Wireless charging systems for electric cars certainly are convenient, as drivers just park the vehicle, get out, and leave it to charge. Well, Dutch company Tiler has created a similar technology for ebikes.
Designed primarily with applications such as ebike rental fleets in mind, the Tiler system consists of two parts: a weatherproof in-pavement "charging tile" that's connected to the local electrical grid, and a special two-legged kickstand that's installed on the bicycle and hard-wired to its battery.
When a user parks their ebike, they place the kickstand's two feet on two circles on the tile. Inductive charging coils beneath those circles automatically relay an electrical current up through the kickstand and into the battery.
The present 2-amp system is reportedly able to fully charge an ebike in about the same amount of time as a conventional plug-in charger, although a planned 4-amp setup should be able do so considerably quicker. And yes, the bike can still also be charged using a regular charger.
The Tiler system is currently being offered as part of a pilot project, with rental rates starting at €25 (about US$29) per month, for a 36-month contract. Additional kickstands can be ordered separately, allowing multiple bikes to be charged (one at a time) from a single tile.
The system is demonstrated in the following video.
