42 There is a lot of hype surrounding electric bikes. In Germany, as well as throughout Europe, they are developing into a popular means of transportation. E-bikes offer countless advantages, not least thanks to their power-saving operation. Why not leave the car in the garage, and take a 20 kilometre trip to work on your bike – without looking for a parking spot. No matter whether you are on your way to work, in town, or on a weekend trip to the mountains – more and more cyclists are using e-bikes. Axel Donath, founder of Munich startup bravobike GmbH, is well aware of this trend. However, instead of just selling new e-bikes like most bike shops, he had a different idea: the company purchases used bicycles from both private individuals and from dealers, manufacturers, and leasing companies, refurbishes them in its workshop in Munich, and then resells them. “We receive thousands of bikes each month that undergo our refurbishment process. Around 70% of these bikes are e-bikes. After a careful inspection and restoration by our trained mechanics, the bikes are sold as high-quality used bikes in our online shop” says Kathinka Weitzel, Marketing Team Lead at bravobike GmbH. Lithium-ion batteries in the e-bikes, in particular, are inspected visually for damage upon receipt. If any fault is detected, the batteries are classified defective. This is because, typically, neither the cause of the fault nor the forces applied on the battery can be determined. In addition, batteries are read out if possible during the technical inspection and examined for warnings like error codes. Hazardous charging If a workshop uses many of these energy storage devices, like lithium-ion batteries, for electric bikes, it is aware that challenges could potentially occur in certain circumstances. Due to the high energy density of the batteries, there is a danger that they could react in an unforeseen way in certain situations, become unstable, or even cause a fire. Such fires involving lithium-ion batteries are difficult to manage, and can have serious consequences for people, an office, and the environment. The danger increases if batteries are charged without supervision, for example outside of work hours. If batteries are stored in specialised lithium-ion safety storage cabinets for passive and active storage, this danger can be prevented. bravobike GmbH stores their lithium-ion batteries in an asecos ION LINE safety storage cabinet. This safety storage cabinet offers not only 90 minutes of fire protection from the outside to the inside, but an identical resistance from the inside to the outside. Furthermore, the cabinet offers a multi-stage warning and fire suppression system, as well as integrated alarm forwarding. Rapid information The ION-LINE model used by bravobike GmbH offers three different ways to forward the alarm: the potential-free switching contact, the relay module and bravobike GmbH | Germany SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY WITH ELECTRIC BIKES
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