NYC Startups Turn E-Bikes and Stoves Into Grid Batteries

Getting a large battery approved in New York City means wrestling with mountains of red tape, but innovative startups found a clever workaround: hide the batteries in things people already use.

PopWheels built a battery-swapping network for delivery drivers zipping around on e-bikes. Instead of waiting for bikes to charge, drivers swap depleted batteries for fresh ones at 50 cabinets across the city, keeping 2,500 batteries in constant circulation.

The company recently expanded to food cart operators, replacing their noisy gas generators with clean battery power. Four batteries provide enough juice to run a cart all day, eliminating fumes and fuel costs in one swap.

Copper took a different approach by embedding batteries directly into induction stoves. Homeowners get backup power during outages and avoid expensive electrical upgrades since the battery shares the load when cooking.

"We're not just selling a battery for resilience. We're selling it for cost savings," said Sam Calisch, Copper's CEO.

Other companies like Every Electric and David Energy are plugging batteries into air conditioners, laundromats, parking garages, and gyms. Because these units are small, they skip the lengthy permitting process that stalls big installations.

The beauty of this approach? No one worries about battery fires in their neighborhood because the batteries are too small to cause the high-profile incidents that have spooked communities around utility-scale projects.

The Ripple Effect

James McGinniss, CEO of David Energy, calls this shift "the biggest thing to happen in the power grid sector in the last 20 years." If every stove in America shipped with a battery, it would create tens of gigawatts of power capacity that utilities could tap during heat waves and high-stress moments.

These scattered batteries add up fast. PopWheels alone has enough capacity to make a dent in New York's congested grid, and that's just delivery bikes and food carts.

The model works like balcony solar panels that plug straight into your wall, no electrician required. Companies pay customers to reduce usage during peak times, making participation profitable instead of just eco-friendly.

Large battery installations will still play a crucial role supporting wind and solar farms, but the distributed approach solves a different problem: giving dense cities like New York a path forward when big projects face community opposition.

Summer blackouts remain a constant threat as the grid gets more congested and electricity demand climbs. Every plugged-in stove, e-bike battery, and air conditioner that can share power back to the system brings relief a little closer.