Electrical automotive charging stations have gotten ubiquitous throughout many cities within the US. However with electrical bikes vastly outnumbering electrical vehicles, ought to we be contemplating charging stations for these extra common gentle EVs? In China, e-bike charging stations are already commonplace. Maybe we will study one thing from them.

In truth, I didn’t know simply how widespread these charging stations have been in China till not too long ago. I used to be speaking with William Guo, whose firm develops and markets e-bike charging adapters for European and US electrical automotive charging stations. Principally, it’s a tool that plugs right into a automotive charging station and converts the J1772 or European Sort 2 connector right into a typical wall outlet for Degree 1 charging. That wall outlet can then be used to plug in any commonplace dwelling charger, corresponding to for an electrical bicycle, e-scooter, e-skateboard, or different machine.

It’s an awesome answer for the Western world, however he talked about that in China the place he lives they have a tendency to choose simply utilizing an e-bike charging station, to which I responded “a what now?”

Because it seems, electrical bike charging stations are widespread in China. William despatched me some pictures of an e-bike charging station close to the place he lives in Zhejiang Province, in addition to a couple of others round city.

I really visited Zhejiang Province in 2019, however I by no means noticed stations like these.

There are a couple of designs however most are variations of a easy idea: a row of wall shops related to some kind of cost portal.

Riders usually carry their charger with them to allow them to plug in at a charging station close to work or some other vacation spot. Electrical bicycles in China are incessantly extra of a moped or scooter-style design, that means they’ve extra storage choices on the bike that make it simpler to hold the charger with them.

I requested William if riders weren’t fearful about somebody stealing their charger whereas they’re charging. “Charger theft isn’t actually an issue,” he responded. “They only aren’t value a lot.” It is smart to me, particularly contemplating a new e-bike charger on Amazon might be had for $20-$35. Contemplating they arrive from China anyway and who is aware of what the markup is by US importers, the native worth have to be fairly darn low.

William additionally shared with me some screenshots from the charging station app, displaying the varied charging choices and which charging shops are nonetheless out there at any second.

The costs are primarily based on charging time and charging energy, however appear fairly cheap. For instance, a 240-minute cost at beneath 300W prices simply 1 RMB (US $0.14). For comparability, most e-bike chargers within the US are rated at round 150-250W.

Increased energy is obtainable from the station, which might probably be used on heavier moped-style e-bikes than the kind of e-bikes we usually see within the US or Europe. A 1.2 kW charger would run for about 144 minutes for a similar worth. Customers may also pay 2 or 3 RMB (US $0.28 or $0.42) for twice or 3 times the charging time, which might mainly cowl an all-day cost.

There are different kinds of e-bike charging stations in China that truly have the chargers constructed into the machine and are higher fitted to people who don’t carry their charger with them. Nonetheless different designs have a number of AC energy cords that instantly plug into the charger, that means riders can plug their chargers into that twine. That design additionally probably deters people who need to use the station to get a fast cost of their telephone or laptop computer from an AC outlet, because you don’t have a typical wall outlet on the face of the machine.

All of this goes to indicate simply how easy electrical bike charging stations can actually be. Finally, these are simply glorified extension cords with a cost portal. That’s all you really want.

And maybe that’s the largest lesson of all right here. If we need to make it simpler for individuals to commute by electrical bike, particularly over longer distances, such easy e-bike charging stations could be a nice thought. It’s not completely overseas within the US. We’ve seen examples in Oregon and New York. However these are the exception, not the rule.

At this time’s throttle-controlled electrical bicycles with lithium-ion batteries typically have ranges of between 20-30 miles (32-50 km) when new, however that vary can drop after a number of years. Having the ability to cost up whereas at work is a good way to keep away from needing to exchange a practical battery that also has a couple of years of use left regardless of not holding as a lot cost because it used to.

Centralized charging places may also assist fight the difficulty of e-bike fires within the US. It’s necessary to level out that e-bike fires are extraordinarily uncommon. You hear about them typically on the information due to the previous “if it bleeds, it leads” adage. Day-after-day a whole lot of thousand of e-bikes get charged within the US with none fires. However often fires due happen, typically throughout charging, and so it’s nonetheless an necessary subject to think about when planning for secure e-bike charging.

Having a centralized charging station for e-bikes that’s outdoors of individuals’s houses or workplaces helps enhance security. Such stations may even be fitted with an acceptable hearth suppression system within the ceiling, simply in case.

Whereas the US use case for e-bikes isn’t fairly the identical as in China the place e-bikes are utilized by an enormous swath of the inhabitants as major automobiles, there are nonetheless loads of individuals within the US that would make use of e-bike charging stations.

And after they’re this straightforward to arrange, maybe it’s one thing extra locations needs to be contemplating. They’d be helpful for extra than simply electrical bikes, but additionally Vespa-style electrical scooters and even electrical bikes that don’t have typical charging station connectors.

Only for enjoyable, I’ll depart you with a picture from 2015 after I did a 500-mile (800 km) journey on a DIY electrical bike and I needed to discover locations to cost alongside the way in which (regardless of having a large 2.8 kWh of battery on the bike).

Professional tip: search for merchandising machines and ice machines. In a pinch, they’ll lead you to an outlet. Shopping for one thing from the place you “borrow” $0.30 of electrical energy from is a pleasant gesture, too.