A folding electric car. Photo: Robert Hextall/Wikimedia.

CTech – Israel-based “folding car” company City Transformer announced on Sunday that it will be carrying out an initial public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a valuation of NIS 450 million ($137.5 million) to NIS 600 million ($183.4 million).

The company that was founded in 2014 develops an ultra-light electrical vehicle capable of folding its chassis at a push of a button, making it easier to park.

According to the company’s announcement, a total of NIS 35 million ($10 million) has been invested in it so far from private investors and grants from the Israel Innovation Authority and the Ministry of Energy. The IPO is set to take place in the second quarter of 2021, in parallel to the rollout of the company’s first batch of CT-1 vehicles that aim to receive EU approval for its classification as a quadricycle.

Getting EU approval would mean that the vehicles can be marketed in Europe and as a result in Israel too, since it follows the EU standard. Neither electric nor fuel-powered quadricycles have gained much success in Israel so far, with sales declining from several hundred to only a handful of units in the past few years.