IN BRIEF
London start-up Tyred is becoming the exclusive UK partner of Dutch company PowerShelter, and will distribute, install and maintain its SmartShelter charging lockers for e-bike batteries there. The official product page states that each compartment is ventilated and fitted with an integrated extinguishing system, with gas sensors and an automatic power cut-off in the event of overheating. The announcement presents them as the first lockers of their kind in the UK, where charging e-bikes inside buildings is increasingly restricted.
| Product | PowerShelter SmartShelter charging locker |
| Compartments | Individual and secure, a fan in each |
| Fire | Extinguishing system built into each compartment, designed to contain a thermal runaway |
| Sensors | Gas (H2, CO2, CO) and temperature, automatic power cut-off |
| Material | Weather- and fire-resistant stainless steel |
| UK distribution | Tyred, exclusive partner (distribution, installation, maintenance) |
PowerShelter lockers are modular and can be installed in offices, residential buildings, mobility hubs or fleet depots. They are already in use in office buildings across Europe, including Google’s headquarters in Amsterdam, a site managed by CBRE. Tyred, a young British mobility technology company, has raised £2.5 million.
What the PowerShelter locker does with a battery that heats up
The principle is simple: the battery is placed in a closed compartment and plugged in, and the locker keeps watch. The official product page lists hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide sensors, as well as a temperature probe that cuts the power as soon as the heat exceeds safe limits. A fan helps regulate the temperature during charging.
If a battery does go into thermal runaway, the brand states that each compartment has its own extinguishing system, designed to limit the spread of a lithium-ion battery fire. PowerShelter claims that each bay is built to contain the incident and stop it reaching neighbouring compartments. The product page also describes an alarm, which goes off if a door is left open or if the sensors detect overheating, and a master key that opens every bay in the event of fire, failure or maintenance.
A UK that restricts faster than it equips
The British context explains the arrival of these lockers. Restrictions on charging e-bikes inside buildings are multiplying, and the announcement notes that very few buildings in the UK currently have facilities designed for charging e-bike batteries. The London Fire Brigade regularly points to faulty batteries, conversion kits and chargers as causes of fires.
Jake De Wulf, co-founder and chief commercial officer of PowerShelter, sums up the company’s position:
“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.”
Jake De Wulf, co-founder and chief commercial officer of PowerShelter
Besides the SmartShelter, the brand’s range includes a CoreShelter and a HomeShelter. It is the SmartShelter that Tyred will offer to owners and managers of British buildings.
