840: Rethinking Battery Storage: Domestic BMS, Cybersecurity & Geopolitics | Michael Worry of Nuvation Energy

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. 

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.

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