From the perspective of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (German Environmental Aid), the obligation to use standardized USB-C charging cables for wireless electrical devices such as smartphones, digital cameras or tablets, which has been in force since the beginning of this year, should only be the beginning. The environmental and consumer protection organization is also calling for the standardization of charging plugs for e-bikes, electric bicycles (pedelecs) and other light electric vehicles in order to fully exploit their potential for a sustainable transport transition. The EU Commission could make corresponding specifications in the battery regulation or the so-called ecodesign regulation in the near future.

Five years ago, we also asked ourselves in this article when a standardized charger for e-bikes would finally be available. With the boom in e-bikes in recent years and countless proprietary standards, it was already foreseeable at the time that the variety of chargers and plug types for e-bikes would pose considerable challenges for both users and manufacturers. To put this into perspective: according to the ZIV, around 2 million new e-bikes were sold in Germany alone in 2024, and the number of e-bikes in Germany is now estimated at 15.7 million.

Problems due to proprietary connectors

Currently, each manufacturer of e-bike drives usually uses their own plug systems, which leads to a large number of incompatible chargers. For e-bike owners, this means that they need specific chargers for their respective models and cannot easily fall back on universal solutions.

• Incompatibility: Different plug types prevent the use of a single charger for different e-bike models. This makes charging at public charging stations particularly difficult, as it cannot be guaranteed that the right plug is available.
• Costs and effort: Users may have to purchase several chargers if they own different e-bikes or are switching to a new model. This leads to increased costs and additional effort.
• Complicated infrastructure: It is complicated for operators of public charging stations to provide all possible plug types, which can hinder the expansion of a nationwide charging infrastructure.
• Lack of sustainability: A standardized charging connection enables better reparability and compatibility with new chargers. In addition, the large number of different chargers means that users often have to buy new chargers when changing e-bikes, while old ones remain unused or are disposed of. A standardized connection would significantly reduce this electronic waste.

Advantages of a standardized connector

A standardized charging plug for e-bikes would not only make everyday life much easier for users, but would also be extremely beneficial from an ecological and economic perspective:

• Convenience and user-friendliness: A standardized plug would make it possible to charge any e-bike at any charging station, regardless of the manufacturer. This significantly increases convenience for users.
• Cost efficiency: Manufacturers could reduce production costs as they would no longer have to develop and produce different plug systems.Consumers would also no longer need to own several chargers.
• Promoting electromobility: A standardized charging infrastructure could facilitate the switch to e-bikes and thus make a positive contribution to the transport transition.
• Sustainability: A uniform standard would significantly reduce the need for new chargers, as existing chargers could continue to be used even after the e-bike has been replaced.This would not only reduce electronic waste, but also save resources such as plastics, metals and rare earths, which are required for the production of new chargers. In addition, a standardized solution could improve the efficiency of chargers, meaning less energy would be lost during charging and the ecological footprint would be further minimized.

Why not just USB-C?

The most obvious idea for a standardized charging connection is certainly USB-C — after all, this system has already established itself in many areas. Nevertheless, its suitability as a charging connection for e-bikes is limited. The extended USB-C Power Delivery (USB-C PD) standard enables a faster and more powerful power supply with up to 240 W (48V at 5A), which is well within the range of current chargers for e-bikes.

However, the latest drive systems such as the DJI Avinox show where the journey is heading: for example, a 12 ampere charger is used here, which already significantly exceeds the potential 5 amperes of USB-C PD. Ultimately, the safety requirements for charging high-performance batteries are also higher than the USB-C standard currently offers.

Promising alternative: Charge2Bike

However, the “Charge2Bike” charging standard, developed by the CHAdeMO Association, is much less well known but has great potential. With its small and robust plug, it is specially designed and optimized for the requirements of e-bikes — and is also supported by industry giants such as Bosch. At the launch of their new drive system, the prototype of an adapter was also shown, which is intended to make existing batteries compatible with Charge2Bike. Future generations of the Bosch system would then probably support the Charge2Bike plug directly.

The Charge2Bike standard, the current version 1.2 of which was published in October 2024, should then enable a maximum charging power of 800 W (with an extension to 2 kW), at a voltage of 24-60 V and a maximum current of 20 amps. Significantly more than would be possible with USB-C PD.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the standardization of charging plugs for e-bikes is long overdue in order to eliminate the current confusion. However, unlike with smartphones and other small devices, USB-C does not appear to be the optimal solution here. There is much to suggest that Charge2Bike could become the future standard. Such a standardized charging connection would not only increase user-friendliness, but also reduce costs and facilitate the expansion of the charging infrastructure for e-bikes — an important step towards more sustainable and efficient electromobility in the bicycle sector. However, it is likely to be several years before this standard is ready for the market and becomes widely available to end customers. However, legislation at EU level could speed up the process considerably.