There is no doubt that the issue of safe charging of e-bikes is a topic of growing concern in the United States. And while the media frenzy around the relatively rare e-bike fires is often overblown, does not exclude a real risk associated with lithium-ion batteries. Now, a new charging solution designed in the United States could provide an answer to the problem.
I recently stumbled upon these two different models of e-bike charging stations when visiting the Austin, Texas-based electric bike manufacturer. Bicycles MOD.
The company has just released many new models of e-bikes and updated its entire line with impressive features such as torque sensors, color display, dual battery support, and more. I had the opportunity to test several of them and I will have some in-depth reviews soon. But as impressive as the new e-bikes are, I found another surprise sitting in a corner of the company’s warehouse: a pair of home-designed e-bike charging stations.
Both patent-pending charging stations offer a pair of divergent but equally easy-to-install options that solve the problem of safe and secure charging.
The first style of charging station is intended for fleet use by MOD Bikes customers. For cases like law enforcement, where multiple bikes all using the same type of charger are operated as a fleet, the primary charging station essentially functions as a multi-pronged charging pedestal.
The chargers are designed to match the batteries of MOD Bikes, but could be built to work with any specific type of e-bike battery, even with different voltages or connection styles than those used by MOD Bikes.
I learned that Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas uses a fleet of electric bikes from MOD Bikes to get around the sprawling campus, including by food staff for catering delivery throughout the facility, and this type of charging station is meant to make it easier. charge such fleets of similar e-bikes.
But a second and perhaps more interesting charging station design offers much more versatility.
Designed for public use instead of fleet operators, the second station style includes a method to not only charge the bike, but also lock the charger and/or battery into the charging station.
It consists of a door with a lock that goes over the handle. Opening the hatch reveals a hollow space large enough to fit an e-bike charger and several different styles of e-bike batteries. There’s also a standard 120VAC electrical outlet, making this a BYOC (bring your own charger) kind of business.
To charge an e-bike, the rider’s charger can be inserted into the outlet before closing the front door. As the latch slides over the handle, locking the bike to the pedestal will also lock the hatch closed, meaning no one can steal the charger. The charger wire can come out of a small space, and the handle provides a safe place to lock the e-bike.
In cases where the rider wants to leave the battery, but not the bike, such as overnight charging, the entire battery and charger can be placed in the unit and locked with a bike lock.
When I tested it, the pedestal was only big enough to fit the MOD Bikes charger and battery, although the company explained that they can build it to any size to accommodate larger batteries and chargers.
This would be an ideal solution for riders who don’t want to risk their bike sitting outside all night as a tempting target for bike thieves, but who still aren’t allowed to take their battery home for charging , as in many campuses. other areas are now passing load restrictions related to e-bikes.
Both solutions require a very small footprint, about 1 square foot of space for installation, but provide a huge service for those who do not have access to charging either at ground level or in their homes and apartments.
Such areas of public charge have long been the norm in Chinawhere e-bikes are a much more common daily transportation vehicle than in the United States.
These MOD Bikes designs adopt the same utility as the Chinese models, but with increased safety required in most American cities (in China, people usually leave their chargers sitting on or near their e-bikes and nobody steals them).
MOD Bikes is currently looking for partners willing to run pilot programs to install charging stations, both for fleet use and public charging. The company is able to produce to meet different customer requirements, with different charging voltages and custom connectors for different e-bikes.
The Electrek outlet
I think we are still in the early days of e-bike adoption in the US, and so the charge is still being understood in real time. But in Asia and other countries with large e-bike adoption rates, public charging stations for e-bike batteries are already commonplace.
The other day I was walking through the Dizengoff Center, a shopping center in downtown Tel Aviv, when I saw e-bike charging cabinets that allow riders to deposit and charge their e-bike battery while they buy (see below). It’s a different style, and also intended to be locked by a user-generated combination instead of using a bike lock, but it accomplishes the same goal of offering a secure loading location for the public.
I can see the MOD Bikes solution being a simpler and more robust alternative to large scale parking, enclosures and charging solutions as an all-in-one offering.
I would not be surprised if a decade later, these charging pedestals and closed are common in American cities.
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