Smart Charging Lockers to Launch in UK as Offices, Landlords and Transport Operators Tighten E-Bike Battery Rules

• E-bike charging increasingly restricted in UK over battery fire risks
• Safe-charging infrastructure has not kept pace, leaving riders and operators with few alternatives
• PowerShelter and Tyred partner to deploy smart and safe battery-charging lockers nationwide

London startup Tyred has partnered with Dutch charging infrastructure company PowerShelter to tackle a growing problem for UK e-bike riders, property owners and fleet operators: how to safely manage e-bike battery charging, as more workplaces, residential buildings and transport operators restrict e-bikes and indoor charging.

Tyred will become PowerShelter’s exclusive UK partner, responsible for distribution, installation and servicing of its SmartShelter e-bike battery charging lockers nationwide. These will be the first lockers in the UK to give property owners and facilities managers secure charging compartments for e-bike batteries that incorporate cooling systems and integrated fire-suppression technology.

They are already in use in office buildings across Europe, including CBRE-managed sites, such as Google’s HQ in Amsterdam.

Closing the Charging Gap

The new UK partnership responds to two connected problems: increasing restrictions on e-bike charging in buildings, and a lack of safe, dedicated charging infrastructure. Property owners are left choosing between uncontrolled indoor charging and outright bans that leave occupants with nowhere to plug in.

These restrictions are being driven by growing concerns around lithium-ion battery fires. London Fire Brigade attended a record 206 e-bike and e-scooter fires during 2025, including 171 involving e-bikes.

The Brigade says battery failure, conversion kits and chargers are frequently involved, with poorly built, counterfeit or damaged batteries and incompatible charging equipment presenting particular risks. Building managers have little visibility of these risks when charging happens unsupervised in offices and flats.

As a result, restrictions are increasingly appearing in workplaces and residential property, with major commercial buildings and property portfolios, including The Gherkin, Canary Wharf and all Savills’ residential properties banning e-bike charging.

But removing batteries from offices, flats and communal areas only works if residents and employees have somewhere else secure and appropriate to charge them. At present, very few UK properties have purpose-built e-bike battery charging facilities and none have these smart solutions that provide additional protection.

Government fire-safety guidance already recommends that building managers consider separate, safe and secure battery storage and charging facilities, including purpose-designed charging lockers located away from primary buildings and escape routes.

PowerShelter and Tyred aim to make that infrastructure significantly easier to deploy across the UK.

Safer Way to Charge

PowerShelter’s SmartShelter provides individual secure charging compartments for e-bike batteries, incorporating temperature and gas sensors, automatic power shut-off, extraction systems and integrated fire-suppression technology. Each compartment is designed to contain thermal runaway and limit escalation to the wider building.

The modular lockers can be installed at workplaces, apartment buildings, mobility hubs and fleet facilities, giving property owners a managed alternative to batteries being charged at desks, inside homes or in communal areas, and fleet operators a controlled place to charge batteries on site or along their routes.

“The UK is restricting e-bikes faster than it's building places to charge them. Restrictions alone won't make e-bikes safer, they'll just make them rarer. The answer is safe, managed charging infrastructure, and PowerShelter has already proven it in buildings across Europe,” said Jake De Wulf, Co-Founder and CCO of PowerShelter.

“Tyred brings that infrastructure nationwide. Sitting at the centre of the country’s cycling and e-mobility market, they recognised early that this was needed. The team understands the operational side, has the servicing capability and already works with riders and fleets every day, which makes Tyred the ideal partner to deploy this infrastructure at scale.”

Founded in 2023, Tyred has grown from a mobile bike repair operation into a connected cycling platform combining maintenance, repairs, insurance, warranty and finance. The London-based company serviced more than 150,000 bikes over the past year and raised £2.5 million in July to support its expansion across the UK and Europe.

“The question we increasingly hear from customers is very simple: where do the batteries go?” said Nikita Baranov, Co-Founder and COO of Tyred.

“You can encourage people to commute by e-bike, provide great cycle parking and invest in cycling infrastructure, but if somebody arrives at their office and is told they can’t bring in or charge their battery, there is still a fundamental piece missing.

“That is what this partnership addresses. We can now provide the charging infrastructure alongside maintenance, battery handling, insurance and warranty, giving property owners and fleet operators one partner for the whole lifecycle.”