A Solar-Powered Golf Cart Company will establish its national headquarters in Cookeville.
Lani EV Chief of Operations Jeff Watters said the facility will be located at 615 Neal Street. Watters said the company chose the location because of the growth in the community and the opportunity to collaborate with students and faculty at Tennessee Tech.
“We’re looking into the future, we’re seeing the future, and the future is you can’t run on gas forever,” Watters said. “As much as we’d like for that and we’re we’re not opposed to it, but we’re just we’re just looking out into the future and we’re seeing, there’s an advantage to solar.”
Watters said the company is currently partnering with Tennessee Tech on two capstone projects to measure the distance the solar-powered carts can travel. Watters said the company also plans to work with the university to develop methods for retrofitting competitor golf carts with solar technology.
“This is groundbreaking,” Watters said. “So these are not fabric solar pieces that we put on the roof. These are actual solar panels that we place on the roof that captures the energy and pumps it right down into the battery. And that that’s what powers the battery.”
Watters said the company is working with the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce to maximize the economic benefits of the move. Watters said the headquarters will eventually house an educational component called Lani University to help the public understand solar energy.
“Success looks like is that we have a headquarters that’s functional, that reaches out to the community, that gives back to the community,” Watters said. “That helps the community. We just don’t want to be a taker, we want to be a giver. We want to give back to the community. We want to get solar carts into the into the region. We want to introduce that and then we want to…I think we have a saying that says, ‘Get the carts off the grid and off the gas.’ So when that begins to take hold and we see the future unfold, I think that’s success for us.”
Watters said the company expects to create approximately 10 jobs during the initial startup phase in Cookeville. Watters said he anticipates the workforce could grow to 100 employees as the company expands its reach across the Sun Belt.
“I’m telling you when this catches on, it’s going to go big time,” Jeff Watters said. “Everywhere we go, we show our carts, people are excited about it.”
Watters said the company plans to use its Cookeville base to support further expansion. Lani EV is also working on hybrid carts that would combine electric, gas and solar power.
