Battery cabinets for storing and charging lithium-ion batteries

Battery cabinets for storing and charging lithium-ion batteries

Which battery cabinet do I need?

Three questions decide.

• Indoors or outdoors? Storing and charging batteries outdoors, away from homes and escape routes, is closest to the Swedish authorities' advice. A cabinet indoors needs to protect its surroundings if a battery catches fire inside.
• Will the batteries be charged in the cabinet? Charging is when the risk is highest. Charging cabinets have power sockets, and the best have alarms and automatic power shutdown.
• What does your insurer require? In Sweden no law sets out how battery cabinets must be built. The requirements usually come from the insurer, so ask them before you buy.

Are there rules for battery cabinets?

Not in Sweden. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the National Board of Housing and the Electrical Safety Board wrote in their 2025 guidance that there is no law or regulation on how lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes, e-scooters and the like should be charged and stored. There is no European standard for battery cabinets either. Other countries have their own rules.

The authorities advise, among other things, to charge and store batteries somewhere other than the home if possible, not in or next to an escape route, under supervision with a smoke alarm nearby, and to follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Insurers set their own requirements. Kammarkollegiet, which insures Swedish government agencies and universities, requires batteries for e-bikes and similar to be stored and charged in a room with fire resistance class EI 60, and does not accept battery cabinets indoors. Outdoors at a distance from the building is accepted. Other insurers may have other requirements, so ask your own.

What do the fire ratings mean?

The cabinets are tested in different ways, and the difference decides what they protect against. The Fire rating filter shows what each cabinet is tested to.

VDMA 24994 is a German industry specification from 2024, not a European standard, but today it is the only way to show that a cabinet can withstand a battery fire from the inside. Certification is carried out by ECB·S.

Charging batteries in the cabinet

Charging cabinets have power sockets inside. Choose them in the Charging filter, and see which sockets are included under Charging Connectors.

VDMA 24994 sets requirements worth knowing, even for cabinets not tested to it:

• a smoke detector and temperature sensor inside the cabinet
• an alarm that can be heard and seen outside, and forwarded
• automatic shutdown of charging if a fire starts
• a door that does not stay open for more than one minute
• a connection for extract air

Use the charger that belongs to the battery, follow the manufacturer's instructions and do not put damaged batteries in the cabinet. A damaged battery is more likely to catch fire.

Storing and charging outdoors

Outdoor cabinets let you move charging out of the building, for example for e-bikes at a housing association or a workplace. They are built for the weather and have a separate compartment for each battery. Choose Outdoor in the Placement filter.

Place the cabinet away from walls, windows and doors and not in an escape route, and keep easily ignited material away from it. Ask the fire and rescue service or your insurer what distance applies to you.

Toxic gases and extract air

A battery in thermal runaway releases toxic gases, and the smoke can contain hydrogen, which at worst can explode. This applies even when the fire is kept inside the cabinet.

None of the tests measure the gases. VDMA 24994 therefore recommends connecting the cabinet to extract air led out of the building, with a flow of at least 30 m³ per hour, and a risk assessment if the gas cannot be led away.

Delivered empty or with fittings

Some cabinets are delivered empty, and shelves and power sockets are then bought as accessories. Others come with shelves and sockets in place. The Delivered with fittings filter shows which are complete.

Compare prices with the fittings included. An empty cabinet can look cheaper than a fitted one, but costs more once shelves and sockets are added.

How to use the filter

Start with Placement: indoor or outdoor.

Then Charging if the batteries will be charged in the cabinet, and Fire rating according to what your insurer requires.

Choose Delivered with fittings if the cabinet should be ready to use, and finally filter on Outer height in mm, Outer width in mm and Outer depth in mm for the space.

Can't find the right one? Call us on +46 770 22 01 22. We would rather help before you buy than after.