In a market flooded with cheap imports and geopolitical risk, one company is standing its ground.

Did you know there’s only one North American battery management system (BMS) provider at utility scale—despite growing pressure from subsidized Chinese competitors offering systems at zero cost?
Michael Worry, CEO of Nuvation Energy, joins Nico to share how his company became that lone provider. 

“We're the only utility-scale North American battery management system that's available for purchase.” - Michael Worry

But the core of this episode brings a critical warning: what happens when over 80% of the U.S. battery infrastructure is owned or influenced by foreign governments? And how should engineers and lawmakers respond?

Michael takes us on a wild entrepreneurial ride: from building EVs before Tesla was cool to deploying robot kegerators at Burning Man. Nuvation’s “garage projects” aren’t just PR stunts—they’re real-world user acceptance test platforms that prove product reliability under extreme conditions.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why Nuvation rejected deals to white-label Chinese BMS tech
🔹 The loopholes foreign firms use to bypass U.S. battery bans
🔹 How garage innovation became a proving ground for serious tech
🔹 What’s at stake if supply chain security isn’t taken seriously

This episode is a wake-up call, a founder story, and a blueprint for building mission-critical tech without venture capital. Don’t miss it.

Are we sleeping on supply chain security? Hit play and find out.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Michael Worry:

• LinkedIn

Check out Nuvation Energy:

• Website | LinkedIn | X | Facebook

Links Mentioned:

• Episode 475 & 476: James Worden, The “Bill Gates of EV” & Solectria Corporation & The Making of Solectria Renewables
• Episode 483: Listen to your customer! James Worden on product development & the evolution of EVs

“Our job as engineers is to inform lawmakers of this risk. Because what we found in speaking with politicians in US and Canada is they are wildly unaware that we've handed over some 82 percent control of US grid infrastructure to China.” - Michael Worry