Ideanomics says MEG division forges strategic alliance with smart travel tech leader Qinou to rev up electric taxi sales

Ideanomics Inc (NASDAQ:IDEX) said Friday that its Mobile Energy Global (MEG) division’s subsidiary, Qingdao Chengyang Ainengju New Energy Sales and Service Company has signed a framework strategic co-operation agreement with Zhejiang Qinou Holding Group to promote electric taxis. Under the terms of the deal, MEG will provide Qinou Holdings with its sales-to-financing (S2F) capabilities, to expedite the procurement and financing of electric taxis and battery exchange systems. According to the company, taxi fleet operators hesitate to convert to electric vehicles (EVs) mainly due to the time taxis have to spend idling to recharge. However, the company said Qinou Group's “battery exchange technology” solves this challenge and enables taxi operators to adopt EV taxis and meet regulatory requirements. READ: Ideanomics' Mobile Energy Global division’s subsidiary secures first electric vehicle order The Qinou Group focuses on smart travel power exchange systems and is committed to the development of the smart travel ecosystem. It provides a full suite of technical solutions, battery packs and battery replacement stations and charging stations developed through its CEMIBO SrL and CEMI Studio LLP subsidiaries in Bologna, Italy. MEG and the Qinou Group will drive the partnership by jointly market electric taxis with battery exchange capabilities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi. The company said that the marketing partnership will be expanded to other regions in due course. MEG and Qinou Group project sales of 30,000 units by 2023, valued at 4 billion renminbi ($562 million) and MEG revealed that it has already secured orders. The company also offered immediate sales projections of 50 units within the second quarter, valued at around 6.8 million renminbi ($1 million). For 2020, MEG and Qinou Group hope to sell 5,000 units, valued at approximately 650 million renminbi ($91 million). Ideanomics, headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing and Qingdao, China, is a global company focused on monetizing the adoption of commercial EVs and developing next-generation financial services and fintech products. The company’s stock recently traded up 6.5% to 0.44 a share in New York. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive