Instead of dropping tens of thousands of dollars extra on a Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) – why not convert the gas guzzler you already have?
It’s a question that led to a N.C. State-founded startup, Flux Hybrids, which is currently trying to change the way fleets operate. Entrepreneur Micah Ulrich simplifies the technology – “Basically, we just take an electric power train and add it to your car’s existing power train,” he said.
“It has the same gas power it always had … you can just now pull gas or electric,” he said.
The idea, targeted at commercial fleets, is the backbone of the pre-revenue startup, which is still in the testing phase. And it’s starting to gain traction, having hired its first outside employee. The next few years will be make or break for the company – which is trying to make a real difference in carbon emissions.
Ulrich said it’s trying to tackle the electric car conundrum in a different way. Ulrich – like a lot of people – always wanted a Tesla. But breaking down that thought led to the idea behind Flux.
“A Tesla, they’re fast and they’re fun, but whenever I do have enough money to be able to afford one … I’m just going to sell my gas car,” he said. “I thought about how buying electric cars doesn’t actually remove gas cars from circulation. It just passes the buck to someone else.”
Ulrich wanted to create an equitable solution – one that takes gas guzzlers off the streets entirely. But ideas, even good ones, don’t just take off. They require capital – which is why the next few years could be critical for Flux, which has already raised more than $180,000 and is on the hunt for more.
“I think there’s $250,000 more in the grant pipeline that I have pitches for in the next two weeks,” Ulrich said.
Ulrich and his co-founders – Cody Biederman, August Erhart and Clay Dowdey – all met at N.C. State via its engineering and entrepreneurship program. Flux actually started as their senior design project, Ulrich said.
The group worked with Marshall Brain, the program’s director – and an entrepreneur in his own right as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com, purchased by Discovery Communications in 2007 for $250 million – to flesh out their idea, winning a grant from the school for a full-scale prototype.
As the startup was taking off, the pandemic hit. But Ulrich and team kept building, moving their work to a parking lot. The team was able to finagle a Ford Ranger, bringing it from a vehicle that averaged 17 miles per gallon to one capable of traveling 34 miles per gallon.
Gradually, others bought into the idea, including the Tech Stars Energy Tech Accelerator program in Birmingham, Alabama. And Flux Hybrid was recently named among the finalists for the Fall 2021 NC IDEA SEED Grant program.
Ulrich said that’s just the start. His advice to other entrepreneurs? Take full advantage of the Triangle’s entrepreneurship community.
“The Triangle entrepreneurship community really took us in with open arms this year,” he said.