers recognize the lower total cost of ownership for commercial vehicles and are seeking alternative forms of energy for energy storage applications.

As we expand our presence globally, we will continue to invest in our existing partnerships in the PRC and the Asia Pacific region and continue to grow our business there.

Improve performance and reduce total cost of ownership of our battery systems

The total cost of ownership is an important criterion for commercial electric vehicle and energy storage system customers. In order to maintain our leading position in the market we will continue investing in R&D for our high performing battery technology and seek new innovations to further lower cost.

For battery system solutions this means continuing to develop new battery cells and modules and improving the energy densities of our existing batteries. Our R&D team is constantly working to integrate new designs, technologies and materials into our cells to enhance performance and lower the cost. We have used this approach to develop cells with various chemistries (LTO, LFP, NMC-1, NMC-2), and to provide a variety of products (LpTO, LpCO, MpCO, HnCO) with different energy densities, fast charge times and cycle life.

One important strategy we have employed historically, and will continue to focus on going forward, is the research emphasis on advanced materials to enhance our products. For example, our 2019 R&D 100 Award for a battery incorporating our unique FCG and polyaramid components showcases how new materials enable higher energy density and longer cycle life products as well as improving performance and lowering total costs of ownership. Improving performance at the base components has the added advantage of making both our battery solutions and our component products more attractive.

Expand manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand

We plan to prudently expand our manufacturing capacity to capture the large and growing market opportunity for electric vehicles. Our capacity expansion will be phased in based on our ongoing assessment of medium- and long-term demand for our products. We have reached manufacturing capacity of approximately 3 GWh per year as of December 31, 2020. We plan to achieve a total manufacturing capacity of 11 GWh per year by 2025 to support market demand for our existing products. As for battery components, we plan to expand our manufacturing capacity for the polyaramid separator and FCG cathode.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, we expect to complete building a 170,000 square foot facility near Berlin, Germany and install a fully automated battery module line. We are also in the process of installing a semi-automated pack equipment line to support anticipated demand. This facility, once fully equipped, can support up to 6 GWh capacity. In light of anticipated EU regulations designed to require battery cell production to be located in Europe and “green” energy usage for battery production and the introduction of a “battery passport”, we anticipate that in the near future we will need to build additional cell capacity in Europe to meet local demand.

In February 2021, we expect to begin converting an existing building we purchased in Clarksville, Tennessee to support 2.0 GWh of cell, module and pack capacity. It is anticipated that this facility will primarily serve our customers in the U.S.

With facilities and resources in the PRC, Europe and the United States, we have manufacturing capabilities that are close to our customers and poised to meet our customers’ demand. Our strategic footprint also addresses national interest concerns and tariffs and reduce logistic expenses.

Our Solutions, Technologies and Applications

Our Solutions

We are in the business of developing and selling innovative, and industry leading, energy storage solutions to OEM customers. In addition to designing and manufacturing the physical battery system, we offer services such as engineering and design, maintenance and support services.

The battery system is based on our proprietary LTO, LFP, NMC-1 or NCM-2 cell products. The cells are then made into battery modules, which are then assembled into a battery pack. We handle the manufacturing of the cell, module and pack and work with the OEM to customize the battery system, so it can be integrated into their vehicles. The battery pack maybe air-cooled, or liquid cooled and is designed with a flexible layout to accommodate different cell numbers and multi-layering with frames. In some cases, battery management software and installation may be provided to the customer. The battery management software monitors the battery, improving the safety and thermal control, which enhances the battery system lifetime and cost efficiency. For the packs, we assemble using standard components, making them easier to install and maintain.

As part of the customization process, we conduct feasibility testing using a prototype of a customer’s vehicles to obtain feedback from the customer to customize the battery system for the customer’s specific use. We install the battery systems for our customers after we deliver the battery systems to them. We also provide maintenance services and train our customers’ staff on the use and maintenance of our products.

We currently sell our battery systems primarily to OEMs for use in electric commercial vehicles. Our battery systems have a number of other applications, including (a) as energy storage for renewable energy generators and utility grids, (b) for frequency regulation, and (c) as uninterrupted power supply in other high-power electric equipment and devices. In addition, we can sell components of our battery system, such as the FCG cathode or polyaramid separator, to other manufacturers focused on passenger electric vehicles.

Our Technologies

We have been developing technologies for fast charging, long life, high safety batteries since the research objectives were outlined in 2008. Since then we have developed technologies spanning the battery system production through our vertical integration approach; from basic cell materials like cathode, anode and separator, to cooling systems and software controls for the battery pack. Some of the key highlights from our technology portfolio are:

Battery Cell Materials

•        Polyaramid Separator — Our separator, conceived and developed entirely within the company, is significantly more stable under heat than traditional poly-ethylene separators. Polyaramid is similar to Kevlar, the material that is used in bullet-proof vests, and its excellent thermal properties (stable to nearly 300°C in air) are well known, but only we have developed the techniques necessary to form this material into ~10um thick, meters wide and hundreds of meters long porous separator material that is suited for Li-ion batteries. The material is currently being evaluated through a United States Advanced Battery Consortium grant, and the project manager from one of the big three OEMs describes this technology as “the greatest breakthrough in LIB separator technology in 20 years”.

•        Lithium Titanium Oxide (LTO) — Our LTO powder is specifically manufactured to promote high power operation, making it ideal for ultra-fast-charging applications. LTO is the safest Li-ion battery anode material on the market today because it’s one of the only anode materials inherently stable against traditional Li-ion electrolytes.

•        Full Concentration Gradient (FCG) Cathode — Our gradient cathode was licensed from Argonne National Labs in 2017. Since then we have developed significant, flexible manufacturing know-how to produce the material with minimal cost increases compared to normal NMC materials. By controlling the concentration of metals within a particle, the material’s safety can be enhanced. This is because the gradient is a designer cathode, meaning the material design can be tailored for specific end uses and cells/customers can receive a unique material product explicitly for their needs. This customization makes the technology well suited for ultra-fast charge and low cost advanced Li-ion cells. We believe this technology is especially well suited going forward for the development of materials that greatly reduce or eliminate cobalt from the cathode.

•        Non-Flammable Electrolyte — Since Li-ion batteries typically use flammable organic solvents, they have the potential, under certain conditions to catch fire. Our technology, protected through patents and trade secrets, will not catch fire even if a flame is directly brought in contact with a cup of the electrolyte formulation. Using our electrolyte greatly retards, and in some cases can stop entirely, a Li-ion cell from catching fire. Reducing the flammability of Li-ion cells is an important safety feature that we believe will become even more sought after as the market pushes towards ever higher, and hence less stable, energy density cells.

Cell Chemistry

•        LTO — This material is used in place of the typical graphite on the anode. LTO greatly enhances the Li-ion cell’s safety and fast charge ability, at the cost of some energy density. Our cells using LTO have exceptional lifetimes. Our cells using LTO have successfully addressed a key problem for the technology, cell gassing. By eliminating the gas generation during cycling, our cells can have exceptionally long performance lifetimes.

•        LFP — One of the safest cathode options, LFP is manufactured from low cost materials making it highly affordable. Our LFP cells were developed at the behest of a Chinese OEM, and our technology was selected over one of the biggest battery companies in the world because our performance and price was superior to the competitors.

•        NMC — Applications requiring higher energy cell density today must be built using the layered metal oxide crystal structure (which includes NMC, NCA, NMCA and FCG). Our cells based on this chemistry have some of the best cycle performance available today, which we attribute to our better understanding of the various cell materials from our vertical integration structure. By controlling the cathode and separator technologies going forward, our NMC cells will have lower prices and enhanced safety compared to many of our competitors’ products. Cells using NMC technology have been third-party evaluated by TUV and various U.S. National Labs, confirming our claims to performance.

Our Applications

Electric Buses and Other Commercial Vehicles

The ultra-fast charging capabilities of our battery systems means that electric buses equipped with our batteries would only need to charge for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the battery chemistry. In buses, this allows a single charge for each loop or multiple loops they travel. In contrast, electric buses equipped with certain of our competitors’ technology would need to charge overnight to store sufficient energy to run an entire day. Furthermore, our battery system’s life span matches the useful life of a typical bus, which avoids the need to replace the battery during the useful life of the vehicle.

The high energy density of our battery systems makes our battery systems an ideal choice for delivery vans and trucks. It reduces the charging interval and thus ensures a smooth daily operation of the commercial vehicle by equipping sufficient energy onboard. Ultra-fast charging capability enables the use of automated guided vehicles in harbors and airports applications where 24-hour operations is required.

Materials

All Li-ion batteries are comprised of an anode, cathode, electrolyte and separator.

•        Anode — Our anode is selected historically from LTO or graphite in our product cells. In the coming years we anticipate that we will develop and market a new product that contains silicon or silicon oxide.

•        Cathode — Our LFP is sourced from a commercial supplier. For NMC our existing products are made using commercially supplied material, and our future cell products will utilize FCG when possible. For NMC based cathodes the sourcing and availability of cobalt is a key issue for many OEM buyers. As such, we are actively engaged in research to greatly reduce or eliminate the use of cobalt from our material stream.

•        Electrolyte — Our present Li-ion cells use liquid-based electrolyte formulations. For carbonate-based electrolytes we typically elect to buy the base solvents from commercial suppliers due to lower costs from their economies of scale, and then blend solutions in-house to ensure our proprietary mixtures are not shared outside the company.

•        Separator — Another key material in our Li-ion cells. While we have in the past used the industry norm PE/PP materials, we are now working to integrate as many cells as possible with our new polyaramid technology. In addition, we are actively working to build on our polyaramid knowledge to develop a solid electrolyte battery system that incorporates the polyaramid material as a component of the solid electrolyte. If the solid electrolyte approach is successful, not only will it eliminate the use of liquid electrolyte, but it will also potentially enable new anode chemistries such as Li metal, which is needed to reach cells with over 1000 Wh/L energy densities.

Quality and Safety Control

Our batteries have passed quality and safety control testing under the QC/T 743-2006 standard by the National Coach Quality Supervision and Test Center, a non-government entity accredited to verify certain PRC government quality and safety control standards.

In September and October 2013, we were certified by Shanghai NQA Certification Co., Ltd., a third-party accreditor, to be compliant with ISO 9001:2008 and ISO/TS16949 relating to quality management systems, respectively. ISO/TS16949 is a quality management standard that is required for suppliers to the automobile industry. We have also obtained Conformitè Europëenne, European Quality Standard (“CE”) certification from SGS-CSTC (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Underwriter Laboratories, U.S. Quality Certification (“UL”) for product safety. Each certifying institution has its own requirements for maintaining valid certifications. Each of the UL certificates and CE certificates requires our products to be certified before they can be sold in the United States and the European Union, respectively.

We have obtained the UN38.3 safety certification for Li-ion batteries that allows our batteries to be transported by air.

The Testing Center of MPS is accredited in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories (CNAS-CL01 Accreditation Criteria for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories) for the competence to undertake the services we provide.

Manufacturing Capacity

We measure our manufacturing capacity in MWh, which represents energy capacity of all batteries produced for a single complete discharge, rather than the number of batteries we produce per year.

As of June 30, 2021, we had an annual manufacturing capacity of approximately 3 GWh cell, module and pack capacity, 600 tons per year of cathode capacity, 3,000 tons of electrolyte capacity and 5 million square meters for a separator pilot line in Huzhou, China.

We expect to complete the construction of a module and pack manufacturing facility near Berlin, Germany in the second quarter of 2021. In the United States, we plan to add 2 GWh cell, module and pack manufacturing capacity. Additionally, we plan to add 6 GWh battery cell and module capacity and 10 million square meters of separator capacity to our facility in Huzhou, China. We are planning to increase our total battery manufacturing capacity to approximately 11 GWh per year by 2025.

Patents and Other Intellectual Property

We have devoted more than 14 years to R&D on our intellectual property. As of June 30, 2021, we had been granted 352 patents, including 304 patents granted in the PRC and 40 patents granted in the United States, and 132 patent applications pending in the above major market jurisdictions. Assuming no adjustment or extension to the patent validity terms, our PRC patents will expire between 2021 and 2038, and our U.S. patents will expire between 2031 and 2039.

We possess patents, licenses and/or know-how covering the following proprietary technologies:

•        Separators — We have developed a high-thermal separator, made of polyaramid polymer with a melting point of above 300°C, which we believe will improve the safety of our batteries. As of December 31, 2020, we owned 5 patents and 19 pending patent applications covering our proprietary separators and process relating to our separators.

•        FCG Cathode — In 2017 we licensed the process from Argonne National Labs. The FCG cathode is distinguished by its unique manufacture, where a clear and gradual gradient in the transition metal content can be observed during analysis of a cathode particle. Since that time, we have been granted three and submitted 24 patents for protection in the PRC, United States and Europe.

•        Electrolytes — We have developed a high/low-temperature electrolyte that is stable at high temperatures (approximately 70°C) and can release approximately 70% of the energy at extremely cold temperatures (approximately -30°C) at a charge rate of 1C. As of December 31, 2020, we owned 17 patents, licensed 3 patents, and had 11 pending patent applications relating to our proprietary electrolytes.

•        Lithium titanium oxide powder — Our proprietary lithium titanium oxide powder used for our electrodes compacts densely, leading to higher volumetric density while sustaining the ultra-fast charging properties of our batteries. It also allows our batteries to operate with less resistance by preventing the formation and/or degradation of solid-electrolyte interphase (a barrier formed between the electrolyte solution and electrode when the battery is charged) and limits the formation of dendrites. Dendrites reduce performance and increase the risk of short circuits and fire-related hazards. More importantly, our proprietary powder causes negligible volume expansion when the battery is charged and discharged. This provides our batteries with stability during recharges and extends the life of the battery. As of December 31, 2020, we owned 2 patents in the PRC relating to our proprietary lithium titanium oxide powder.

•        Carbon, silicon — We are experimenting with and have developed various types of anode materials. For example, we have developed porous carbon-based anode materials which allow for higher charging rate. The porous structure allows for faster transport of lithium ions, contributing to the fast charging properties of our batteries. As of December 31, 2020, we owned 15 patents and 6 pending patent applications in the PRC relating to our proprietary carbon, silicon anodes.

Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain proprietary or intellectual property protection for our designs and technology. Our policy is to protect our proprietary and intellectual property position by, in addition to filing patent applications in various jurisdictions related to our proprietary technology, relying on trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological innovation. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information and trade secrets, including through contractual means with our employees and consultants, third parties may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or disclose our technology. Thus, we may not be able to meaningfully protect our trade secrets. To protect our rights in these areas, it is our policy to require our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. However, such confidentiality agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. While we have attempted to protect the unpatented

proprietary technology that we develop or acquire, and will continue to protect future proprietary technology through patents, copyrights and trade secrets, we believe that our success will depend, to a large extent, upon continued innovation and technological expertise. For more comprehensive discussion of the risks related to our intellectual property, please see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”

We use trademarks on some of our batteries and believe that having distinctive trademarks is an important factor in marketing our batteries. We have registered in the PRC, the United States and internationally our Microvast mark (including the Microvast logo) and our other trademarks, include the LpTO, LpCO and Clean City Transit marks.

Research and Development

Our research, development and engineering efforts are focused on developing new battery solutions and continuously improving the performance of existing battery systems. We design our battery systems by targeting specific performance metrics such as energy density, power density and specific power, charge rate capability, cycle life, through-put energy and various safety and abuse-tolerance metrics.

As of June 30, 2021, our R&D team comprised of 532 full-time researchers including 18 doctorates and 69 masters-degree holders. Our R&D team is led by our Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Mattis. Dr. Mattis has over 11 years of experience in lithium-ion battery business and has 22 publications and 81 patents. Overseen by Dr. Mattis, our technology center is responsible for material development, cell development, product development, FCG manufacture, aramid separator manufacture, future technology development, testing simulation and analytical, and intellectual property.

Our R&D efforts are focused on the following areas:

•        Improving the energy density, power, life and safety through developing key battery materials:    At our Huzhou facilities, we devote substantial effort to developing new compositions and structures of cathode and anode materials. We focus on lowering the cost of synthesizing these materials. We are currently experimenting with a variety of cathode and anode materials, including carbon and silicon. These compositions and processes are validated at the laboratory and pilot-plant scale before being transitioned to our high-volume manufacturing facilities.

•        High Energy Cell & It Components:    A major emphasis for our R&D efforts is making new technologies to boost the energy density of a Li-ion cell without hindering the performance. A portion of this work is supported by research grants such as our $3 million Extreme Fast Charge and our $4.5 million Low Cost, Fast Charge grants from the U.S. DOE and USABC, respectively. We are currently exploring a variety of FCG designs, and emerging anode technologies as part of this effort to maximize the performance while minimizing the cost. The cells developed utilize our existing technologies whenever possible, such as our polyaramid separator.

•        Battery Cell Safety:    As the energy densities of cells rise new safety solutions are needed for the cell. We are focused on studying the sources of safety events, and then making materials or compositions in the electrolyte, cathode, anode or separator to address these findings. One area we are increasingly exploring for cell safety is a solid-state electrolyte system designed around our polyaramid technology.

•        New Cell Applications Development:    To grow our market we are doing testing and cell development for emerging applications that often have requirements different from electric vehicles. Often times a new application requires a particular specification to drastically improve without sacrificing too much performance or cost to make the change. An example topic area is high temperature cells, which are challenging for traditional materials, but may be accessible with our electrolyte, cathode and separator technologies.

•        Process Development & Scale-Up:    We are continually looking for new materials and processes that could enhance the competitive edge of our cells, via performance or cost, in the market. Once a new technology shows promise, a sample scale-up, and potentially a pilot plant process, is undertaken so the processing economics and material performance can be fully evaluated.

•        Improving electrical, mechanical and thermal designs.    Physical battery design is an important consideration for the scalability, durability, cooling and abuse-tolerance of lithium-ion batteries, especially those used in large high-power battery systems. We have developed and will continue to develop innovative constructions for our battery modules and packs.

•        Improving battery systems-level designs.    We develop battery systems that can be used by a number of customers, and we work with our customers to develop customized battery systems for specific applications. In addition, we are developing control strategies and other systems to manage grid-scale energy storage units.

We believe that our ability to deliver higher performance batteries and battery systems depends upon the rapid and effective transfer of the technology developed in our R&D laboratories into our high-volume manufacturing facilities. Therefore, we maintain pilot plant facilities and we reserve a portion of our manufacturing capacity for structured experiments related to manufacturing process development.

In December 2006, we established a research center, which covers approximately 6,800 square meters, in our Huzhou manufacturing facilities. The center is equipped with a full range of scientific equipment for a material science research center, including X-ray powder diffraction machine, scanning electron microscope, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer cape, laser particle size analyzers, electrochemical comprehensive test analyzers and other scientific equipment. In September 2016 we also set up a research center in Orlando, Florida to work on longer term technology development.

Our R&D expenses totaled $32.4 million, $26.0 million, $16.6 million and $9.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively.

Sales and Marketing

We market and sell our products primarily through a direct sales force, consisting of individuals who generally have experience selling battery systems into the specific market segments to which they are assigned. Our sales force is divided into four regional divisions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), North America, the PRC, and Asia-Pacific. Each region is supervised by a regional leader who is responsible for developing and delivering to a sales forecast.

Focused on commercial vehicles, we engage electric vehicle and drive train manufacturers directly to educate and inform them about the benefits of our technology and products. We also promote our product portfolio to energy storage customers made up of integrators and utility companies.

For battery components, our product promotion starts with R&D engineers for passenger car OEMs and consumer electronics manufacturers. Once we are comfortable with a potential customer, and the appropriate legal documents are in place, samples of materials may be sent out for evaluation to support the sale of the component.

Our sales cycles vary by market segment, but typically follow a lengthy development and qualification period prior to commercial manufacture. We expect that the total time from customer introduction to commercial manufacture will range from 2 to 4 years depending on the specific solution and market segment. For example, total time in the transportation market includes a customer’s preliminary technology review, which generally ranges from 3 to 9 months followed by test and evaluation which generally ranges from 12 to 18 months.

We focus our marketing efforts on increasing brand awareness, communicating advantages of our solutions and generating qualified leads for our sales force. We rely on a variety of marketing platforms, including participation in industry conferences and trade shows, to share our technologies with customers, as well as public relations, industry research and our collaborative relationships with our strategic investors and business partners.

Customers

We work under various arrangements with major global electric vehicle manufacturers to develop batteries and battery systems for the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, battery electric vehicle and hybrid electric vehicle markets. In the PRC, our customer base covers some of the largest passenger car and commercial vehicle OEMs, including SAIC, JBM, King Long Group, Foton and Zhongtong Bus. In Europe, our primary customers include

industry-leading companies such as FPT, the global powertrain brand of CNH Industrial Group, ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF Group), Safra, CARGOTEC, a luxury sport vehicle German OEM, VDL, TFL and the London Bus Operators (former Wrightbus). In the United States, our customers include OSHKOSH Corporation.

Due to the long sales cycle of our solutions and the relatively small customer base of limited electric bus manufacturers, we experience significant customer concentration. For the year ended December 31, 2020, our top five customers contributed 31.4% of our revenue. See “our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Components of Results of Operations — Revenue” and “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — We have a limited customer base and depend on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues to date and this dependence is likely to continue.”

As of June 30, 2021, we had an order backlog for our battery systems of approximately $69.3 million, equivalent to approximately 229.2 MWh. We expect to fulfill the entire backlog within 2021. Some of our purchase orders require an upfront payment from the customer that is not refundable if the customer terminates the contract.

We enter into contracts with customers for the sale of our battery systems. These contracts are typically in the form of purchase orders for a fixed quantity of batteries and include terms and conditions relating to payment and termination that we believe are customary and standard in our industry. We also enter into long-term supply agreements with certain customers. We are capable of providing, and may offer to our customers services, such as engineering and design, maintenance and support.

We provide warranties for our batteries that are consistent with international market standards.

Employees

As of June 30, 2021, we had 1,265 full-time employees, with 532 in R&D, 411 in manufacturing operations/supply chain, 86 in sales and marketing and 236 in general and administration. Of all of our employees, 22 are located in our US office and 1,181 are located at our PRC facilities and office.

Facilities

We occupy properties in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and the PRC for our operations. As of June 30, 2021, we owned or leased land with a total area of approximately 3.14 million square feet and buildings with a total floor area of approximately 1.77 million square feet.

Our corporate headquarters is located in Stafford, Texas, where we occupy a leased office facility of approximately 4,400 square feet. The lease for this office will expire on June 30, 2022.

We have a R&D office in Orlando, Florida, consisting of a 1,200 square foot leased office and lab space with annual renewal date on September 30th.

In January 2021, we acquired an existing 577,000 square foot building on 82 acres in Clarksville, Tennessee. We plan to build a 2.0 GWh cell, module and pack production line to produce qualified products beginning in 2022.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom we currently have the following two workshop facilities: Unit 1, split into 540 square feet of office space and 1,150 square feet used as a service workshop; and Unit 7 with 800 square feet of office space, 1,900 square feet of storage, pre-shipping preparation/testing area and 600 square feet of small spares storage.

Germany

In 2020, we entered into a 15-year lease for a property on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, with an option for renewal. We have plans to hire approximately 250 employees. The facility has an office space of around 37,674 square feet, a production space of around 107,640 square feet, plus a warehouse of around 53,820 square feet. In this facility we also have around 6,500 square feet of space for Quality and Testing and around 6,500 square feet for a service and prototype workshop.

The first production line which we constructed has a capacity of 500,000 modules per year, which is equivalent to 1 GWh per year. The production space is large enough to accommodate five full automated module and two pack production lines. The anticipated full annual capacity of this facility is 6 GWh of battery modules and packs. We plan to operate this facility in three daily shifts. This facility will be also IATF 16949, ISO9001, ISO14001 and OSHA certified and will be operated with 100% green energy. The start of operations is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.

PRC

As of June 30, 2021, we owned four parcels of land with a total ground area of approximately 3,140,000 square feet, seventeen buildings and four apartments with a total floor area of approximately 1,400,000 square feet in Huzhou, China. We are also applying for the building ownership certificate for one building. Typically, building ownership certificates are issued within three to five months after the relevant application is accepted by the government authorities. These properties, which constitute our principal owned properties, are currently being used for manufacturing, office space, canteen services or dormitories.

As of June 30, 2021, we leased a total gross floor area of approximately 61,000 square feet in the PRC for factory space, research centers, office space, dormitories, warehouse for non-dangerous goods, battery pack workshop and for other ancillary uses.

Competition

Competition in the battery industry is intense and rapidly evolving. Our markets are subject to changing technology trends, shifting customer needs and expectations and frequent introduction of new technologies. We believe the primary competitive factors in our markets are:

•        product performance, reliability and safety;

•        integrated solutions;

•        total cost of ownership;

•        regional and industrial regulations;

•        pricing;

•        new technologies/chemistries; and

•        manufacturing capabilities.

Our competitors include, but not limited to, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, Panasonic, BYD, CATL and SK Innovation; all large, high volume battery manufacturers. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — We mainly manufacture and market lithium-based battery systems. If a viable substitute product or chemistry to lithium-based battery systems emerges and gains market acceptance, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, our failure to keep up with rapid technological changes and evolving industry standards within the lithium-based battery market may cause our products to become uncompetitive and less marketable, resulting in loss of market share to our competitors.”

Adherence to ESG Principles

We believe that our impact on the environment; how we manage our relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and the communities where we operate; and the accountability of our leadership to our stockholders are critically important to our business. As a company whose business success is driven by our highly skilled workforce, we are especially committed to supporting our employees and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion that makes our employees feel safe, empowered and engaged. We plan to report how we oversee and manage environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors material to our business under the sector-specific ESG standards recommended by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”), an organization which provides an ESG framework of standards preferred by investors for ESG evaluation. As part of our plan to provide ESG disclosures pursuant to SASB standards, we will evaluate aligning our internal sustainability goals with certain Sustainable Development Goals (“UN SDGs”) to begin forming commitments to contribute to the UN SDGs.

Governmental Regulation and Environmental Compliance

Environmental Matters — Our PRC facility

As we conduct our manufacturing activities in the PRC, we are subject to the requirements of PRC environmental laws and regulations on air emission, wastewater discharge, solid waste and noise and the generation, handling, storage, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials. The major environmental regulations applicable to us include the PRC Environmental Protection Law, the PRC Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and its Implementation Rules, the PRC Law on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution and its Implementation Rules, the PRC Law on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Pollution, the PRC Law on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the PRC, and the administration Regulations on the Environmental Protection of Construction Project. We believe we are in compliance with these environmental laws and regulations in all material aspects. We have built environmental treatment facilities concurrently with the construction of our manufacturing facilities, where waste air, wastewater and waste solids we generate can be treated in accordance with the relevant requirements. We have outsourced disposal of hazardous solid waste we generate to a third-party contractor according to the relevant PRC laws. Certain key materials used in manufacturing, such as nickel, manganese, electrolyte and separators, have proven innocuous to the environment. We believe we have maintained pollutant emission levels at each of our facilities within levels prescribed by the relevant governmental authorities.

Environmental Matters — Our European production facility

Operations at our German facility will be subject to a variety of environmental, health and safety regulations, including those governing the generation, handling, storage, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials. To conduct our operations, we will obtain the Quality Management Standards IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 followed by ISO 14001:2015 — Environmental Quality Management Standard and ISO 50001:2011 — Energy Management. For safer working conditions we will also implement ISO 45001-2018 — Occupational Health and Safety and all our machines and production lines are delivered with CE label according to the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.

In transit, lithium-ion batteries are subject to rules governing the transportation of “dangerous goods.” We will only use such carriers that meets the legal requirements. We have policies and programs in place to help assure compliance with our obligations (for example, machine guarding, laser welding, hazardous material management and transportation). Furthermore, in order to obtain the existing building permits we were obligated to perform environmental compliance and fire protection concept requirements under German regulations. All these standards and certificates are designed to comply with all the government regulations and laws, as well the standards of the automotive industry.

We intend to employ regular audits through third parties to monitor compliance and continuous improvement. We train our employees and conduct internal audits of our operations to assess our fulfillment of these policies. As a further confirmation that the environment is very important for us, shows our pilot project for “Sustainable Battery Production” with TÜV SÜD Germany.

General Environmental Matters

We are not currently subject to any admonitions, penalties, investigations or inquiries imposed by the environmental regulators, nor are we subject to any claims or legal proceedings to which we are named as a defendant for violation of any environmental law or regulation. We do not have any reasonable basis to believe that there is any threatened claim, action or legal proceedings against us relating to any environmental law or regulation that would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — Compliance with environmental regulations can be expensive, and our failure to comply with these regulations may result in monetary damages or fines, adverse publicity and a material adverse effect on its business.”

Workers’ Health and Production Safety Compliance

We are subject to the requirements of PRC laws and regulations on the health of our employees and production safety. The major workers’ health and production safety regulations applicable to us include the PRC Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases and the PRC Law on Safety Production and the Regulation on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals.

Certain key materials used in manufacturing, such as nickel, manganese, electrolyte and separators, have proven innocuous to workers’ health and safety. Our PRC subsidiary is required to engage a qualified institution to make a safety evaluation report on its work safety conditions and to file such safety evaluation report with the local work safety authority for the use of hazardous chemicals in our manufacturing process. However, our PRC subsidiary has historically failed to comply with such requirements. For compliance purposes, our PRC subsidiary has engaged a qualified institution to examine the safety production conditions of our 750 MWh lithium battery system manufacturing line and filed the safety evaluation report with the local work safety authority on January 13, 2016.

To improve the working environment and minimize the adverse impact on our workers by such innocuous elements, we have designed occupational disease preventive facilities to be installed with our manufacturing facilities now under construction. In addition, we have submitted a pre-assessment report on occupational disease hazard to the local branch of the Administration for Work Safety, which was approved on September 29, 2015. We failed to comply, however, with such requirements when constructing our 150 MWh lithium ferrous phosphate battery manufacturing line and our 1,000-ton lithium-ion power battery material manufacturing line which Ochemate transferred to us in 2013. Although we subsequently installed occupational disease preventive facilities with such manufacturing lines, we may still be subject to fines, penalties or demands for our previous noncompliance.

We are not currently subject to any admonitions, penalties, investigations or inquiries relating to workers’ health and production safety law or regulations, nor are we subject to any claims or legal proceedings to which we are named as a defendant for violation of any workers’ health and production safety law or regulation. We do not have any reasonable basis to believe that there is any threatened claim, action or legal proceedings against us relating to any workers’ health and production safety law or regulation that would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — we may fail to comply with certain health and production safety laws and regulations governing hazardous materials.”

Insurance

We maintain product liability, public liability, property all risks and business interruption insurance and employer’s liability insurance in the markets we operate in, all in amounts consistent with our risk of loss and industry practice, but this insurance may not be adequate to cover all losses or liabilities that we may incur in our operations. Our property and equipment insurance does not cover the full value of our property and equipment, which could leave us exposed in the event of loss or damage to our properties or claims filed against us. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — our general liability insurance may not be sufficient to cover potential liability from product liability claims.”

Legal Proceedings

From time to time we are a party to litigation matters and subject to claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. There is no pending or threatened legal proceeding to which we are a party that, in our opinion, is likely to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. However, the results of litigation and claims are inherently unpredictable. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Business — our operations expose it to litigation, environmental and other legal compliance risks.”

Microvast was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in October 2006, and converted into a Delaware corporation on December 31, 2015. Its principal executive office is located at 12603 Southwest Freeway, Suite 210, Stafford, Texas 77477 and its telephone number at that address is (281) 491-9505.

COVID-19

To date, COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on our sales, operations, supply chains, and distribution systems, and has resulted in a one-month shutdown of our factories and in delivery delays. During the first half of 2021, we faced unanticipated challenges caused by the continued impact of global pandemic. Certain customers deferred their purchases due to the pandemic. Due to precautionary measures related to COVID-19 and resulting global economic impacts, we may experience further reductions in demand for certain of our products.

Basis of Presentation

We currently conduct our business through one operating segment. Our historical results are reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP and in U.S. dollars.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We derive revenue from the sales of our electric battery products, including LpTO, LpCO, MpCo and HnCo battery power systems. While we have historically marketed and sold our products primarily in the PRC, we are also expanding our sales presence internationally. The following table sets forth a breakdown of our revenue by major geographic regions in which our customers are located, for the periods indicated: