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E-Bike Battery Safety

One theme that kept coming up on the ride (and something we have continually covered here at EBR), is the topic of e-bike battery safety. I am pretty sure every person who rides e-bikes and pays attention to e-bike news have seen the tragic stories from New York City on what are alleged to be e-bike fires. We did a fairly in-depth dive into what’s causing the e-bike fires in New York, so it was great to catch up with Bosch and get a few of their thoughts on the topic.

The main takeaway that we want our readers to know is that Bosch batteries are safe. As a German company, Bosch manufactures their products to both EU and USA safety standards, and we consider them a leader in e-bike safety, especially when it comes to battery and motor safety. Claudia Wasko sits on the steering committee for People for Bikes and is very active in helping promote not just electric bikes, but also safety throughout the United States.

Obviously, please make sure you are taking care of your battery and charging it properly. My conversation with Claudia gave me two additional takeaways I think are important to EBR readers:

• Of the fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in New York City, none of them have been caused by stock e-bike batteries. Most of them have been caused by other e-mobility devices (such as scooters), while a few have been caused by reconditioned batteries. A stock Bosch battery hasn’t been responsible for a single fire in New York City.
• Buying an e-bike from a brand that specs Bosch motors is a good bet, safety-wise. The brands spec’ing Bosch have made quality a priority (again, you need to take care of the battery).

Pretty Cool E-Bikes Featuring Bosch Motors

I always say that the heart of an e-bike is the motor. And we were able to ride some pretty cool bikes featuring Bosch’s latest motors, including their Performance Line Speed, Performance Line, and Active Line Plus systems.

Gazelle Eclipse C380

Photo credit: Chris Wellhausen

While the Gazelle C380 they had on hand was a little small for me (as you can see in the photos), I was still very impressed by the bike. A few of the highlights for me were:

• Bosch Performance Line Speed motor. Putting one of Bosch’s most powerful motors on a city commuter is a solid choice. The bike had a ton of power to climb hills, and being able to pedal up to 28 mph makes the bike a great option for commuting.
• Overall comfort of the bike. Wide tires, a front suspension fork, and an Enviolo internally geared hub combined with a belt drive made for a very smooth ride.
• Beautiful color. I’m not sure if this was planned, but the bike looked simply stunning against the backdrop of the red rocks!

Custom Co-Motion E-Bike

Probably the coolest bike I saw during CES was this custom built Co-Motion e-bike that’s based on an upcoming model geared toward bikepacking. Sadly, I didn’t get all the specs written down, but I can say this much: if you’re looking for a very unique touring e-bike to take you across the country, then go see what Co-Motion can do for you.

The production model will be an analog bike with 29″ wheels that can be run with a rigid carbon fiber fork or a 120mm-travel suspension fork. This custom electric version I tested, however, was super comfortable, with the unique alt bars that would really help on long tours being one of the standout features. Of course the paint job can’t be ignored, and neither could the choice of motor (Bosch Performance Line Speed).

Benno RemiDemi XL

Photo credit: Chris Wellhausen

I think I have told myself 10 times already that I’m going to buy a Benno RemiDemi. The only reason I haven’t is because I have an office full of 150 e-bikes and have to routinely switch out which bikes I have at my house for personal testing.

However, if I wasn’t lucky/fortunate enough to have access to so many bikes, and had to have only one bike in my garage for my whole family to ride, it might just be the RemiDemi XL. It’s a bike that does it all (minus the mountain biking, of course) and is a ton of fun to ride. With the long-tail version I can not only carry groceries, but also add my 6 year old, which slashes my need to drive everywhere.

The one thing I would change on the bike we rode at this event would be to go with the Bosch Performance Sport motor as it goes up to 28mph.

CES / Bosch Ride Wrap-Up

Photo credit: Chris Wellhausen

For us, this was a great way to end CES 2024. While we wish more e-bike companies attended CES to put their products in front of consumers, we were glad to see Bosch representing their e-bike systems at the show and supporting great manufacturers like Benno, Gazelle, Riese & Müller, Co-Motion, Trek, Cannondale, and more.

To learn more about Bosch’s e-bike systems, you can go to their website here: https://www.bosch-ebike.com/us/

Urtopia: Dashing Into the Future with Polished Designs and ChatGPT Integration

With all the recent buzz around AI in general and ChatGPT in particular, we were highly intrigued by the idea of integrating such functionality into an e-bike. In addition to offering stylish, futuristic designs for their three unique e-bikes, Urtopia grabbed our attention by being the first to do so.

The brand’s flashy carbon fiber flagship, the Carbon Pro 1, features an unexpected design with a seamless, floating top tube/seat tube/seat stay element. The bike houses a 4G eSIM card that allows it to track the bike’s location for phone-free navigation and security, play music through an integrated bluetooth speaker, and connect to ChatGPT.

Our contact said that the GPT integration can do such things as helping riders set up custom routes, find the nearest coffee shop, or simply ask about the weather forecast. Our personal experiences with ChatGPT lead us to question the reliability of its information (at least in the technology’s current state), but we hope to be able to test the Carbon Pro 1 for ourselves in the near future!

Utopia also offers a more entry-level – but still impressively feature-saturated – alloy-frame city/commuter called the Chord. While it does not integrate with ChatGPT, this e-bike still offers navigation, music, etc. and pairs with the Urtopia app. The bike uses a 350W rear-hub motor with a torque sensor paired with a 353 Wh battery.

A currently unreleased model, the Fusion, features a carbon fiber step-thru frame, dual 350W front and rear hub motors, and dual batteries (one main and one auxiliary/range extender) with a total of 860 Wh and a max range of 120 miles.

A second version of the Fusion was offered for European cyclists; in addition to a flashier paint job, this model featured a 250W Bafang mid-drive motor that will not (currently) be available in the US.

Vanpowers: Affordable Adventure Bikes with Integrated Security Tech

After being pleasantly surprised during our review of the UrbanGlide Ultra, we were excited to see the latest developments from Vanpowers. With two new offerings including a carbon fiber gravel bike and a beefy fat tire touring bike, the brand is clearly interested in diversifying their lineup and proving their competence in off-road environments.

The Ultra version of the fat tire GrandTeton features a 500W Bafang mid-drive and 692 Wh battery, while the more budget-friendly Pro version uses a rear-hub motor. Both have a “smart box” integrated into the top tube with 4G and GPS functionality for navigation and theft protection, but also an SOS feature that can alert a pre-selected contact in the event of a hard impact.

The 39-lb UrbanCross also features the smart hub, and is available in an Ultra version with 46cm flared drop bars or a Pro version with flat bars; both will be offered in three frame sizes. Regardless of tier, the bike uses a 250W rear hub motor with a torque sensor, a 345.6 Wh battery, a stem-integrated display, and Bluetooth connectivity with the Vanpowers app.

Heybike: Taking a Chance with Crowdfunded Carbon Fiber

Heybike made an appearance with three new models, including a full-suspension version of the Ranger S called the Horizon, a cargo e-bike called the Hauler, and a full-suspension, carbon fiber fat tire bike called the Hero.

While details were scarce, the Hero was the star of the show with its unique step-thru frame and flashy orange-and-grey paint job. The bike uses custom carbon fiber handlebars with an integrated display, and is set to be crowdfunded through an indiegogo campaign later this spring.

Okai: Clean Design and LEDs Are the Future of Commuting

As a relative newcomer to the e-bike market, Okai was a behind-the-scenes manufacturer for prominent e-bike and e-scooter brands such as Bird and Lime. Okai launched three new commuter-focused e-bike models after a year of development, all with tech at the forefront.

The EB60, also referred to as the Traverse, puts a huge focus on minimalistic design. The bike features an LED light bar that stretches across the full length of the handlebars for visibility, but its color and pattern can be customized to suit the rider through the Okai app. The bike uses a 350W rear hub motor with a torque sensor and an integrated 345.6 Wh battery.

We were impressed by the 440 lb weight capacity of the brand’s utility e-bike called the EB70. Another step-thru commuter called the EB80 uses an integrated battery with LED light bars that change color to reflect battery charge.

Looking Ahead: Design Trends for 2024

Battery Breakthroughs?

It was back in 1991 that lithium-ion batteries entered the mainstream market in a Sony camcorder. That was the catalyst that has seen lithium chemistry batteries dominate so many consumer electronics areas including e-bikes. Whilst new wonder battery chemistries are announced on a regular basis they always seem to fade quickly from the headlines – but there are signs, especially in the world of electric cars that things may be about to change.

A typical e-bike lithium ion battery uses a lithium oxide cathode (there are various chemistries) and a graphite anode with an electrolyte of lithium salt. There are developments in all areas of these component parts, some of which seem like they could soon come of age.

Making the electrolyte itself ‘solid’ would make it more energy dense and as we reported back in July it would offer tremendous range, lightning-fast charging, and improved safety. Swiss speed pedelec (or s-pedelec) brand Stromer is on the leading edge of electric bike battery development, having teamed up with TD Hitech Energy to produce a ceramic solid-state battery with the aforementioned goals – but mass production still seems a way off.

That’s not to say solid state batteries won’t appear in electric cars in the near future if Electrive is to be believed: ‘In China, battery specialist WeLion has delivered its first semi-solid-state battery cells to electric car manufacturer Nio. Nio will use the cells in its 150 kWh battery pack and is aiming for the first deliveries of e-cars with these battery packs before the end of July.’

Whilst the promised energy density looks highly impressive at 360Wh/kg – to put that into context, if your e-bike battery manages over 200Wh/kg that is pretty good going. Those figures suggest you might get an 80% increase in range using a semi-solid state battery compared to a conventional one of the same size.

Perhaps more promising in the short term are developments of replacing lithium chemistry altogether – with sodium ion. On the plus side sodium is safe and cheap and needs no nickel, copper or cobalt. It can also be safely discharged to zero volts for safer, cheaper shipping. On the downside sodium ions are bigger than lithium ions making the chemistry less power dense.

Certainly the chemistry is now being commercialised – China is a powerhouse of electric car battery production and Medium notes ‘Chinese EV maker BYD Co. signed a deal to build a $1.4 billion sodium-ion battery plant. China’s CATL already said in April that its sodium-based batteries will be used in some vehicles from this year.’

China’s TAILG appear to be a pioneer in the use of sodium ion batteries in e-bikes – PRN Asia calls reports that their ‘luxury e-bikes’ will feature the chemistry but not surprisingly it looks to be on heavier, low cost moped style e-bikes that might suit the less power dense batteries.

Sodium Ion batteries in what PRN Asia calls ‘luxury e-bikes’ – by the looks of TAILG’s website these appear to be from the moped with pedals school of e-bike design.

Replacing graphite anodes with silicon would allow more lithium to be stored and increase energy density – theoretically a huge improvement on graphite – but the issue is that silicon expands up to 300% during charging. Solutions include sprinkling it on graphite (as now used in some Tesla batteries) or using a ‘graphene corset’. Theoretical densities of 450kWh per kilo bandied about and that’s the density quoted as being needed for flight. Flying e-bike anyone?

Indeed, Electrive tells us that Panasonic – whose batteries are widely used in e-bikes and electric cars – will start to manufacture silicone based anodes in Kansas from 2025.

Battery Certification & Recycling

Given the publicity and industry concern around battery fires (statistically rare as they may be) it’s pretty nailed on that 2024 will see more UL certified batteries (UL2271) and even the more involved and expensive UL2849 certification for the whole e-bike.

So expect more companies to follow in the steps of Rad Power Bikes and Aventon on 2024. And if you want to know more about the distinction between the two UL standards mentioned above Electric Bike Report has recently looked at the distinction between these two standards in detail.

It’s also good to see progress is being made with dealing with the potential problem of end-of-life e-bike batteries, with BRAIN reporting ‘The industry’s e-bike battery recycling program has collected and recycled more than 43,000 pounds of batteries since the program began in November 2021. Expect more recycling than ever in 2024 and beyond.

Will AI E-bikes Really be a Thing?

AI – or artificial intelligence has been much in the news in 2023 and has even made it’s way onto e-bikes. Hong Kong based Urtopia certainly seem signed up to the AI e-bike agenda, and it may be their promised Fusion e-bike -l ‘the world’s first dual motor, dual battery e-bike with fully integrated AI’ appears in 2024.

If it does get ready for a host of tech including fingerprint sensor, GPS module, gyroscope and the torque sensor – ‘communicating via CAN bus with a central control unit, which itself has the corresponding computing chips. The user will tap into all this with a ‘Smart ring’ (should they find smartphone to e-bike integration too cumbersome).

Smalo E-Bikes, is a new e-bike brand, produced by BESV which also claims to use AI – using computer power to learn from the rider’s behaviour and riding style – to produce an automated but smooth ride. The two models, the LX2 and the PX2 will feature Smalo’s proprietary G2 AI technology. According to Smalo, G2 will analyze a rider’s riding style, including gear selection and pedal-assist levels and will automatically make those selections for the rider when activated.

Will E-bikes Soon ‘Talk’ to Other Vehicles?

The enhanced safety benefits of V2X wireless tech – vehicle to vehicle communication – have long interested both auto and e-bike manufacturers and 2023 saw Bosch, Trek, Shimano, Gazelle and BMC among 19 companies ‘commit to an ecosystem of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communication technology.’

How would this help e-bike safety? As an example of what a bicyclist or driver might gain, a bicycle approaching a junction will become an alert to a driver also approaching but unable to physically see the rider. The bike rider will likewise be alerted, typically on the e-bike’s dashboard or another device. Think Garmin Varia, but with both parties able to visualise the road positioning, trajectory and speed of others.

There are many sceptics about though, based on the recent history of driverless cars. which is a technology that also seeks to predict road users behaviour so there is certainly a broad analogy here with the ‘machine learning’ approach of AI: as Reuters points out, “Making robot cars that can drive more safely than people is immensely tough because self-driving software systems simply lack humans’ ability to predict and assess risk quickly, especially when encountering unexpected incidents.”

It’s point made more forcibly by UK transport guru Christian Wolmar when he comments ‘Developing driverless cars has been AI’s greatest test. And it has failed miserably, despite the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars in attempts to produce a viable commercial vehicle. Moreover, the recent withdrawal from the market of a leading provider of robotaxis in the US, coupled with the introduction of strict legislation in the UK, suggests that the developers’ hopes of monetising the concept are even more remote than before. The very future of the idea hangs in the balance.’

In other words, don’t expect to be riding your AI e-bike in total, wirelessly-secured safety along a street filled with robotaxis any time soon.

More E-bike Cars…and More Microcars?