CES 2025 – VAE: Bosch presents digital anti-theft protection for batteries
At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, manufacturers are not only revealing new features designed to make our lives easier. Here is one from Bosch eBike Systems, created to make it more difficult for thieves of the brand's electric bikes. This function, coming in the summer of 2025 and simply called Battery Lock, will unfortunately not prevent theft, but will make it much less interesting for people with malicious intent.
A digital lock in addition to physical anti-theft
Compatible with any Bosch battery, Battery Lock complements the padlocks on the removable PowerTube and PowerBack batteries, as well as the eBike Lock (to lock the pedal assist) and eBike Alarm (to know the location and suspicious movements of an VAE) from the manufacturer. Via the eBike Flow app or the Kiox 300 (or Kiox 500) screen, it is possible to activate this function so that the battery automatically locks when the VAE is turned off.
A battery thus locked becomes unsaleable and, if inserted into another electric bike, renders the latter unusable. Gregor Dasbach, head of digital business at Bosch eBike Systems, says that “the battery is one of the most valuable components of the e-bike. Thanks to the Battery Lock function, users benefit from a connected security function which helps them to protect their eBike even better against theft, and thus to park it with complete peace of mind”.
A flexible, but paying solution
The press release also specifies that the eBike Flow app allows you to manage several digital keys and deactivate the Battery Lock function, for example to share the battery with loved ones.
In addition to waiting a few months to take advantage of Battery Lock, we learned that the function will be paid for and will require a Flow+ subscription.
