Could these simple, secure e-bike charging stations be the solution America needs?
There’s no doubt that the issue of safely charging e-bikes is a growing topic of concern in the US. And while the media frenzy around relatively rare e-bike fires is often overblown, it doesn’t rule out a real risk associated with lithium-ion batteries. Now, a new charging solution designed in the US could provide an answer to the problem.
I recently stumbled upon these two different models of e-bike charging stations when visiting Austin, Texas-based electric bike maker MOD Bikes.
The company just released several new models of e-bikes and updated their entire lineup with impressive features like torque sensors, color displays, dual battery support, and more. I had the opportunity to try several of them and I’ll have some in-depth reviews coming soon. But as impressive as the new e-bikes are, I found another surprise lurking in a corner of the company’s warehouse: a pair of in-house designed e-bike charging stations.
The two patent-pending charging stations offer a pair of divergent yet equally easy-to-install options that solve the problem of safe, secure charging.
The first style of charging station is intended for fleet use by MOD Bikes’ customers. For cases like law enforcement, where several bikes all using the same charger type are operated as a fleet, the primary charging station essentially works like a multi-pronged charging pedestal.
The chargers are designed to match MOD Bikes’ batteries, but they could be built to work with any specific type of e-bike battery, even with voltages or connection styles different from those used by MOD Bikes.
I learned that Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas uses a fleet of e-bikes from MOD Bikes to get around the sprawling campus, including by the food staff for delivery catering all around the facility, and this type of charging station is intended to make it easy to charge such fleets of similar e-bikes.
But a second and perhaps more interesting charging station design offered much more versatility.
Designed for public use instead of by fleet operators, the second style of station includes a method to not only charge the bike, but also lock the charger and/or battery in the charging station.
It consists of a door with a latch that passes over the handle. Opening the hatch reveals a hollow space large enough to fit an e-bike charger and many different styles of e-bike batteries. There’s also a standard 120VAC electrical outlet in there, making this a BYOC (bring your own charger) type of affair.
To charge an e-bike, the rider’s own charger can be plugged into the outlet before closing the hatch 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’s wire can exit through a small gap, and the handle provides a secure location 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 just large enough to barely fit the MOD Bikes charger and battery, though the company explained that they can build them to any size in order 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 an enticing target to bike thieves, but who also aren’t allowed to bring their battery indoors for charging, such as at many campuses and other areas now passing charging restrictions related to e-bikes.
Both of these solutions require a very small footprint, roughly 1 square foot of space for installation, yet provide a huge service for those who don’t have access to charging at either the ground level or in their homes and apartments.
Such public charging areas have long been the norm in China, where e-bikes are a much more common daily commuting vehicle than in the US.
These MOD Bikes designs adopt the same utility as Chinese models, but with increased security required in most American cities (in China, people usually just leave their chargers sitting on or next to their e-bikes and no one steals them).
MOD Bikes is currently looking for partners who want to run pilot programs to install the charging stations, either for fleet use or public charging. The company is able to produce them to fit various clients’ needs, with different charging voltages and connectors customized for various e-bikes.
Electrek’s Take
I think we are still in the early days of e-bike adoption in the US, and so charging is still being figured out in real-time. But in Asia and other countries with large e-bike adoption rates, public charging stations for e-bike batteries are already normal.
Just the other day I was walking through Dizengoff Center, a mall in Central Tel Aviv, when I spotted e-bike charging lockers that allow riders to deposit and charge their e-bike battery while they shop (seen 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 safe charging location for the public.
I could see MOD Bikes’ solution being a simpler and more robust alternative for widescale parking, locking, and charging solutions as an all-in-one offering.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a decade from now, these charging and locking pedestals are commonplace in US cities.
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Kempower just cut the ribbon on downtown Durham, North Carolina’s first public DC fast-charging station. The new charger is operated in partnership with National Car Charging.
The new station at 111 W. Chapel Hill Street has two plugs (CCS1 and CHAdeMO) and is near restaurants and shops. The Durham area has plenty of Level 2 chargers, but this is its first DC fast charger downtown. Until now, the closest fast charger was three miles away from downtown.
Kempower, a Finnish company with its US office and factory in Durham, doesn’t mention the number of kilowatts its DC fast charger can deliver. However, PlugShare reports that a Ford F-150 Lightning managed 171 kW yesterday.
I asked the City of Durham’s spokesperson why it’s taken this long to install a DC fast charger downtown, and they replied that the “downtown core in Durham is densely developed and there are not many locations for chargers that have the right conditions and available power infrastructure for commercially viable fast chargers.”
Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams said the charger represents another step forward for the city’s clean energy goals: “With this locally built EV fast charger in the heart of downtown, we’re not only reducing our community’s carbon footprint – we’re supporting local jobs, clean energy, and a more connected future for everyone who calls Durham home.”
As of 2025, North Carolina had more than 306 DC fast-charging stations and 1,385 ports.
Electrek’s Take
The City of Durham’s explanation of why it’s taken this long to get a fast charger downtown is a bit of a head-scratcher for me. It must be more of an infrastructure issue, or perhaps a matter of politics or funding, because density hasn’t stopped other cities from installing fast chargers in urban areas. Kempower provided 10 fast chargers at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan, in collaboration with Revel, in September 2024. At any rate, it’s progress for Durham worth celebrating.
Read more: PowerUp America is adding 100 new fast chargers in the Southeast
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Porsche unveiled its new Cayenne EV today, and it comes with an option for something we haven’t seen out of a factory-equipped car before: inductive charging.
Over the years, we’ve heard plenty of attempts by companies to trick consumers into thinking that it’s possible to make an electric car that doesn’t need to charge.
From Toyota’s dumb “self-charging hybrid” claim, to the new fad of “range extenders”/EREVs (aka plug-in hybrids with a bigger battery), to all manner of solar vehicles, people seem to think that convincing customers that they don’t need to plug in will get them to buy an EV (or, will help them greenwash their gas-guzzling hybrids).
And now the next entry into that group has arrived: the Porsche Cayenne electric, which can indeed be driven without ever plugging in, or gassing up, or even parking in the sun.
It does have to be parked somewhere specific though: over a pad in your garage. Because this car can be equipped to use inductive charging, right out of the factory.
Inductive charging uses magnetic fields to transfer electrical power, as opposed to conductive charging, which uses a plug. Inductive charging is how phone charging mats work, but in this case, it’s scaled up significantly in size and power.
We’ve seen a few inductive charging projects before, but they’ve always been aftermarket or experimental so far. Or, they’ve been targeted more at commercial or fleet buyers (buses, for example).
There is one mass-produced EV which is rumored to have inductive charging capability, the Tesla Cybertruck, and we know that Tesla is working on a charging pad, which will be helpful if autonomous vehicles ever roll out properly. But nothing has been announced as available yet.
Porsche, however, is ready to announce that the capability is coming to its upcoming Cayenne EV. Porsche has shown off its inductive tech before, but now we got to see it ourselves when we checked out the Cayenne in a studio preview.
Porsche says that its inductive charging system can push 11kW of power, which is plenty for overnight home charging (on the car’s 113kWh battery). It does this at 90% efficiency – not as much as the ~95% of conductive charging, but still quite good. It also requires an extra ~33lbs of coils and wiring onboard the car, which is a significant if not massive weight gain.
To activate the system, the charging pad makes contact with the car via wide-band wireless communication to determine location, then activates when you park in just the perfect spot. The car’s screen shows guide lines to help you find the way to where you need to be – or there’s always the tennis-ball-on-a-string trick if you want to go low tech.
When we tried it out in LA, once we got the system up and running (hot tip: don’t daisy chain two extension cords if you want your inductive charging pad to work), it quickly charged at 11kW, at least according to the in-car system.
The inductive charger includes a lot of safety features to ensure nothing weird happens. Even though it only uses magnetic fields, the mat includes sensors to detect any living or metal objects nearby, it will stop (yes, this includes your cat that likes to sleep under the car, and yes, Porsche gets asked this question often). We saw this happen once in the studio demo, but it quickly turned back on after deciding everything was okay.
The Cayenne will still have its regular conductive charging ports, capable of 11kW AC or 400kW DC charge. But for those who want to forgo the plug, at least at home, the mat is an available option.
That said – pricing and availability are still TBD. The system costs €7k in Europe, plus an electrician, but we don’t know what it will cost in the US yet.
So, there’s still a chance that someone else beats Porsche to the “first” moniker – possibly Tesla, given that it seems to be close to offering an inductive charging system. But there are a lot of hurdles to ensure that the system is reliable in every type of weather and real world situation, and lots of electrical codes to follow. So, it looks like the race is on.
Electrek’s Take
I was quite interested in talking to the engineers about this system, because I hadn’t actually experienced inductive charging in an EV before.
People have been talking about this for a long time, and I used to be excited about the concept of electrified roads where cars could just drive on them and get a charge and never have to plug in.
However, after conversations over the years and experience with how easy driving and charging an EV is, I came to think that inductive charging is mostly a gimmick, and that we will likely rely on conductive charging in the long term (and especially that in-highway charging is a boondoggle that’s never going to be a good option, especially when catenary/pantograph systems exist).
That said, there are still niches and benefits to be had. In a potential fully autonomous future, we’ll need to figure out autonomous charging, and inductive charging could be a good answer for that.
In addition, some drivers do have difficulty with cables. While the NACS cable is much easier to handle than the old CCS cable, an older driver or one with mobility issues might have a hard time plugging in a car. Inductive charging could be good for them.
Or, heck, maybe someone is just lazy. Or doesn’t like cords. And doesn’t mind spending money for these marginal improvements. We can imagine there are Porsche buyers who could fit that description.
I still think the take rate will be relatively low, but it will be interesting to see real world tests of this, how buyers get along with it, and what sort of problems they manage to solve. As much as I’m a skeptic of inductive charging’s usefulness and acknowledger of its limitations, it’s nice to see new things get tried sometimes.
What do you think about Porsche’s inductive charging system? Would you prefer it to conductive charging? How much would you pay to add this option to your EV? Let us know in the comments.
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The Inster, Hyundai’s most affordable EV, is Germany’s best-selling small electric car and top overall vehicle priced under €25,000.
The Hyundai Inster is Germany’s best-selling small EV
After launching the Inster in Europe in late 2024, Hyundai’s smallest and most affordable EV quickly became one of the most popular electric cars in the region.
According to JATO Dynamics, the Hyundai Inster was the 19th most popular EV across Europe in June, outselling the Dacia Spring, Hyundai Kona, and Toyota bZ4X.
In Germany, the heart of Europe, Hyundai’s most affordable EV is making an even bigger impression. Since this summer, the Hyundai Inster is Germany’s best-selling small EV so far in 2025 and just won the Golden Steering Wheel award for best car under €25,000 ($28,900) by AUTO BILD & BILD am SONNTAG.
Hyundai said the recognition is proof that its vehicles are resonating with buyers across Europe. The Korean automaker will continue expanding its EV lineup, from the small Inster to the three-row IONIQ 9.
The award comes after the Inster was crowned the 2025 World Electric Vehicle at the World Car Awards ceremony in the spring, held during the New York International Auto Show.
Hyundai’s electric city car starts at just €25,000 ($28,900) in Germany. Despite its small size, the Inster delivers up to 370 km (230 miles) WLTP driving range, fast charging (10% to 80%) in 30 minutes, and a surprisingly spacious and feature-rich interior.
The Inster features dual 10.3″ driver display and infotainment screens with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as part of Hyundai’s digital cockpit.
By 2027, Hyundai plans to electrify all vehicles sold in Europe. The Inster and IONIQ 9 are now rolling out across the region, and Hyundai plans to build momentum with new EVs, including the IONIQ 3, which will go into production in Hungary in the first half of 2026.
In South Korea, Hyundai’s home market, the Inster is sold as the Casper Electric. The compact EV is sold in Japan, Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.
Although those in the US won’t get to see the Inster or IONIQ 3, Hyundai still has one of the most affordable EVs you can get your hands on. With leases starting at just $189 per month, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is still America’s best deal for an electric vehicle.
Interested in a test drive? We can help you get started. You can use our link to find available Hyundai IONIQ 5 models near you.
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