ITEM 1A.         RISK FACTORS  

We operate in a challenging and changing environment that involves numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could materially affect our operations. The risks, uncertainties and other factors set forth below may cause our actual results, performances or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. If any of these risks or events occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.

We have incurred significant losses and may continue to do so.

We have incurred significant net losses as shown in the following tables:

We have determined that most of our PowerPhase Pro® inventory, originally purchased and manufactured for sale to now-bankrupt CODA, is impaired.  As a result, the net loss for the nine months ended December 31, 2016 includes a reserve for excess inventory of $6,817,010 related to that inventory and a reserve of $349,906 for other obsolete inventory.

As of December 31, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $119,892,934.

In the future, we plan to make additional investments in product development, facilities and equipment and other costs related to the commercialization of our products. As a result, we expect to continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future.  

Our operating losses, anticipated capital expenditures and working capital requirements in the longer term may exceed our current cash balances.

Our net loss for the nine months ended December 31, 2016 was $13,017,508 (which includes a reserve for excess and obsolete inventory of $7,166,916, including CODA related and other inventory) versus a net loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 of $6,938,351. At December 31, 2016, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $2,100,089. We expect our losses to continue for the foreseeable future. Our existing cash resources, together with borrowings available under our $5.6 million non-revolving bank line of credit and cash generated from our revenues, are expected to be sufficient to complete our business plan for at least the next twelve months. Our ability to borrow funds under the line of credit is subject to our maintaining liquid assets of at least $1.5 million at the end of each quarter starting on June 30, 2017. Should those resources be insufficient, we may need to secure additional debt or equity funding, which may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.  

We may not be able to sell the remaining inventory acquired for CODA and may recognize additional loss on the value of this inventory carried on our books.

Following the write-down of the value of inventory of the PowerPhase Pro ® systems on our books originally acquired for now-bankrupt CODA, we still have aged inventory of $925,200 of PowerPhase Pro ® systems.  This amount corresponds to existing orders we have for this PowerPhase Pro ® systems inventory.  If customers do not purchase the amount of inventory they have ordered or we are unable to find new customers for this inventory, it may become   obsolete, causing an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our business depends, in part, on the expansion of the market for all-electric and hybrid electric vehicles.  

Although our electric propulsion systems may be used in a wide variety of products, the market for electric and hybrid vehicles is fairly new. At the present time, batteries used to power electric motors have limited life and require several hours to charge, and charging stations for electric motors are not widely available. Electric and hybrid vehicles also tend to be priced higher than comparable gasoline-powered vehicles. As a result, consumers may experience concerns about driving range limitations, battery charging time and higher purchase costs of electric or hybrid vehicles. If consumer preferences shift to vehicles powered by other alternative methods, or if concerns about the availability of charging stations

cannot be overcome, the market for all-electric vehicles, and therefore our electric propulsion systems, may be limited. In addition, our electric propulsion systems are incorporated in buses used for mass transit in several U.S. cities. If passenger traffic in these mass transit systems declines or government funding to transportation districts declines from current levels, demand for our products may also decrease.

The popularity of alternative fuel based vehicles and “green energy” initiatives are highly dependent on macro-economic conditions, including oil prices and the overall health of the economy. When oil prices fall, interest in and resources allocated to the development of advanced technology vehicles and propulsion systems may diminish. We cannot predict how and the extent to which the recent substantial decrease of oil prices will affect the domestic interest in electric and hybrid vehicles.  Downturns in the world economy may also have a severe impact on the automotive industry, slowing the demand for vehicles generally and reducing consumers' willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly technology.

If our products do not achieve market acceptance, our business may not grow.  

Although we believe our proprietary systems are suited for a wide-range of vehicle electrification applications, our business and financial plan relies heavily on our introduction of new products that have limited testing in the marketplace. We have made substantial investments in manufacturing facilities and equipment, production and application engineering, among other things, to increase our production capacity in order to capitalize on the anticipated expansion in demand for electric propulsion systems and generators in the commercial truck, bus and automobile markets. We cannot be certain that our existing products will achieve broad market acceptance, or that we will be able to develop new products or product enhancements that will achieve broad market acceptance.  

Our sales cycle is inherently long.

We must go through lengthy processes to achieve supply contracts with our customers.  Our products must conform to the technical specifications of the customer and meet design requirements of the electric vehicle.  Typically prototype testing is required to ensure consistent system performance on an ongoing basis.  These steps can often take many months to multiple years until decisions are made on whether or not to take a vehicle to production.  We may spend considerable financial and human resources over an extended period of time and not end up with a completed supply contract.  Failure to secure volume production levels within a reasonable period of time could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and our liquidity.

CODA Automotive filed for bankruptcy protection on May 1, 2013 and it is unlikely we will be able to recover more than insignificant amounts due to us under our CODA Supply Agreement, including substantial amounts due for accounts receivable, inventory purchases and guaranteed minimum payments.

We executed a ten-year supply agreement with CODA in July, 2009 which provided a framework for CODA, or its manufacturing partner, to purchase from us electric propulsion systems for use in automobiles to be manufactured by CODA.  On May 1, 2013, CODA filed for bankruptcy protection.  Amounts due from CODA at December 31, 2016 totaled $3,838,092, all of which had been written off as uncollectible in prior years.  In addition, CODA was obligated under the supply agreement for inventory purchases totaling approximately $8.2 million and for a guaranteed minimum payment of $2 million due to their failure to purchase at least 15,000 units.  It is likely that we will recover only an insignificant amount of the balance owed to us under the CODA supply agreement, if any.

All funding from our DOE Grant to develop non-rare –earth magnet electric motors ended as of September 30, 2016 when the Grant expired.

Funds from the DOE Grant were very useful in supporting our growth initiatives and reducing our losses over the past several years. While we are pursuing other grant opportunities, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining other government grants.

The reduction or elimination of government subsidies and economic incentives for alternative energy technologies, including our electric vehicle motor technology, could reduce demand for our products and services, lead to a reduction in our revenues and adversely impact our operating results.

We believe that the near-term growth of alternative energy technologies, including our electric vehicle motor technology, relies on the availability and size of government and economic incentives both in the United States and in other countries. 

Many of these government incentives expire, phase out over time, exhaust the allocated funding, require renewal by the applicable authority, and/or could be reduced or discontinued for other reasons. The reduction, elimination, or expiration of government subsidies and economic incentives may result in the diminished demand from our customers and could materially and adversely affect our future operating results.

We are subject to risks inherent in international operations.

Since we market our products both inside and outside the United States, our success depends in part, on our ability to secure international customers and our ability to manufacture products that meet foreign regulatory and commercial requirements in target markets. In addition, we are subject to tariff regulations and requirements for export licenses.  We can face numerous challenges in our international growth plans, including unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, potential conflicts or disputes that countries may have to deal with, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, longer accounts receivable requirements and collections, difficulties in managing international operations, potentially adverse tax consequences, restrictions on repatriation of earnings and the burdens of complying with a wide variety of international laws. Any of these factors could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our revenue is highly concentrated among a small number of customers.

A large percentage of our revenue is typically derived from a small number of customers, and we expect this trend to continue.

Our customer arrangements generally are non-exclusive, have no long-term volume commitments and are typically done on a purchase order basis. We cannot be certain that customers that have accounted for significant revenue in past periods will continue to purchase our products. Accordingly, our revenue and results of operations may vary substantially from period to period. We are also subject to credit risk associated with the concentration of our accounts receivable from our customers. If one or more of our significant customers were to cease doing business with us, significantly reduce or delay its purchases from us or fail to pay us on a timely basis, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.  

Our business relies on third parties, whose success we cannot predict.

As a manufacturer of motors, generators, and other component parts, our business model depends on the ability of third parties in our industry to develop, produce and market products that include or are compatible with our technology and then to sell these products into the marketplace. Our ability to generate revenue depends significantly on the commercial success of our customers and partners. Failure of these third parties to achieve significant sales of products incorporating our products and fluctuations in the timing and volume of such sales could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

Our electric propulsion systems use rare-earth minerals and unavailability or limited supply of these minerals could prevent us from manufacturing our products in production quantities or increase our costs.

Neodymium and dysprosium, rare-earth minerals, are key elements used in the production of magnets that are components of our electric propulsion systems. We currently source our magnets from China, and China has indicated its intent to retain more of this mineral for China use, rather than exporting it. During calendar year 2011, for example, we experienced significant price escalation in the cost of magnets used in our motors. This price escalation was primarily due to rare-earth government policy in China. Rare-earth prices have decreased substantially since peaking in the summer of 2011, and are now approaching the baseline prices (defined as the beginning of calendar year 2011). We have implemented a magnet surcharge process to recover these additional costs in the event of another price escalation. Although rare-earth magnets are available from other sources, these alternative sources are currently more costly. Reduced availability of neodymium and dysprosium from China could adversely affect our ability to obtain magnets in sufficient quantities, in a timely manner, or at a commercially reasonable cost. In the event that China's actions cause us to seek alternate sources of supply for magnets, it could cause an increase in our product costs, thereby reducing or eliminating our profit margin on electric propulsion systems if we are unable to pass the increase on to our customers. Increasing prices to our customers due to escalating magnet costs may reduce demand for our motors and make it difficult or impossible to compete with other motor manufacturers whose motors do not use rare-earth minerals.

Some of our contracts can be cancelled with little or no notice and could restrict our ability to commercialize our technology.

Our contracts with government agencies are subject to the risk of termination at the convenience of the contracting agency and in some cases grant "march-in" rights to the government. March-in rights are the right of the United States government or the applicable government agency, under limited circumstances, to exercise a non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable worldwide license to any technology developed under contracts funded by the government to facilitate commercialization of technology developed with government funding. March-in rights can be exercised if we fail to commercialize the developed technology. The exercise of march-in rights by the government or an agency of the government could restrict our ability to commercialize our technology.

Some of our orders for the future delivery of products are placed under blanket purchase orders which may be cancelled by our customers at any time. The amount payable to us, if any, upon cancellation by the customer varies by customer. Accordingly, we may not recognize as revenue all or any portion of the amount of outstanding order backlog we have reported.  

We face intense competition and may be unable to compete successfully.  

In developing electric motors for use in vehicles and other applications, we face competition from very large domestic and international companies, including the world's largest automobile manufacturers. Many of our competitors have far greater resources to apply to research and development efforts than we have, and they may independently develop motors that are technologically more advanced than ours. These competitors also have much greater experience in and resources for marketing their products. For these reasons, potential customers may choose to purchase electric motors from our competitors rather than from us.

Changes in environmental policies could hurt the market for our products.  

The market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles and equipment and the demand for our products are influenced, to a degree, by federal, state and local regulations relating to air quality, greenhouse gases and pollutants. These laws and regulations may change, which could result in transportation or equipment manufacturers abandoning or delaying their interest in electric or hybrid electric vehicles or equipment. In addition, a failure by authorities to enforce current laws and regulations or to adopt additional environmental laws or regulations could limit the demand for our products.

Although many governments have identified as a significant priority the development of alternative energy sources, governments may change their priorities, and any change they make could materially affect our revenue or the development of our products. 

If we are unable to protect our patents and other proprietary technology, we will be unable to prevent third parties from using our technology, which would impair our competitiveness and ability to commercialize our products. In addition, the cost of enforcing our proprietary rights may be expensive and result in increased losses.  

Our ability to compete effectively against other companies in our industry will depend, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary technology. Although we have attempted to safeguard and maintain our proprietary rights, we do not know whether we have been or will be successful in doing so. We have historically pursued patent protection in the United States and a limited number of foreign countries where we believe significant markets for our products exist or where potentially significant competitors have operations. It is possible that a substantial market could develop in a country where we have not received patent protection and under such circumstances our proprietary products would not be afforded legal protection in these markets. Further, our competitors may independently develop or patent technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to ours. We cannot assure that additional patents will be issued to us or, if they are issued, as to the scope of their protection. Patents granted may not provide meaningful protection from competitors. Even if a competitor's products were to infringe patents owned by us, it would be costly for us to pursue our rights in an enforcement action, it would divert funds and resources which otherwise could be used in our operations and we may not be successful in enforcing our intellectual property rights. In addition, effective patent, trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country where we may operate or sell our products in the future. If third parties assert technology infringement claims against us, the defense of the claims could involve significant legal costs and require our management to divert time and attention from our business operations. If we are unsuccessful in defending any claims of infringement, we may be forced to obtain licenses or to pay royalties to continue to use our

technology. We may not be able to obtain any necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we fail to obtain necessary licenses or other rights, or if these licenses are costly, our results of operations may suffer either from reductions in revenues through our inability to serve customers or from increases in costs to license third-party technologies. Finally, patents may not deter third parties from attempting to reverse engineer our products and discovering our intellectual property.

We rely, in part, on contractual provisions to protect our trade secrets and proprietary knowledge, the adequacy of which may not be sufficient.

Confidentiality agreements to which we are party may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach.  Our trade secrets may also be known without breach of such agreements or may be independently developed by competitors.  Our inability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology and processes could allow our competitors to limit or eliminate any competitive advantages we may have.

Use of our motors in vehicles could subject us to product liability claims or product recalls, and product liability insurance claims could cause an increase in our insurance rates or could exceed our insurance limits, which could impair our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.  

The automotive industry experiences significant product liability claims. As a supplier of electric propulsion systems or other products to vehicle OEMs, we face an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that our products, or the equipment into which our products are incorporated, malfunction and result in personal injury or death. We may be named in product liability claims even if there is no evidence that our systems or components caused an accident. Product liability claims could result in significant losses as a result of expenses incurred in defending claims or the award of damages. The sale of systems and components for the transportation industry entails a high risk of these claims, which may increase as our production and sales increase. In addition, we may be required to participate in recalls involving these systems if any of our systems prove to be defective, or we may voluntarily initiate a recall or make payments related to such claims as a result of various industry or business practices or the need to maintain good customer relationships.

We carry product liability insurance of $10 million covering most of our products. If we were to experience a large insured loss, it might exceed our coverage limits, or our insurance carriers could decline to further cover us or raise our insurance rates to unacceptable levels, any of which could impair our financial position and results of operations. Any product liability claim brought against us also could have a material adverse effect on our reputation.  

We may be subject to warranty claims, and our provision for warranty costs may not be sufficient.  

We may be subject to warranty claims for defects or alleged defects in our products, and the risk of such claims arising will increase as our production and sales increase. In addition, in response to consumer demand, vehicle manufacturers have been providing, and may continue to provide, increasingly longer warranty periods for their products. As a consequence, these manufacturers may require their suppliers, such as us, to provide correspondingly longer product warranties. As a result, we could incur substantially greater warranty claims in the future.  

Our future success will depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified management and technical personnel.

Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued services and on the performance of our executive officers and other key management, engineering, manufacturing and operating personnel. The loss of the services of any executive officer, or other key management, engineering, manufacturing and operating personnel, could materially adversely affect our business. Our ability to achieve our growth plans will also depend on our ability to attract and retain additional qualified management and technical personnel, and we do not know whether we will be able to be successful in these regards. Our inability to attract and retain additional qualified management and technical personnel, or the departure of key employees, could materially and adversely affect our growth plans and, therefore, our business prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

The maintenance and security of our information systems are critical to our operations.

We rely on our information systems to be functioning at all times, and that the data in those systems is protected and secure from viruses, illegal access and any other form of unauthorized use.  Should our information systems be compromised in any way, our business operations could be severely impacted.

Threats to information technology systems associated with cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents or attacks continue to grow. Cybersecurity attacks could include, but are not limited to, malicious software, viruses, attempts to gain unauthorized access, whether through malfeasance or error, either from within or outside of our organization, to our data or that of our customers or our customers’ customers which may be in our possession, and the unauthorized release, corruption or loss of the data, loss of the intellectual property, theft of the proprietary or licensed technology, whether ours, that of our customers or their customers, loss or damage to our data delivery systems, other electronic security breaches that could lead to disruptions in our critical systems, and increased costs to prevent, respond to or mitigate cybersecurity events. It is possible that our business, financial and other systems could be compromised, which might not be noticed for some period of time. Although we utilize various procedures and controls to mitigate our exposure to such risk, cybersecurity attacks are evolving and unpredictable and we cannot guarantee that any risk prevention measures implemented will be successful. The occurrence of such an attack could lead to financial losses and have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our stock price has been and could remain volatile.

The market price for our common stock has been and may continue to be volatile and subject to extreme price and volume fluctuations in response to market and other factors, including the following, some of which are beyond our control:

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of their stock, many companies have been the subjects of securities class action litigation.  If we become involved in securities class action litigation in the future, it could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources and could harm our stock price, business prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

PERFORMANCE GRAPH 1  

The following graph represents the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total return on the common stock of UQM Technologies, Inc., the group of companies comprising the S&P Electrical Equipment Index, and those companies comprising the S&P 500 Index for the five year period from March 31, 2012 through December 31, 2016:

* $100 invested on 3/31/12 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends Fiscal year ending December 31.

        Copyright 2017 S&P Global.  All rights reserved.

1   The stock price performance graph depicted is not “soliciting material,” is not deemed "filed" with the SEC, and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation contained in such filing.