It’s a part of the town’s efforts to chop down on the chance of battery fires, a few of which have been sparked by e-bike batteries charging inside condo buildings, in keeping with the hearth division. For extra on this system and the way it may assist tackle fires, take a look at my newest story. Within the meantime, right here’s what I heard from supply drivers and the startups on the kickoff occasion.

On a windy late-February day, I wove my method via the traces of supply employees who confirmed as much as the occasion in Manhattan’s Cooper Sq.. A few of them straddled their bikes in line, whereas others propped up their bikes in clusters. Colourful baggage sporting the logos of assorted supply providers sprouted from their cargo racks.

Metropolis officers labored at tables beneath tents, assigning riders to one of many three startups which are partnering with the town for the brand new program. One firm, Swiftmile, is constructing fast-charging bike racks for drivers. The opposite two, Popwheels and Swobbee, are aiming to deliver battery swapping to the town.

Battery swapping is a rising know-how in some components of the world, but it surely’s not frequent within the US, so I used to be particularly intrigued by the 2 firms who had arrange battery swap cupboards.

Swobbee runs a small community of swapping stations around the globe, together with at its base in Germany. It’s retrofitting bikes to accommodate its battery, which attaches to the rear of the bike. Popwheels is taking a barely completely different strategy, offering batteries which are already suitable with nearly all of e-bikes supply drivers use right now, with little modification required.

I watched a Popwheels worker reveal the corporate’s battery swapping station to a number of newly enrolled drivers. Each would strategy the Popwheels cupboard, which is roughly the scale and form of a bookcase and has 16 numbered steel doorways on the entrance. After they made a number of faucets on their smartphone, a door would swing open. Inside, there was house to slip in a used battery and a wire to plug into it. As soon as the battery was within the cupboard and the door had been shut, one other door would open, revealing a totally charged e-bike battery the rider may unplug and slide out. Presto!