PORT RICHEY, Fla. — As electric vehicles become more popular, a Pasco County company is trying to make them more sustainable.
It all started with a lawn mower.
Luis Medina started his company called EvaTech in Port Richey 20 years ago. He found his first success in building a hybrid robotic lawn mower.
What You Need To Know
- EvaTech in Port Richey is working to build range extenders for electric vehicles
- One of the drawbacks to electric vehicles is the range
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- The move could help bring more manufacturing jobs to the area
“The propulsion is purely electric,” Medina said.
But during the pandemic, he found it harder to find parts for the motors the mower used.
“We were all impacted by supply and demand. We couldn’t find electric motors,” Medina said.
So he started building his own.
And in doing so, he found out he can apply that same tech to electric vehicles and extend their range.
He gave Spectrum News a tour of his warehouse in Port Richey.
It was also attended by local leaders like Congressman Gus Bilirakis and Port Richey’s Mayor John Hoover, who both support the economic impact these projects can have.
Medina showed how the movement of different parts of an electric vehicle can be used to energize it even more.
“We’re hoping to get that electric energy and feed it back into the system, consequently extending the range of the car,” Medina said.
That’s the goal: To help solve one of the drawbacks to an electric car, which is range.
Medina is now partnering with another company called Exlites Holdings (EXHI) to develop range extenders on electric vehicles. EXHI has partnered with Derek Automotive to start manufacturing next year.
All of the companies hopes working with electric vehicles will help them expand their business which could also bring more manufacturing jobs to the Bay area.
