Why New York Metropolis is sorting out battery swapping for e-bikes

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Exhaust adequate time in a metropolis and also you’ll accumulate to know its curious soundscape. In New York Metropolis, it aspects the echoes of car stereos, the deep grumbles of garbage truck engines, and, an increasing number of, the high-pitched whirring of electrical bikes.

E-bikes and scooters are becoming a staple across the city’s boroughs, and e-bikes in particular are especially popular among the tens of thousands of delivery workers who zip through the streets.

On a recent cloudy afternoon in New York, I joined a couple dozen of them at a kickoff event for a new city program that aims to connect delivery drivers with emerging charging technologies. Drivers who join the pilot will gain access to either fast chargers or battery swapping stations for six months.

It’s part of the city’s efforts to reduce the risk of battery fires, some of which have been sparked by e-bike batteries charging inside apartment buildings, according to the fire department. For more on this plan and how it could help address fires, read my latest story. Meanwhile, here’s what I heard from delivery drivers and the startups at the kickoff event.

On a windy late-February day, I made my way through the lines of delivery workers who showed up to the event in New York’s Cooper Square. Some of them straddled their bikes in line, while others propped up their bikes in clusters. Bright bags bearing the logos of various delivery services sprouted from their cargo racks.

Metropolis officers labored at tables below tents, assigning riders to 1 of many three startups that are partnering with the metropolis for the unusual program. One firm, Swiftmile, is constructing immediate-charging bike racks for drivers. The assorted two, Popwheels and Swobbee, are aiming to lift battery swapping to the metropolis.

Battery swapping is a rising technology in some substances of the arena, but it’s no longer total within the US, so I change into especially intrigued by the 2 corporations who had space up battery swap cabinets.

Swobbee operates a small network of swapping stations across the country, along with one at its headquarters in Germany. It is retrofitting bikes to accommodate its battery, which attaches to the rear of the bike. Popwheels is taking a slightly different approach, offering batteries that are already compatible with the majority of e-bikes used by delivery drivers today, requiring little modification.

I watched a Popwheels employee demonstrate the company’s battery swapping system to several newly enrolled drivers. Each would approach the Popwheels cabinet, which is roughly the size and shape of a bookcase and has 16 numbered metal doors on the front. After they made a few taps on their smartphone, a door would swing open. Inside, there was space to insert a depleted battery and connect a cable to it. Once the battery was inside the cabinet and the door was closed, another door would open, revealing a fully charged e-bike battery the rider could unplug and take away. Presto!

The entire process took just a minute or two—much faster than waiting for a battery to charge. It’s similar to picking up a package from an automated locker in an upscale apartment building.

The crowd regarded as if it could per chance perchance perchance develop at some level of the 2 hours I spent at the tournament, and the line stretched and squeezed nearer to the sting of the sidewalk. I made a observation in regards to the turnout to Baruch Herzfeld, Popwheels’ CEO and co-founder. “Here’s nothing,” he said. “There’s inquire of for 100,000 batteries in New York day after today.”

Indeed, New York City has roughly 60,000 delivery workers, many of whom depend on e-bikes to get around. And commuters and tourists can also be attracted to small, electrified vehicles. Meeting the demand for that kind of service will require a lot more battery cabinets, as one can serve up to 50 riders, according to Popwheels’ estimates.

After they’d signed up and watched the battery swap demo, drivers who were willing to swap batteries wheeled their bikes over to a couple of additional startup workers, who helped make a small adjustment to a rail beneath their seats for the company’s batteries to slide into. Some adjustments required a bit of effort, but I watched as one rider slid his new, freshly charged battery into place. He hopped on his bike and rode off into the bike lane, merging into the flow of traffic.

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For more on the city’s plans for battery swapping and how they could reduce fire risk, read my latest article.

Gogoro, one of our 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch in 2023 operates an extensive network of battery swapping stations for electric scooters, largely in Asia.

Some companies say battery swapping is an option for larger electric vehicles, too. Here’s how one startup aims to use modular, swappable batteries to get more EVs on the road.

STEPHANIE ARNETT/MITTR | SCOPEX (BALLOON)

Yet every other ingredient

Harvard researchers have given up on a prolonged-running effort to conduct a solar geoengineering experiment.

The root of the plan is a simple one: scatter particles in the upper atmosphere to scatter sunlight, counteracting global warming. But related research efforts have sparked controversy. Read more in my colleague James Temple’s latest story.

Maintaining up with climate

The Biden administration finalized strict new standards for car tailpipe emissions.Under the regulations, EVs are expected to make up over half of new car sales by 2030. (NPR)

The first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the US is formally up and running. It’s an important milestone that could signal a turning point for the industry. (Canary Media)

→ Here’s what’s next for offshore wind. (MIT Technology Review)

The UK has ambitious plans for heat pumps, but installations aren’t moving nearly fast enough, according to a new report. Installations must increase more than tenfold to keep pace with targets. (The Guardian)

States across the US are proposing rules to ban lab-grown meat. It’s the latest escalation in an increasingly contentious fight over a product that doesn’t yet exist. (Wired)

Low-cost EVs from Chinese automakers are pushing US-based corporations to rethink their electrification approach. More affordable EV options? A woman can dream. (Bloomberg)

→ EV costs in the US are inching down, nearing parity with gas-powered vehicles. (Washington Post)

Goodbye greenwashing, howdy “greenhushing”! Companies are an increasing number of going radio quiet on climate commitments. (Internal Native weather Records)

The Summer Olympics are imminent, and organizers in Paris are working to reduce the tournament’s climate impact. Think fewer new buildings, more bike lanes. (New York Times)

Early springs imply cherry blossoms are blooming earlier than ever. Warmer winters in the end could trigger an even greater anxiety. (Bloomberg)