Overview

New forms of transportation are taking over our daily lives. While EVs and e-bikes/e-scooters are welcomed additions they also pose challenges, namely in refueling and storage. Adoption of e-bikes is growing exponentially. Urban areas are seeing the most adoption and are also areas with Highrise multi-unit buildings and underground parking that increase the concentration of users.  

Property owners, managers, and occupants often ask about the impact on safety of charging e-mobility devices in their buildings. Rightly, the press often reports on battery failures in the most dramatic way.

While electric vehicle (EV) batteries are extremely safe and subject to a great deal of regulation for safety and operation, the same can’t be said of e-bike batteries or even battery packs. In fact, new rules have been implemented that limit the size of battery packs travelers can carry on an airplane, as an example. In addition to safe charging of e-bike batteries many buildings restrict storage to bike lockers, parking garages, or bike rooms. This opens the door to creative ways for users to charge their e-bike batteries. Bootleg electrical power is now a thing, causing additional safety and cost issues for building owners.

More on Safety

Even small Lithium-ion batteries can explode with force and burn fiercely if damaged, either physically or through overcharging, an action known as ‘thermal runaway’. When this occurs, significant volumes of toxic gasses are emitted, even from a 1kWh batteries, typically fitted to an e-bike.  In poorly ventilated areas this can lead to fatalities through inhalation.

The effects of such an event occurring anywhere inside a building are unthinkable and while relatively simple steps can be taken to reduce the risk such as not charging at night-time, fitting alarms, etc. ultimately the only way to remove the risk is to create secure charging points.

In the case of Condos and rental dwellings the Board, Property Managers, and landlords have obligations under the Fire Safety Code to ensure that owners and tenants are not exposed to fire risk and that escape routes are maintained. The same can be said of commercial properties! 

Statistically Speaking

eBike battery accidents are still low but they do happen. The number of eBikes in your area will have a direct impact. In a city like Toronto, Canada, Toronto Fire responded to 76 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in 2024. That was a 38% increase over 2023 and 162% over 2022. While Toronto is a big city the adoption of eBikes is not significant. Cities like New York, LA, and Miami, have higher adoption rates.  Last year there where more than 1.1 million eBikes imported into the USA.  

Hwisel e-bike Charging Solution

Hwisel is pleased to offer two solutions, eBike charging stations and eBike battery charging lockers.

Parcel lockers are commonplace in many buildings, both residential and commercial, to deliver and keep packages safe for their owners. Battery Storage & Charging Lockers have been developed on the same principal, it incorporates security and individual access. But it goes further!  In response to the challenges with charging eBike batteries, safety takes the form of fire suppression, heat/smoke/CO sensors, and monitoring so a quick response is possible. And, the solution can also allow for electricity cost recovery placing the energy cost on the users instead of the community.

Each Hwisel locker has an individual module that provides secure external storage and individual charging sockets in a small footprint enabling generous internal dimensions to accommodate larger e-bike batteries. The small profile design is suitable for all locations while the modular system enables additional capacity to be added in the future as demand increases.

While charging lockers are a great choice they can be outside the capital budget of some. As an alternative, proper Charging Stations can be installed, to local safety standards, that take into consideration the number of bikes, and manage the electrical load. Instead of extension cords, splitters, and other creative solutions, you have a proper safe electrical setup.

In addition to the safety benefits, charging stations allow for access control, tracking of users, optional billing, and more. 

There are several options available subject to the need, space available, existing bike storage infrastructure, and electrical capacity of the building. 

Contact us today to discuss your situation.

Hwisel EV

info@hwisel.com