Worx, Aventon, and the state of swappable batteries
A battery is a battery, is a battery...
We all realize that we're in the midst of a real climate crisis. And one of the ways we're being told to battle this problem is by using less fossil fuels. Great! We can all get behind that. It essentially means that we should be trying to electrify more things right?
Our heating and cooking fuel at home? Electric. Our cars and our bikes? Electric. When in doubt, let's electrify something in order to make it more efficient and sustainable. That makes total sense, and I'm on board. But what about all the batteries?
Batteries
Yes, batteries are the elephant in every room where electrification is happening. Batteries can be expensive. They also require a lot of energy to produce and maintain. Whether they're using cobalt, nickel, lithium, or any other element, they can be difficult to source and produce. And that's why we should be maximizing each and every battery that we already have in our lives. Yes, most batteries can be recycled but it’s not an easy process and recycling of any form can take a while to be widely adopted.
Wouldn't it be great if the battery that powered your laptop could also run your leaf blower? Or pop it into your bike for an electrified ride around the block. Move a battery into your car when you have an extra long road trip. In theory, it all makes sense. Batteries store energy and we need that energy for nearly everything we do in our lives.
Ok, I'm not talking about an endless supply of AA's being moved all around your house, but it's not too far off.
Worx & Aventon
I wanted to highlight an interesting use case for versatile battery power that I've seen in my own personal life lately. It's a partnership between the power tool company Worx and bike manufacturer Aventon. They're working together to maximize the usability of their Power Share batteries that you may already have in your house.
Worx is the company that makes my lovable (but not perfect) robot lawn mower. You've likely read about it before if you've been following my work. Not only that, but I have a Worx electric weed whacker as well. Worx is building an ecosystem of power tools and appliances that use the same battery technology. And it's extremely convenient.
Now to be clear, Worx isn't the only company doing this. Other brands of tools have tried to build battery platforms in the past (Black & Decker, DeWalt, and Dremmel come to mind). But here is where Worx is doing something different. They've enabled the same battery that powers your weed whacker to also power your electric bike or scooter.
Yes, the Aventon Pace 350 can be powered by these same batteries that people like me already have in their garage. How smart is that? Maybe the capacity or total output won't be quite the same as the non-Worx powered version of the bike, but think about the convenience! These Worx PowerShare batteries are relatively small and easy to transport. They also charge fairly quickly when clicked into a variety of different charging docks.
A future of Swappable batteries
You could theoretically bring a few extra batteries with you on a long bike ride or scooter commute and be ready to swap in a new one should the need arise. And maybe a more extreme scenario, but it's possible to run into a hardware store and buy a pre-charged battery if you're really in a jam with no juice to get home. This feels like major progress on our quest to full electrification.
Let's face it, there are already lots people who are familiar and comfortable with the technology that powers the tools in their garage. They may be intimidated by electric cars or bikes, but a drill or a lawnmower battery is easy to wrap your head around.
Power Share batteries may still be a fairly niche market. And I"m not sure how many people would opt to buy the Aventon Pace in the Worx-powered version instead of the normal bike batter version. But it's a really solid first attempt. I was intrigued when I saw the bike but even more interested in the scooter. A scooter needs a bit less power than a bike and the portability and convenience of removable battery packs seems like a really nice feature.
I don't think that Aventon and Worx are going to change the world with this partnership but it's a big step in the right direction. Kudos to both companies for attempting to find new uses for the batteries that we already have sitting in our garage. The more we can electrify, and the fewer batteries we need to do so, the better things will be for our fragile planet.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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