LONGMONT - UQM Technologies Inc. is about to expand its customer base to a fourth continent, signing a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese company for development and marketing of UQM's electric-propulsion systems for vehicles.

A plan published in July by China's State Council set a goal of 500,000 energy-efficient and clean vehicles on the road in China by 2015, and 5 million vehicles by 2020.

UQM officials would not reveal the name of the Chinese company involved. "The MOU (memorandum of understanding) is a nonbinding agreement," explained Alise Grysen, UQM marketing representative, "and this is the first step in the process."

UQM employs 87 people at its facility at 4120 Specialty Place east of Longmont.

"This agreement is an important step in our strategic plan to enter the Chinese market with our highly efficient electric propulsion systems and related products for new-energy vehicles," said Eric R. Ridenour, UQM's president and chief executive, in a press statement. "With annual revenue of over $5 billion, our Chinese partner has a substantial footprint throughout China and is well-positioned to introduce our products to the country's developing new-energy vehicle market."

The agreement expands UQM's customer base to a fourth continent. The company's products power test-fleet vehicles by Audi in Germany, Rolls-Royce and the London Taxi Co. in the United Kingdom, Hino electric city buses in Japan and demonstration vehicles for EV Engineering in Australia. In the United States, UQM propulsion systems power the CODA all-electric passenger sedan now available in California, Proterra all-electric composite transit buses, Boulder EV all-electric delivery vans, and Electric Vehicles International all-electric medium-duty trucks and delivery vans.