One of the innovative companies participating in the Start-up Square at Vélovak 2021 is TILER, the maker of the world’s first wireless charging tile for e-bikes. The start-up has been in existence for a year and a few months now, and the TILER charging tile is already in use by a number of pilot users in the business market. TILER also wrote a white paper together with consultancy Roland Berger (contact us for more information) on the current problems surrounding the charging infrastructure for light electric vehicles for the business market. The Vélovak team is very curious about the latest updates on the start-up. We spoke to Christiaan van Nispen, CEO TILER, about the latest developments surrounding the charging tile and TILER’s vision on e-mobility.
TILER is a newcomer to the industry, can you briefly introduce TILER? How did TILER actually come about and how long have you been around?
TILER was set up with the mission to accelerate the growth of micro-mobility and believes that this growth goes hand in hand with a corresponding and excellent charging infrastructure. TILER was started in October 2019 by 2 entrepreneurs who started a company from an academic project at TU Delft, The Netherlands.
Unfortunately, we all have to wait to see the crazy innovation 'TILER charging tile' in real life.
Could you briefly introduce the world's first wireless charging tile for e-bikes for those who are not yet familiar with the product?
The TILER charging tile is a wireless charging unit in the form of a tile that charges an e-bike via its bicycle stand. It couldn’t be easier, you arrive by bike and as soon as you park on the tile, your e-bike starts charging. This charging solution can also be combined with a bike rack, podium or hub concept. It is also a smart product. We are currently working on a number of interesting data-driven functions to make it even easier for the customer. A launch of a new TILER product or service can also be expected in September.
How does it work and how long does it take to charge an e-bike?
By means of the patented induction transformers in the tile and on the bicycle, an electric bicycle or other form of micro mobility can be charged with an efficiency of over 95%. Charging with our current tile can be done up to 500 Watts, but we recommend turning on the smart charging function so that the tile charges more slowly when you don’t need the pedelec. If we assume a 300WP battery, the bike will be charged to 80% within 2 hours.
Is the charging tile also available for e-scooters and electric cargo bikes?
We have started with electric bicycles and expect to be able to charge e-scooters and electric cargo bikes this year.
We saw that the first pilot users are already using your product, how do they experience it? And can a bicycle specialist also sign up?
The users are very enthusiastic and we have received a lot of good feedback, so we can make our solution even better. We are now focusing mainly on the business segment. Examples include shared bikes for companies, delivery services and bike rental companies. If the bicycle specialist also sells or rents to the business market, they can of course also come to us. We also expect to enter the private market in 2024; at present we only do so in small quantities.
As an innovative brand in e-mobility, where do you see e-mobility growing to in the next 2-5 years? What is the retailer's role in this?
Repair and maintenance are at the heart of the different scenarios that will be shaped in the next 2-5 years. We already see cities changing to give more room to micromobility in addition to cars. Both public MaaS sharing initiatives will play a major role in this, but also corporate sharing initiatives. For example, a bicycle rental company that delivers bicycles to hotels, events or companies that want a shared bicycle at the door for a trip to, for example, a lunch in the city. All these customers want to be taken care of and don’t want to think about repair and maintenance. Two-wheeler specialists will be the spider in the web of e-mobility.
As an innovative brand in e-mobility, where do you see e-mobility growing to in the next 2-5 years? What is the retailer's role in this?
• Keep going, the future looks good for this sector, not only in the Netherlands, but also in other countries they are starting to realise that (electric) bikes can be very efficient in the transport mix and are also good for your health.
• There is still a lot of room for innovation in the two-wheeler sector; for the electric bike, we see a trend towards a combination of e-scooters and e-bikes. So that you have a new kind of transport that looks cool!
• Where possible, work together, then we can really make sure that cities are built around “bikes” instead of cars.
• Find us if you want to know more about charging electric bikes. Earlier, we wrote an article together with consultancy Roland Berger on the importance of a healthy charging infrastructure in combination with the feasibility of micro-mobility sharing initiatives becoming a large-scale alternative for urban mobility. Are you curious about our findings or would you like to discuss them with us? Then contact us via the online company profile.
