In brief: Bosch has unveiled Battery Lock, a new digital feature aimed at deterring one of the biggest headaches for eBike owners: battery theft. The company says that the feature brings it closer to its “vision” of ensuring that no eBike with a Bosch system is stolen in the future.

Removable batteries like the PowerTube and PowerPack are prime targets for thieves looking to make a quick buck. While they do have mechanical locks, these can be bypassed using brute force.

Bosch’s Battery Lock adds a smart, digital barricade for protection. Once activated through the eBike Flow app, your battery automatically locks when you power off your eBike. Try to insert that locked battery into another Bosch smart eBike and it simply won’t provide any juice to the motor, rendering it useless for the thief.

No motor support means no easy getaway, and killing the resale value also takes away the financial motivation. The feature will be presented at CES 2025, with availability following this summer.

Multiple digital keys can be used for Battery Lock. That way, you can still share batteries with friends or family by temporarily disabling the lock.

Battery Lock works across Bosch’s entire smart system battery lineup, including DualBattery setups and range extenders.

The technology integrates with Bosch’s existing eBike security measures. These include using your phone or display as a digital key to enable the motor (eBike Lock), as well as receiving alerts and location tracking if your eBike is moved suspiciously (eBike Alarm).

But here’s the rub that has some publications calling out Bosch for being “greedy”: Battery Lock will only be available as part of the paid Flow+ subscription service coming this summer. New Bosch eBike owners get a free year of Flow+. After that, it will cost $35/£35/€40 annually.

The argument is that for Battery Lock to truly deter widespread eBike battery theft, it needs to be a standard security feature across all Bosch smart system batteries – not something trapped behind a subscription paywall. Otherwise, there will still be a sizable pool of unlocked batteries appealing to thieves.