Project Summary

Honeycomb will adapt its novel e-scooter smart-charging system for e-bikes. This adaptation will result in a universal, smart e-bike charger, which retrofits onto existing bicycle storage infrastructure and can charge up to 8 bikes at once.

Project Achievements

Activities Honeycomb began by exploring and testing various e-bike batteries and building a database of properties and characteristics. The team modified their existing electronics and software to enable charging of e-bikes alongside e-scooters and designed a control unit to package the electronics, allowing stand-alone installation and retrofitting for existing bike storage. Alongside product development, Honeycomb surveyed 479 UK e-bike users with 70- 75% of respondents expressing that an app-accessed, public universal charging solution would be either ’really wanted’ or a ‘necessity’.

Conclusions

The project was successful, a universal e-bike charger was built, culminating in a demonstrator of the easy-to-use, resilient and aesthetic public e-bike charging. If a public infrastructure network is established, it would eliminate range anxiety and reduce barriers to entry (for example: having to carry around a charger). This would boost cycling uptake, which as a form of active travel, improves mental and physical health, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, congestion and noise pollution.

Next Steps

Further R&D is required to allow the technology to include proprietary batteries (Bosch and Shimano) and to produce a product that is adaptable for all kinds of location (off-grid, renewables solution). Upon completion of R&D and compliance, Honeycomb will roll out the app accessed e-bike charging at bike storage facilities starting with SpokeSafe. This allows Honeycomb to enter into the estimated – £155M UK e-bike infrastructure opportunity and then into the >£2.5Bn global opportunity. There are also opportunities in parallel markets such as last mile delivery logistics.