September 9, 2025 • 27 mins
Sam Malhotra is a seasoned entrepreneur, executive, and public servant with a proven track record of building and scaling organizations at the intersection of technology, infrastructure, and government. He is the Founder and CEO of ezVOLTz, a fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) charging managed services company that is helping governments, businesses, and communities accelerate the transition to clean transportation. Under his leadership, ezVOLTz has emerged as a nationally recognized integrator and operator of EV charging ecosystems, winning competitive contracts across the country, including a landmark nationwide NASPO award.
Prior to launching ezVOLTz, Sam founded and led multiple successful companies, including Subsystem Technologies, a federal contractor providing advanced engineering and professional services in defense and aerospace. His entrepreneurial expertise is complemented by high-level public sector leadership: in 2014 he was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan as Maryland’s Secretary of Human Services, and later served as Chief of Staff to the Governor, overseeing statewide policy, operations, and strategic initiatives.
Beyond the boardroom and public office, Sam is deeply committed to community and education. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Catholic Charities of Baltimore and on the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, where he helps guide the next generation of innovators.
Sam holds degrees from the University of Maryland, the Harvard Business School, and the Georgetown McDonough School of Business. His specialties include strategic growth, execution discipline, financial governance, and innovation strategy. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his ability to see around corners, anticipate market shifts, and build enduring organizations that drive meaningful impact.
Prior to launching ezVOLTz, Sam founded and led multiple successful companies, including Subsystem Technologies, a federal contractor providing advanced engineering and professional services in defense and aerospace. His entrepreneurial expertise is complemented by high-level public sector leadership: in 2014 he was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan as Maryland’s Secretary of Human Services, and later served as Chief of Staff to the Governor, overseeing statewide policy, operations, and strategic initiatives.
Beyond the boardroom and public office, Sam is deeply committed to community and education. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Catholic Charities of Baltimore and on the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, where he helps guide the next generation of innovators.
Sam holds degrees from the University of Maryland, the Harvard Business School, and the Georgetown McDonough School of Business. His specialties include strategic growth, execution discipline, financial governance, and innovation strategy. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his ability to see around corners, anticipate market shifts, and build enduring organizations that drive meaningful impact.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank presents iHeartRadio's CEOs you should know
driven by Western Transportation Group.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let's meet Sam Mahultra. He is the founder and CEO
for Easy Bolts, a company that provides comprehensive EV charging
as a service that manages the entire life cycle of
electric vehicle charging infrastructure for governments, commercial properties, and EV fleets.
Before we talk more about Sam's company, I first asked
him to talk a little bit about himself, where he's
from and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I grew up in a booie Maryland to immigrant parents,
and you know where the focus. My parents always focused
on hard work, as you know, as the first generation immigrants,
you know, hard work Brazilians and education, and you know,
coming to the US as a teenager, it was a
(00:52):
turning point in my life. It was it was it
opened up opportunities. It also meant I had to work
my way through school and tart my own path. And
then Maryland became home right and I built deep roots here.
I went to Largo Senior High in Prince George's County,
(01:13):
then into University of Maryland and a master's from Georgetown University,
which is also local to US, and you know, over
the years, my journey has taken me from founding and
scaling companies in Maryland, and some of these companies have
been nationwide, by the way, and you know, to serving
(01:36):
and doing my public service first as the Cabinet Secretary
in Governor Larry Hogan's cabinet running his Department of Human
Services and then his chief of Staff for about thirteen months.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
And I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
That each step and it has taught me that leadership
is about solving problems that are bigger than yourself, and
that's been you know, all through all through my career.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, listen, we're going to talk a lot about leadership
a little bit later on. And I know this won't
surprise you, but I've been doing this series for over
four years and I've talked to so many successful people
that have come from other countries where their parents have
and done amazing thing and really turned into be a
lifer here, stayed in the region and done some incredible
things like you have. So we're going to talk a
lot about Easy Volts today and what I would like
(02:32):
to do first before we talk about the mission and
the vision and exactly what you do and all the
cool things that are Easy Volts. I want to know
about the origin of the idea of it, because I
know this is your third company and you're used to
starting to run companies or or found them, as you
did with this one. Obviously you saw some sort of
hole in the industry, Sam, and I'm curious as you
(02:53):
were kind of doing your research and finding out what
you want to do new next, what did you see
on the horizon and said, you know what, this might
be a good idea. I think I can pull this off.
Here's what we're going to have to do. But can
you tell us about that origin story about easy Volts?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
You bet, you bet, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Every company I've started has been about finding a blind
spot in an industry and the place where everyone assumes
the problem ends. In reality, that's where it begins. And
in our instance in the industry that we are in
ev charging, I noticed that once ev charges are installed,
(03:32):
most companies walk away, right. Their business model is install
and flee, set it and forget it, and that's their
business right. So once that is done, the hardware is there,
but who makes sure that it works every day across
multiple brands at multiple sites. And it's that gap is
(03:56):
where easy voltz was born. We build company to manage
the full life cycle of installation, monitoring, maintenance, and future proofing,
where other companies weren't focused on that. They were so
focused on building their own networks by installing hardware.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
And just moving on.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And you know, the idea came from seeing how critical
reliable infrastructure is going to be as fleets and communities
electrify and you know, and we realized that no one
was stepping up to be the air traffic control of
ev charging. That's in making sure that chargers are up
(04:40):
ninety seven plus percent at the time that they're you know,
who charged, when they charged, how many electrons went through,
and what price was the grid stable while that was happening.
So those are the kinds of things that we found
that most companies weren't doing, or if they were doing it,
they were just doing it for their networks, but they're
wasn't anyone that was going across these networks, right, you know,
(05:05):
horizontally across the industry.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, thanks for all of that, and it's a fascinating idea.
It seems like an easy idea, but the execution, I'm
sure is epic. So we're going to talk about that,
But why don't we do this before we exactly find
out what you do? And I know you've been covering
that a little bit, but we'll get right back to that.
But I love to talk about mission and vision because
I know with all leaders, whether you found a company
like you did or you're running it as a CEO,
(05:30):
a mission and vision usually pretty important. What are they?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
So our mission is simple, Yeah, you know, it's to
empower organizations and communities to embrace electric mobility but with confidence.
And we do this by making ev charging reliable, scalable,
and sustainable. And I'll tell you, Dennis, that at the
heart of our work is the belief that drivers, fleet managers,
(05:59):
local governments shouldn't have to worry about whether a charger
is going to work or not. Right, They should be
focusing on their mission serving their communities.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Then us ensure the charging just works.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And just to follow up on that, I'll even share
our vision with you. We will be the leading managed
service provider for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in North America.
You know, we aim to transform how public and private
entities operate and manage v charging assets, right, And you know,
(06:36):
and we do this really by delivering a full stack
hardware agnostic platform that ensures high uptime, which I spoke
about earlier, operational accountability, and financial stability. And you know,
we're convinced that over the next three years we will
scale our platform to thousands of active charging sites, securing
(07:00):
multi agency and statewide contracts. And I can get into
that a little bit later as we talk more.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, we'll certainly do that, Sam and expand on that.
I know you've been kind of talking about what exactly do,
but we have so many new listeners that are being
introduced to easy wilts for the first time. So if
you were to talk to them and say, you know,
this is the thirty thousand foot view of what we do,
what would you tell everybody?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great question. So in our industry, in this industry, there
are hardware manufacturers, they manufacture the chargers, they're electrical companies
that do the installation, and then there are software providers
that provide some kind of software to assist the hardware
manufacturers and the and the installers. But we took a
(07:46):
very different approach to this. We are a EV charging
managed service provider and what that means is that we
not only install chargers, but we also manage and monitor
them twenty four by seven. Our software platform it's called
(08:06):
easy Connect, you know, and our Charger Network Operations Center,
which we call CNC serve as the air traffic control
for EV chargers. Right where we have multiple screens and
we can see every charger that's under our maintenance and
our governor governance as to what's happening with that charger.
(08:29):
If the charger's up, the chargers down, you know how
many electrons went through a price, who charged and you know,
you know at what time and how long was the charge,
so you know, and we see these issues in real
time and often before the EV drivers do. And you know,
(08:50):
we can dispatch fixes very quickly remotely. You know, if
a chargers down, let's say, we you know, we can
deploy a healing algorithm to reboot the charger and if
that doesn't work, you know, and then we send a
tech to get it fixed. Now, if ify driver is
at the charger that's under our management and governance, you know,
(09:11):
they're inserting their credit card or an RFID card to
get it started. It doesn't work, we have an eight
hundred number that they can call through our CNOC. It's
twenty four to seven, So we want to make sure
that no one is stranded when they are in an
evy or are at an EV charger.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Very good sam for our audience. I'd love for you
and for me too if you can explain how you
work with your partners, and I'd like you to talk
about how wide your net is right now and over
the next two to five years, because I know people
like you always looking forward and this industry is moving
so quickly. For full disclosure, I happen to own a
hybrid SUV which I love and I charge at home
(09:52):
and if I don't try go on the road, I
use chargers myself and I love it. But with that said,
when it comes to the partners and companies or businesses
that you work with, how do all these relationships work
and do you go out and get them, do they
solicit you or is it a combination of working together?
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yeah, it's it's it's a combination. Right.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
So you know, we we have strategic relationships with many
many hardware manufacturers because there's no one size fits all, right,
So you know some fleets, electric fleets, you know they
are moving into larger trucks. You know they require different
(10:32):
kind of charger as compared to a charger that may
be for your SUV or for my you know, my
ev uh you know, Sedan and so so we have
seven different hardware manufacturers, you know, some out in in
in Asia, some manufactured in the US.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
You know, so if you're installing for let's say some
states and if they're using federal funding, they need to
have you know, made in America chargers, right so we
want to have partners that can do that as compared
to some of these you know others that may be
internationally sourced. And you know, we have four strategic partnerships
(11:19):
nationwide because you know, we have our relationships and participating
agreements with states of Hawaii, Arizona, and New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland,
and California. Right so, and we need you know, we're
not a very large company and you know we're agile,
(11:40):
we're nimble and lead. So you need partners to help
you do those kinds of uh uh you know, activities
and things. So partnerships are critical in this industry because
there's no one company that does at all.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Sam I know, as an owner of a hybrid and
also watching the news every day that we're always in
flux when it comes to electric vehicles or hybrid or
the industry in general. And I don't want to get
political here because there's no need to do that because
everything is still growing exponentially. I'd like to you expound
on that, but I want to ask you about challenges
but also the good things that are happening in the industry.
(12:20):
And once again, everybody knows about our political climate right now,
but you're in the business of making sure that these
are executed and then working correctly for the people that
do have these kind of vehicles. With that said, what
kind of challenges are presented in the industry right now
to you? But what are all things that are either
going really well or that you're looking forward to or
the next two to five years.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You bet, Look, there is no question there are political
headwinds for the industry, but the ground truth that is
so different. I mean, the ground truth is that the
sales of evs are actually going up.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Right.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Last year, for reported an eighteen percent uptick on their
EV production, you know, mostly lightning, and you know, GM
reported a thirty percent uptick on their EV vehicle sales.
So that's pretty significant, right, And like many emerging industries,
(13:19):
you know, EV charging, uh you know, is facing growing pains. First,
like I mentioned, there are some political headwinds.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Second, hardware supply can be inconsistent, and tariffs aren't helping,
though we haven't seen the impact of tariffs on the
industry as of yet. But what's happening is that lead
times for chargers are often longer than expected, you know,
and and not all manufacturers are equally reliable. So that's
(13:51):
a big issue. Second, I would say, or third, I
would say, there's the issue of uptime.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
You know, studies show that about one in.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Four chargers in the US or out of service at
any given time, and that is not a good statistic
to have, right. That erodes driver confidence and it's a
slows adoption. And you know, I already talked about the
policy uncertainty. You know, through the bilateral bip not bilateral
(14:23):
my apologies, bipartisan Infrastructure law, there was seven and a
half billion dollars set aside for EV charging infrastructure in
the nation, and you know that got clawed back. But
you know, the states and local governments have have stepped up.
I mean, I mean they stepped up in space. I mean,
(14:45):
we are so busy right now with state and local governments.
It's incredible on how you know, with the leadership that
has showed up in electrification in state and local governments.
And you know, Dennis, I'll tell you, these challenges are real,
but you know, we see them as opportunities, right, you know,
and we really want to help our customers navigate through
(15:08):
this evolving landscape.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And I think also education is a real big deal.
And Sam, I know this doesn't directly pertain to you,
but you know, as I watch the industry once again
having a hybrid vehicle, I watch what they're doing in
other countries, but also our battery development that they're getting smaller,
the charging time is getting shorter, which is just paramount
for everybody because I think when this first came about,
when it started to be hip to have either a
(15:33):
hybrid or ev vehicle, I mean, I have to charge
my car for several hours, you know, And now we're
now we're getting down in other countries you can charge
it in five or ten minutes for a car that
goes four hundred miles on a charge. And I know
that not all vehicles are they yet, but we're getting
closer and things are moving very quickly. I know it's
a fluid industry, but you must be excited about the
(15:54):
prospects of technology and how quickly it's moving, and how
exciting it is for the people that do on these
vehicles or will get one someday.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Oh yeah, I mean, batteries are moving faster than we
can imagine. You know, I'll mention that in China, who's
the leading force in electrification, you know globally, some of
their batteries are just insane, I should say. They're working
(16:25):
on batteries that get you six to seven hundred miles
per charge. They're working on replaceable batteries where you could
come into a charging station and unlike you wouldn't charge,
there's a robotic arm that would you know, you know,
come underneath the car. They would plug, unplug the battery,
(16:46):
the used battery, and install a new battery.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Absolutely amazing, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Amazing, and that's done in fifteen minutes or less. So
there's there's tons of stuff that's happening, you know, globally
in the EV space that is fascinating, and you know,
we can't wait to adopt those technologies in our nation.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I want to put a pin in work just for
a second and talk about philanthropic and charity work and
whether it's with the business or with you personally, Sam,
what do you like to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So, you know, charity and has always been important to
us as a family, even my parents. I've served on
you know, board of trustees at the Catholic Charities of Baltimore.
It was one of the most fulfilling, you know, board
(17:38):
positions that I had. And uh, you know, I've been
involved in the University of Maryland's Board of Visitors, the
board of governors, and you know, giving back to me
is about creating opportunities. I do want to say something
about giving back. It's not like we took something away
from anyone. It's really giving off yourself to me is
(18:00):
what means my giving back right to create opportunities, you know,
especially in education and workforce development and our company easy Voles.
We also think about you know, philanthropy in terms of impact, right.
We want to be able to create jobs in unserved,
(18:20):
underserved communities, and we see ev infrastructure as a pathway
truly as a pathway for both sustainability and economic opportunity
for folks. So again, for me, charity isn't just just
about writing checks, you know, It's about building systems and
opportunities that lift people up for the long term.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
As you may or may not know, we have a
lot of not only CEOs and entrepreneurs currently running some
great companies to listen to the series, but also some
future young people that are excited about what everybody does
and how they do it. People like you and you
have such a great story, and I'd love for you
to talk aboutentrepreneurship and also leadership. And I know that
those are both exclusive to you and your personal journey.
(19:05):
But with that said, when it comes to starting a company,
which you've done now three times, and also leadership, while
you are leaning mean right now, you're still in charge
of people and then they're going out in the field
and making sure that they execute your vision. Also your manners,
your leadership style, your politeness, and all the other things
that go with how you want to run a company.
(19:26):
Can you talk about both of those for our listening audience.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, thank you. That is very thoughtful and meaningful question, Dennis.
You know, my learning has been that leadership is not
a title, right, It's not about titles. It's about clarity
and trust. A leader's job is to remove obstacles, set
(19:52):
the vision, and empower people to succeed. Right. I remember
a quote by Steve Jobs so appropriately said, you know,
we want to bring in the best people and get
the heck out of their way and let them what
they do best.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
And you know, I've led both businesses and in government,
and in both arenas, I've learned that authenticity and resilience
matter more than anything else. You know, people will follow
you if they believe that you care, you genuinely care
about them, and if you hold yourself accountable, and if
(20:33):
you are clear about where you're going, people tend to
trust you more. And that's a leader's job is to
earn the people's trust. And you know, and an easy votes.
I try to model that every day, you know, whether
it's rolling up my sleeves with the team or making
(20:54):
tough calls, you know, the unpopular calls, and you have
to make that right in the end. You know, people
need to know that they have been treated fairly and justly.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
You know what you're not You shouldn't be surprised by this,
But what you're talking about is a current theme from
a lot of our leaders that run great companies out there,
whether they're small, medium, at large. And if I could
read in between the lines, if I may, you're talking about,
you know, the proper culture. You're talking about teamwork, talking
about being appropriately candid with everybody and also leading by example.
(21:27):
And also I've heard so many leaders like you say, listen,
I'm not usually the smartest person in the in the room.
I hired some really brilliant people to let them do
and then I do get out of their way. And
you're talking about all those things and when you start
to add them all up, you can hopefully have a
pretty damn good company.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Sam, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
I've had decent success and it's not because of me.
It's because of the people within the company, and they
do great things. You know, my job has been an
every leader job is to create an environment where the
people can succeed.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Yeah. Period.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I always
think the other two things that come to mind something
that I've lived by for a long time, Sam, and
I'm sure you do just by getting to know you
today is a simple act of kindness and also also
simple acknowledgment. People just want to be seen sometimes.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Right, yes, yes, so true.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We don't get it. We don't get enough of that.
So everybody knows. With the world on fire right now
in twenty twenty five, you know that's those are things
that mean a lot to people out there, especially in
the workforce when they can go anywhere and work now,
especially from home at times. So listen, thank you for
all that. I really appreciate it. I do want to
get some final thoughts and recap our conversation. I'd also
like you to give the website, and also I know
(22:43):
that there's a great app that people can download, so
I want you to talk all about that. But why
don't we just recap what we've talked about, Sam, just
some final thoughts from you. The floor is yours, sir.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Well, thank you so much, dutus all right.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Really, the big message, you know, I want listeners to
take away is this ev charging is more is about
more than just plugging in cars, right, It's about the
future of how we move, how our cities function, and
how communities stay resilient. And we're making sure that ev
charging is reliable, it's accessible, and it's well managed and
(23:18):
we're just not building charging stations. We're building confidence in
the transition to electric mobility. And that's a big deal.
And to answer your question, yes, we're hiring. We're always
looking for passionate, mission driven people who want to be
part of shaping the future of mobility, you know, whether
(23:40):
in technology or operations or customer success. I do want
to mention about the app that you brought up, Dennis.
The app is a driver facing an easy driver ev
driver facing app called easy volts, just as the company name,
and it's available on the iOS and the on the
(24:03):
Google Play Store. So when you download the app and
you open the app, it geolocates where you are and
gives you within one hundred miles all the chargers that
are around you. Doesn't matter if it's a Tesla, if
you go electrofabric, it doesn't matter. Every network, every conceivable
(24:24):
network is on the app. Every charger, regardless of the
brand or the charger type or the plug type, is
on the app. And so that's the first thing. So
you know, you geolocates where you are. Then you know
it shows you on a map all the chargers around you,
(24:44):
either in green or in purple green or level too,
purple or DC fast chargers, and if you click on
one of them, it drops you into a turn by
turn directions to do that charger. I'll also tell you
whether the charger is available or not. Let me tell
you as as an EV driver, I get to a
charger and if it's not working.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I am man, I am very angry. Right.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
So that's the one thing that the app does. The
second thing it does, which is unique, it has a
trip planner into it, so you can you can plan
a trip well in advance, you know, weeks months early,
and you know it will not only navigate you to
your destination within this trip, it will also tell you,
(25:30):
which we call range Halo, will tell you all the
chargers that are on that route that you are planning.
And so when you start your journey, it'll assume that
forty percent of the journey that it will automatically come
up and tell you you're forty percent of your journey and
(25:50):
you you and you know we're embedding AI into it
in our future releases where we can actually tell what
battery amount do you have when you start art and
you know, and'll tell you that this would this would
be the point where you should be charging and these
are the chargers around you.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
So really fascinating, wonderful app.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
You know, I I highly request you know, listeners to
download them if you're driving an e V or even
if you're not driving an EV.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
It's a great trip planner anyway, all right, right, uh
and you can you can.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
You can find us at e W w W at
e z volts dot com. That's h e z v
O l d z dot com and also a humble
request to follow us on social media. We're on LinkedIn,
We're on Instagram, Facebook, and Dennis, thank you for letting
(26:48):
me make that plug.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, it's my pleasure, Sam, And once again being a
hybrid owner, I'm stoked at futurists like you in the
futures here now what you do with your team, and
I'm encouraged by the future. I know that we're in
a certain political climate right now and that is what
it is. But I bought into the hybrid technology and
one day I'm sure I'll have a full electric car,
which I would be very excited about, especially when those
(27:11):
mileages per charge get higher out there and all the
traveling that everybody does now. But I'm just so excited
for you what's happening now but also the future. So
thank you so much for joining us on CEOs as
you know and continue success.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Thank you so very uses.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
You can hear the whole conversation at this station's website.
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Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let's meet Sam Mahultra. He is the founder and CEO
for Easy Bolts, a company that provides comprehensive EV charging
as a service that manages the entire life cycle of
electric vehicle charging infrastructure for governments, commercial properties, and EV fleets.
Before we talk more about Sam's company, I first asked
him to talk a little bit about himself, where he's
from and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I grew up in a booie Maryland to immigrant parents,
and you know where the focus. My parents always focused
on hard work, as you know, as the first generation immigrants,
you know, hard work Brazilians and education, and you know,
coming to the US as a teenager, it was a
(00:52):
turning point in my life. It was it was it
opened up opportunities. It also meant I had to work
my way through school and tart my own path. And
then Maryland became home right and I built deep roots here.
I went to Largo Senior High in Prince George's County,
(01:13):
then into University of Maryland and a master's from Georgetown University,
which is also local to US, and you know, over
the years, my journey has taken me from founding and
scaling companies in Maryland, and some of these companies have
been nationwide, by the way, and you know, to serving
(01:36):
and doing my public service first as the Cabinet Secretary
in Governor Larry Hogan's cabinet running his Department of Human
Services and then his chief of Staff for about thirteen months.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
And I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
That each step and it has taught me that leadership
is about solving problems that are bigger than yourself, and
that's been you know, all through all through my career.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, listen, we're going to talk a lot about leadership
a little bit later on. And I know this won't
surprise you, but I've been doing this series for over
four years and I've talked to so many successful people
that have come from other countries where their parents have
and done amazing thing and really turned into be a
lifer here, stayed in the region and done some incredible
things like you have. So we're going to talk a
lot about Easy Volts today and what I would like
(02:32):
to do first before we talk about the mission and
the vision and exactly what you do and all the
cool things that are Easy Volts. I want to know
about the origin of the idea of it, because I
know this is your third company and you're used to
starting to run companies or or found them, as you
did with this one. Obviously you saw some sort of
hole in the industry, Sam, and I'm curious as you
(02:53):
were kind of doing your research and finding out what
you want to do new next, what did you see
on the horizon and said, you know what, this might
be a good idea. I think I can pull this off.
Here's what we're going to have to do. But can
you tell us about that origin story about easy Volts?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
You bet, you bet, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Every company I've started has been about finding a blind
spot in an industry and the place where everyone assumes
the problem ends. In reality, that's where it begins. And
in our instance in the industry that we are in
ev charging, I noticed that once ev charges are installed,
(03:32):
most companies walk away, right. Their business model is install
and flee, set it and forget it, and that's their
business right. So once that is done, the hardware is there,
but who makes sure that it works every day across
multiple brands at multiple sites. And it's that gap is
(03:56):
where easy voltz was born. We build company to manage
the full life cycle of installation, monitoring, maintenance, and future proofing,
where other companies weren't focused on that. They were so
focused on building their own networks by installing hardware.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
And just moving on.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And you know, the idea came from seeing how critical
reliable infrastructure is going to be as fleets and communities
electrify and you know, and we realized that no one
was stepping up to be the air traffic control of
ev charging. That's in making sure that chargers are up
(04:40):
ninety seven plus percent at the time that they're you know,
who charged, when they charged, how many electrons went through,
and what price was the grid stable while that was happening.
So those are the kinds of things that we found
that most companies weren't doing, or if they were doing it,
they were just doing it for their networks, but they're
wasn't anyone that was going across these networks, right, you know,
(05:05):
horizontally across the industry.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, thanks for all of that, and it's a fascinating idea.
It seems like an easy idea, but the execution, I'm
sure is epic. So we're going to talk about that,
But why don't we do this before we exactly find
out what you do? And I know you've been covering
that a little bit, but we'll get right back to that.
But I love to talk about mission and vision because
I know with all leaders, whether you found a company
like you did or you're running it as a CEO,
(05:30):
a mission and vision usually pretty important. What are they?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
So our mission is simple, Yeah, you know, it's to
empower organizations and communities to embrace electric mobility but with confidence.
And we do this by making ev charging reliable, scalable,
and sustainable. And I'll tell you, Dennis, that at the
heart of our work is the belief that drivers, fleet managers,
(05:59):
local governments shouldn't have to worry about whether a charger
is going to work or not. Right, They should be
focusing on their mission serving their communities.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Then us ensure the charging just works.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And just to follow up on that, I'll even share
our vision with you. We will be the leading managed
service provider for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in North America.
You know, we aim to transform how public and private
entities operate and manage v charging assets, right, And you know,
(06:36):
and we do this really by delivering a full stack
hardware agnostic platform that ensures high uptime, which I spoke
about earlier, operational accountability, and financial stability. And you know,
we're convinced that over the next three years we will
scale our platform to thousands of active charging sites, securing
(07:00):
multi agency and statewide contracts. And I can get into
that a little bit later as we talk more.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, we'll certainly do that, Sam and expand on that.
I know you've been kind of talking about what exactly do,
but we have so many new listeners that are being
introduced to easy wilts for the first time. So if
you were to talk to them and say, you know,
this is the thirty thousand foot view of what we do,
what would you tell everybody?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great question. So in our industry, in this industry, there
are hardware manufacturers, they manufacture the chargers, they're electrical companies
that do the installation, and then there are software providers
that provide some kind of software to assist the hardware
manufacturers and the and the installers. But we took a
(07:46):
very different approach to this. We are a EV charging
managed service provider and what that means is that we
not only install chargers, but we also manage and monitor
them twenty four by seven. Our software platform it's called
(08:06):
easy Connect, you know, and our Charger Network Operations Center,
which we call CNC serve as the air traffic control
for EV chargers. Right where we have multiple screens and
we can see every charger that's under our maintenance and
our governor governance as to what's happening with that charger.
(08:29):
If the charger's up, the chargers down, you know how
many electrons went through a price, who charged and you know,
you know at what time and how long was the charge,
so you know, and we see these issues in real
time and often before the EV drivers do. And you know,
(08:50):
we can dispatch fixes very quickly remotely. You know, if
a chargers down, let's say, we you know, we can
deploy a healing algorithm to reboot the charger and if
that doesn't work, you know, and then we send a
tech to get it fixed. Now, if ify driver is
at the charger that's under our management and governance, you know,
(09:11):
they're inserting their credit card or an RFID card to
get it started. It doesn't work, we have an eight
hundred number that they can call through our CNOC. It's
twenty four to seven, So we want to make sure
that no one is stranded when they are in an
evy or are at an EV charger.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Very good sam for our audience. I'd love for you
and for me too if you can explain how you
work with your partners, and I'd like you to talk
about how wide your net is right now and over
the next two to five years, because I know people
like you always looking forward and this industry is moving
so quickly. For full disclosure, I happen to own a
hybrid SUV which I love and I charge at home
(09:52):
and if I don't try go on the road, I
use chargers myself and I love it. But with that said,
when it comes to the partners and companies or businesses
that you work with, how do all these relationships work
and do you go out and get them, do they
solicit you or is it a combination of working together?
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Yeah, it's it's it's a combination. Right.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
So you know, we we have strategic relationships with many
many hardware manufacturers because there's no one size fits all, right,
So you know some fleets, electric fleets, you know they
are moving into larger trucks. You know they require different
(10:32):
kind of charger as compared to a charger that may
be for your SUV or for my you know, my
ev uh you know, Sedan and so so we have
seven different hardware manufacturers, you know, some out in in
in Asia, some manufactured in the US.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
You know, so if you're installing for let's say some
states and if they're using federal funding, they need to
have you know, made in America chargers, right so we
want to have partners that can do that as compared
to some of these you know others that may be
internationally sourced. And you know, we have four strategic partnerships
(11:19):
nationwide because you know, we have our relationships and participating
agreements with states of Hawaii, Arizona, and New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland,
and California. Right so, and we need you know, we're
not a very large company and you know we're agile,
(11:40):
we're nimble and lead. So you need partners to help
you do those kinds of uh uh you know, activities
and things. So partnerships are critical in this industry because
there's no one company that does at all.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Sam I know, as an owner of a hybrid and
also watching the news every day that we're always in
flux when it comes to electric vehicles or hybrid or
the industry in general. And I don't want to get
political here because there's no need to do that because
everything is still growing exponentially. I'd like to you expound
on that, but I want to ask you about challenges
but also the good things that are happening in the industry.
(12:20):
And once again, everybody knows about our political climate right now,
but you're in the business of making sure that these
are executed and then working correctly for the people that
do have these kind of vehicles. With that said, what
kind of challenges are presented in the industry right now
to you? But what are all things that are either
going really well or that you're looking forward to or
the next two to five years.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You bet, Look, there is no question there are political
headwinds for the industry, but the ground truth that is
so different. I mean, the ground truth is that the
sales of evs are actually going up.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Right.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Last year, for reported an eighteen percent uptick on their
EV production, you know, mostly lightning, and you know, GM
reported a thirty percent uptick on their EV vehicle sales.
So that's pretty significant, right, And like many emerging industries,
(13:19):
you know, EV charging, uh you know, is facing growing pains. First,
like I mentioned, there are some political headwinds.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Second, hardware supply can be inconsistent, and tariffs aren't helping,
though we haven't seen the impact of tariffs on the
industry as of yet. But what's happening is that lead
times for chargers are often longer than expected, you know,
and and not all manufacturers are equally reliable. So that's
(13:51):
a big issue. Second, I would say, or third, I
would say, there's the issue of uptime.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
You know, studies show that about one in.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Four chargers in the US or out of service at
any given time, and that is not a good statistic
to have, right. That erodes driver confidence and it's a
slows adoption. And you know, I already talked about the
policy uncertainty. You know, through the bilateral bip not bilateral
(14:23):
my apologies, bipartisan Infrastructure law, there was seven and a
half billion dollars set aside for EV charging infrastructure in
the nation, and you know that got clawed back. But
you know, the states and local governments have have stepped up.
I mean, I mean they stepped up in space. I mean,
(14:45):
we are so busy right now with state and local governments.
It's incredible on how you know, with the leadership that
has showed up in electrification in state and local governments.
And you know, Dennis, I'll tell you, these challenges are real,
but you know, we see them as opportunities, right, you know,
and we really want to help our customers navigate through
(15:08):
this evolving landscape.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And I think also education is a real big deal.
And Sam, I know this doesn't directly pertain to you,
but you know, as I watch the industry once again
having a hybrid vehicle, I watch what they're doing in
other countries, but also our battery development that they're getting smaller,
the charging time is getting shorter, which is just paramount
for everybody because I think when this first came about,
when it started to be hip to have either a
(15:33):
hybrid or ev vehicle, I mean, I have to charge
my car for several hours, you know, And now we're
now we're getting down in other countries you can charge
it in five or ten minutes for a car that
goes four hundred miles on a charge. And I know
that not all vehicles are they yet, but we're getting
closer and things are moving very quickly. I know it's
a fluid industry, but you must be excited about the
(15:54):
prospects of technology and how quickly it's moving, and how
exciting it is for the people that do on these
vehicles or will get one someday.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Oh yeah, I mean, batteries are moving faster than we
can imagine. You know, I'll mention that in China, who's
the leading force in electrification, you know globally, some of
their batteries are just insane, I should say. They're working
(16:25):
on batteries that get you six to seven hundred miles
per charge. They're working on replaceable batteries where you could
come into a charging station and unlike you wouldn't charge,
there's a robotic arm that would you know, you know,
come underneath the car. They would plug, unplug the battery,
(16:46):
the used battery, and install a new battery.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Absolutely amazing, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Amazing, and that's done in fifteen minutes or less. So
there's there's tons of stuff that's happening, you know, globally
in the EV space that is fascinating, and you know,
we can't wait to adopt those technologies in our nation.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I want to put a pin in work just for
a second and talk about philanthropic and charity work and
whether it's with the business or with you personally, Sam,
what do you like to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So, you know, charity and has always been important to
us as a family, even my parents. I've served on
you know, board of trustees at the Catholic Charities of Baltimore.
It was one of the most fulfilling, you know, board
(17:38):
positions that I had. And uh, you know, I've been
involved in the University of Maryland's Board of Visitors, the
board of governors, and you know, giving back to me
is about creating opportunities. I do want to say something
about giving back. It's not like we took something away
from anyone. It's really giving off yourself to me is
(18:00):
what means my giving back right to create opportunities, you know,
especially in education and workforce development and our company easy Voles.
We also think about you know, philanthropy in terms of impact, right.
We want to be able to create jobs in unserved,
(18:20):
underserved communities, and we see ev infrastructure as a pathway
truly as a pathway for both sustainability and economic opportunity
for folks. So again, for me, charity isn't just just
about writing checks, you know, It's about building systems and
opportunities that lift people up for the long term.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Sam.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
As you may or may not know, we have a
lot of not only CEOs and entrepreneurs currently running some
great companies to listen to the series, but also some
future young people that are excited about what everybody does
and how they do it. People like you and you
have such a great story, and I'd love for you
to talk aboutentrepreneurship and also leadership. And I know that
those are both exclusive to you and your personal journey.
(19:05):
But with that said, when it comes to starting a company,
which you've done now three times, and also leadership, while
you are leaning mean right now, you're still in charge
of people and then they're going out in the field
and making sure that they execute your vision. Also your manners,
your leadership style, your politeness, and all the other things
that go with how you want to run a company.
(19:26):
Can you talk about both of those for our listening audience.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, thank you. That is very thoughtful and meaningful question, Dennis.
You know, my learning has been that leadership is not
a title, right, It's not about titles. It's about clarity
and trust. A leader's job is to remove obstacles, set
(19:52):
the vision, and empower people to succeed. Right. I remember
a quote by Steve Jobs so appropriately said, you know,
we want to bring in the best people and get
the heck out of their way and let them what
they do best.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
And you know, I've led both businesses and in government,
and in both arenas, I've learned that authenticity and resilience
matter more than anything else. You know, people will follow
you if they believe that you care, you genuinely care
about them, and if you hold yourself accountable, and if
(20:33):
you are clear about where you're going, people tend to
trust you more. And that's a leader's job is to
earn the people's trust. And you know, and an easy votes.
I try to model that every day, you know, whether
it's rolling up my sleeves with the team or making
(20:54):
tough calls, you know, the unpopular calls, and you have
to make that right in the end. You know, people
need to know that they have been treated fairly and justly.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
You know what you're not You shouldn't be surprised by this,
But what you're talking about is a current theme from
a lot of our leaders that run great companies out there,
whether they're small, medium, at large. And if I could
read in between the lines, if I may, you're talking about,
you know, the proper culture. You're talking about teamwork, talking
about being appropriately candid with everybody and also leading by example.
(21:27):
And also I've heard so many leaders like you say, listen,
I'm not usually the smartest person in the in the room.
I hired some really brilliant people to let them do
and then I do get out of their way. And
you're talking about all those things and when you start
to add them all up, you can hopefully have a
pretty damn good company.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Sam, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
I've had decent success and it's not because of me.
It's because of the people within the company, and they
do great things. You know, my job has been an
every leader job is to create an environment where the
people can succeed.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Yeah. Period.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I always
think the other two things that come to mind something
that I've lived by for a long time, Sam, and
I'm sure you do just by getting to know you
today is a simple act of kindness and also also
simple acknowledgment. People just want to be seen sometimes.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Right, yes, yes, so true.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We don't get it. We don't get enough of that.
So everybody knows. With the world on fire right now
in twenty twenty five, you know that's those are things
that mean a lot to people out there, especially in
the workforce when they can go anywhere and work now,
especially from home at times. So listen, thank you for
all that. I really appreciate it. I do want to
get some final thoughts and recap our conversation. I'd also
like you to give the website, and also I know
(22:43):
that there's a great app that people can download, so
I want you to talk all about that. But why
don't we just recap what we've talked about, Sam, just
some final thoughts from you. The floor is yours, sir.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Well, thank you so much, dutus all right.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Really, the big message, you know, I want listeners to
take away is this ev charging is more is about
more than just plugging in cars, right, It's about the
future of how we move, how our cities function, and
how communities stay resilient. And we're making sure that ev
charging is reliable, it's accessible, and it's well managed and
(23:18):
we're just not building charging stations. We're building confidence in
the transition to electric mobility. And that's a big deal.
And to answer your question, yes, we're hiring. We're always
looking for passionate, mission driven people who want to be
part of shaping the future of mobility, you know, whether
(23:40):
in technology or operations or customer success. I do want
to mention about the app that you brought up, Dennis.
The app is a driver facing an easy driver ev
driver facing app called easy volts, just as the company name,
and it's available on the iOS and the on the
(24:03):
Google Play Store. So when you download the app and
you open the app, it geolocates where you are and
gives you within one hundred miles all the chargers that
are around you. Doesn't matter if it's a Tesla, if
you go electrofabric, it doesn't matter. Every network, every conceivable
(24:24):
network is on the app. Every charger, regardless of the
brand or the charger type or the plug type, is
on the app. And so that's the first thing. So
you know, you geolocates where you are. Then you know
it shows you on a map all the chargers around you,
(24:44):
either in green or in purple green or level too,
purple or DC fast chargers, and if you click on
one of them, it drops you into a turn by
turn directions to do that charger. I'll also tell you
whether the charger is available or not. Let me tell
you as as an EV driver, I get to a
charger and if it's not working.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I am man, I am very angry. Right.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
So that's the one thing that the app does. The
second thing it does, which is unique, it has a
trip planner into it, so you can you can plan
a trip well in advance, you know, weeks months early,
and you know it will not only navigate you to
your destination within this trip, it will also tell you,
(25:30):
which we call range Halo, will tell you all the
chargers that are on that route that you are planning.
And so when you start your journey, it'll assume that
forty percent of the journey that it will automatically come
up and tell you you're forty percent of your journey and
(25:50):
you you and you know we're embedding AI into it
in our future releases where we can actually tell what
battery amount do you have when you start art and
you know, and'll tell you that this would this would
be the point where you should be charging and these
are the chargers around you.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
So really fascinating, wonderful app.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
You know, I I highly request you know, listeners to
download them if you're driving an e V or even
if you're not driving an EV.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
It's a great trip planner anyway, all right, right, uh
and you can you can.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
You can find us at e W w W at
e z volts dot com. That's h e z v
O l d z dot com and also a humble
request to follow us on social media. We're on LinkedIn,
We're on Instagram, Facebook, and Dennis, thank you for letting
(26:48):
me make that plug.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Well, it's my pleasure, Sam, And once again being a
hybrid owner, I'm stoked at futurists like you in the
futures here now what you do with your team, and
I'm encouraged by the future. I know that we're in
a certain political climate right now and that is what
it is. But I bought into the hybrid technology and
one day I'm sure I'll have a full electric car,
which I would be very excited about, especially when those
(27:11):
mileages per charge get higher out there and all the
traveling that everybody does now. But I'm just so excited
for you what's happening now but also the future. So
thank you so much for joining us on CEOs as
you know and continue success.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
Thank you so very uses.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
You can hear the whole conversation at this station's website.
Slash CEO From storage to last mile, from point A
to point wherever, a moving and logistics experience like no other.
Get moving at Western danshmove dot com.
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