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He made his fortune with 5-hour Energy, a smash hit caffeinated drink. Now billionaire Manoj Bhargava is turning his energy to a stationary bicycle that can meet a rural household’s electricity needs for 24 hours.
“I have graduated from five hours to 24 hours,” says the Lucknow-born, US-based entrepreneur as he launched his machine Free Electric in Delhi on Friday.
The ingenious invention — a stationary bicycle with reclining seats that fully charges an attached battery when pedalled for an hour — can power light bulbs, a fan, a cellphone, and even perhaps a low wattage TV. Estimated to cost ₹12,000-15,000, Free Electric will be manufactured in India and the US and hit the market by March next year.
But can a poor Indian household afford this? Bhargava suggests that an entrepreneur can act as an electricity utility by purchasing one bicycle and power up several batteries that he can supply to villagers at a nominal cost.
He has pledged 99 per cent of his wealth (estimated at $4 billion) to finding solutions that will meet the energy, water and healthcare needs of the world’s poor. For this, he set up Stage 2 Innovations, an invention shop that took two years to produce Free Electric. The next launch will be The Rainmaker, a water purification machine that can make saltwater potable. Also in the works is an artery widening machine that cures angina. For a man who funded electoral candidates in Michigan and was labelled by the US media as “the political kingmaker nobody knows”, Bhargava is surprisingly dismissive of governments and says will not look to them or to NGOs to push his solutions.
“Non-profits are horribly inefficient. Though they are not as bad as governments,” he says, stressing that the most efficient way to reach the end consumer is through “for profit” channels. He is also pushing the solution in India through 30,000 volunteers who are part of his ‘Billions in Change’ movement.
Bhargava also brushes aside charities, though he donates to them. “I cannot fix India that way. Nobody can,” he says. That’s why he says he decided to invest $200 million in a company that will invent for the poor.
Will this fix India? He looks doubtful — but says at least this is a cleverer way to impact 700 million people.
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