5-Hour Energy creator wants to power thousands of Indian homes with bikes

5-Hour Energy drink creator Manoj Bhargava details his vision to power Indian homes with stationery bikes in the documentary Billions in Change.
Image: Billions in Change

If 5-hour Energy drink creator Manoj Bhargava's vision comes true, there could soon be a lot more bikes, and electricity, in India.

That's because Bhargava, whose popular energy drink line made him a billionaire, has created a stationary, battery-pack-equipped bike that he said could be used to power the millions of homes around the world that have little to no power.

As detailed in a documentary posted this month to YouTube Billions in Change, the first phase of Bhargava's plan is to distribute 10,000 of his Free Electric bikes to households in India, where homeowners will be able to pedal for just an hour to keep lights and appliances powered all day — without creating any pollution.

"Electricity is the greatest enabler there is, and we've kept half the world out of it," Bhargava said in the documentary. "This enables all of these people who have not been part of the Industrial Revolution—they're still living as if it's 2,000 years ago—all of these people now can become part of a productive society."

Before the larger Free Electric roll-out next year, 50 bikes will be tested in 15 to 20 villages in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The bikes will also be produced in India, Bhargava said.

Each Free Electric bike will be easy to maintain and likely cost around $100 to make, but they won't be free, because Bhargava said this could make owners less likely to take care of them. Bhargava said a village could pool its resources to obtain one bike, while each family would have its own battery pack. Other uses for the bikes could be providing backup power during storms or other natural disasters.

In Billions in Change, Bhargava said he sees energy and water as the biggest challenges of the future, especially considering the fact that nearly half the world has either no electricity, or only a few hours of electricity a day.

"This is the cheapest, most practical way of getting electricity throughout the world," Bhargava said. "The real thing is to get the poor out of poverty, and one of the basics is energy. I mean think about it, the poor have stayed the poor half because they have no power, they have no energy. That's one of the most fundamental things, that and water. Those are the two biggest things that a poor person really needs."

The documentary details Bhargava's other ventures, including the development of the Rain Maker, which aims to make any kind of water safe to drink, and campaigning for the use of clean-burning geothermal energy.

According to Billions in Change, 62-year-old Bhargava, an Indian immigrant and Princeton drop-out, is worth $4 billion — and has pledged 99% of it to bettering the world.

"The more wealth you get, the bigger your duty becomes," Bhargava said. "Which is, to help those who have less, who are suffering. The more you're given, the more you're asked."

[H/T National Geographic]