Energy, Utilities & Water  March 18, 2015

Startup Boulder Power Technologies launches lithium-ion generators

BOULDER – Clean-tech startup Boulder Power Technologies LLC today is officially launching a lithium ion-based portable generator with aims of taking a bite out of the gas-powered generator industry.

Boulder-based Boulder Power Technologies’ PowerTap 2000 is initially available for order on the company’s website to people in Colorado, with a full rollout nationally planned for the second quarter.

“It represents some big advantages over what’s available now,” chief commercial officer Rod Ruble said in a phone interview.

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Aimed at all kinds of industries from construction to camping to events to mobile businesses like food trucks, the PowerTap is touted as providing 2,000 watts of continuous power and up to 6,000 peak output, with a charge that lasts for seven to 10 hours depending on the application. The generator can be recharged in 90 minutes from a standard household electrical outlet.

Roughly the same size and weight as comparable gas models at 105 pounds, Boulder Power Technologies also promotes the quietness and more stable power supply of its generator. At $3,500, it can come at roughly a 75 percent premium versus the price of a comparable gas generator, but the company says the payback for heavy users is 12 months due to increased efficiency and the low cost per charge versus gasoline.

Founded in 2013 by Ruble, Darren Johnston, Justin Dunn and Michael Cole, the company already employs a couple dozen people at its headquarters and manufacturing facility at 5375 Arapahoe Ave. But the founders also have an eye on rapid growth and expanding to a new facility if sales go as hoped the first year.

The company hasn’t raised a lot of outside capital so far with just a $150,000 seed round. But Ruble said the company could look to raise as much as $25 million to $50 million soon to ramp up production and land the new facility. Ruble said the hope is to keep the company in Boulder, and there are a couple of places officials are eyeing for that expansion now.

Ruble said the main focus is on business customers to begin with, and he said he anticipates larger products with higher wattage capacity down the road for household-type use or heavy road construction.

“The PowerTap’s just the first application, but there are more in development,” Ruble said. “And it will move up that scale of power requirements.”

BOULDER – Clean-tech startup Boulder Power Technologies LLC today is officially launching a lithium ion-based portable generator with aims of taking a bite out of the gas-powered generator industry.

Boulder-based Boulder Power Technologies’ PowerTap 2000 is initially available for order on the company’s website to people in Colorado, with a full rollout nationally planned for the second quarter.

“It represents some big advantages over what’s available now,” chief commercial officer Rod Ruble said in a phone interview.

Aimed at all kinds of industries from construction to camping to events to mobile businesses like food trucks, the PowerTap is touted as providing 2,000 watts…

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