Vonnen’s first product offering, Shadow Drive™, is an ambitious one – bringing performance hybridization to the Porsche 911, Boxster, and Cayman.
The patent pending technology in Shadow Drive allows a slim-profile electric motor to take the place of the factory flywheel.
Chuck Moreland
Founder and CEO, BSEE, MBA
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Bill Davis
Co-Founder and VP of Engineering, BSME
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Headquartered in Santa Clara, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, Vonnen began as the powertrain technology development arm of established Porsche suspension and chassis tuning house, Elephant Racing.
Three years in the making, and developed almost entirely in-house, Vonnen Shadow Drive represents a pioneering effort: combining best-of-class mechanical, electrical, and software engineering expertise to augment and enhance combustion engine performance.
What began as a skunk works effort among a tight-knit team of car enthusiasts has since blossomed into its own entity. Vonnen’s commitment to its customers is to continue to innovate and offer top caliber performance in unexpected ways.
Chuck Moreland, Founder and CEO, BSEE, MBAChuck is a seasoned entrepreneur with many years experience developing and commercializing products for the Porsche performance aftermarket and technology spaces.
Founder and CEO of Elephant Racing LLC since 2002, Chuck built the company from startup to be the leading manufacturer of suspension products for the Porsche aftermarket. Under Chuck’s leadership, Elephant Racing has successfully developed and marketed innovative products that are commercial successes globally.
From 1998 to 2002 Chuck was Founder and CEO of Crossrun LLC, a corporate-funded cloud computing technology company.
Early career was in voice and data communications technology. Chuck held positions in Engineering, Product Management and Program Management in companies including Nortel and Network Equipment Technologies.
A hardcore car enthusiast, Chuck has owned many Porsches over 35 years during which he has been hands-on upgrading, modifying and tuning cars for performance. He is a veteran driver of many track days and clubs and earned a cup racing license with the Porsche Owner’s Club.
Bill Davis, Co-Founder and VP of Engineering, BSMEBill has over 25 years of involvement in the field of hybrid and electric vehicle development. A passionate automotive engineer, Bill has worked in the field both professionally and as a hobby to bring advanced automotive technologies to market.
From 2013 to 2016 Bill was engineering hybrid electric heavy duty trucks at Wrightspeed Powertrains , and electric sports sedans and trucks at Tesla. His key focus areas were battery pack and electric motor development, and vehicle integration.
From 1996 to 2013 Bill was an aerospace systems engineer developing communication satellites. This role entailed taking these hybrid electric powered space vehicles from the contract development phase through design, manufacturing, and test. This instilled a system requirements focus in Bill’s approach to innovative yet high quality engineering solutions.
Bill’s early career was in the electric shuttle bus industry. Bill held positions in engineering and manufacturing.
In his free time Bill has been involved in activities such as leading the mechanical design team on a solar car team competing across Australia twice, competing in various amateur racing series, and leading high performance driving instruction events.
