Olathe-based company wants change how EV owners power up

OLATHE, Kan. (KCTV) - An Olathe based company is trying to change the way electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles.

“We believe we are the first truly green energy charging, not connected to the grid,” said Frank Hopkins, a project manager at Excellerate in Olathe.

They will be the first facility utilizing the new style of charging stations made by the local company EnTech.

“We’ll have eight chargers to start, employees will be able to charge free of charge,” said Hopkins.

On weekends, the facility will allow the general public to utilize the charging system free of charge.

Excellerate expects to have the stations up in running in the next couple of months.

So, you may be asking, “What makes this charging system different?”

Unlike the chargers you’ll find around the metro now, EnTech’s chargers are completely renewable. They use solar and battery storage technology, so it doesn’t put any carbon emissions into the atmosphere. And, it cuts costs by running off-grid.

Most EV chargers still pull power from the main power grid, which means they still utilize fossil fuels.

“Off-grid means, if the power goes down similar to Texas this last year when that winter storm hit, this will be fully functional during any type of grid downing,” Hopkins explained.

It’s technology that EnTech leaders are happy they can bring to their hometown metro.

Lately there has been a major push for electric vehicles, officials said.

Grants, both locally and on the federal level, have been created to entice people to go electric.

EnTech officials said that they believe electric vehicles will be the majority of vehicles on the road in the near future. So, they believe it’s important to offer people what they think is the cleanest way to power an EV.

“It’s very exciting that we are able to bring this technology to the market coming right out of Olathe, Kansas. A lot of times, people are talking about what’s going on in California. This is something based in Kansas, continuing to expand out of that,” said Wade Leipold, Executive VP of Faith Technologies Inc.

EnTech officials said they will be introducing many more of the charging setups in the near future around the metro.

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