NEW YORK — A New York City pilot program is testing battery-powered food carts as an alternative to gasoline generators, aiming to reduce noise and air pollution from thousands of street vendors.
William Arevalo, 59, is one of 10 food vendors participating in the six-month program, which began in July. His food cart, which sells hot dogs, empanadas and fried shrimp, now operates using rechargeable batteries instead of a gasoline-powered generator.
“I can’t believe it. Now we don’t have noise and all our equipment is still working,” Arevalo told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
New York has about 20,500 licensed food carts, most of which rely on gasoline generators to power cooking equipment, freezers and ventilation systems. According to the New York City Council, converting all of them to electric power would have the equivalent emissions impact of removing about 30,000 cars from the road each year.
Arevalo, whose family has operated the food cart for more than 20 years, said switching to battery power has improved working conditions.
“All the smoke from the generator used to come inside the truck. It’s really bad for our health. And sometimes when I was with a customer, I couldn’t hear them because of the generator noise,” he said.
He added that the battery system has also proven more reliable during the summer, when gasoline generators can overheat.
The cart uses an inverter that can hold up to six batteries, providing enough power to operate freezers, fans and other equipment. The batteries are replaced about every five hours and are supplied and recharged by New York startup PopWheels at nearby fire-resistant charging lockers.
While inverter systems can cost several thousand dollars, supporters of the program say lower operating costs could offset the initial investment over time.
Arevalo said fellow vendors have shown interest after seeing the system in operation.
“I show my friends and they’re surprised. Everything is working, it’s really all working,” he said.
