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It’s not often that e-bikes can attract $25 million dollars of federal funding but that’s the amount heading to New York City for new – and hopefully much safer – charging infrastructure designed to stop people charging e-mobility devices (including e-bikes) in housing and businesses and causing a fire risk. If it works and prevents lithium battery fires (some of which have been fatal) then it will all have been worth it.
Elsewhere in this week’s news we have a strong technological innovation theme, with reports about Fuell’s new e-bikes that utilise a mid-drive and gearbox in one style system from Valeo, whilst there’s a nice feature from Bike Europe on Specialized’s history of e-bike innovation in Switzerland.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• New York City gets $25 million for safer charging and storage infrastructure
• Fuell and Valeo team up for long range e-bikes on Indiegogo
• What has Specialized been up to in Switzerland?
• E-bike Vision offers third party, safety-accredited batteries
• Euro/UK e-bikes sales top 5 million in 2022

[Read more…] about E-Bike News: $25 Million for NYC Charging Stations, Fuell’s Ultra-long Range E-bike and Much More!

The high quality mid-drive market has been dominated by powerful and relatively heavy mid-drives from the big four of Bosch, Brose, Shimano and Yamaha for the last decade or so. But this year’s Eurobike suggests there are some fundamental changes afoot in the world of mid-drive technology. Both Bosch and Yamaha announced their lightest mid-drives yet, whilst Brose announced a new super powerful 48 volt mid-drive system and Pinion moved from bottom bracket enclosed gearing systems into the complex and challenging world of combining bike gears and a mid-drive motor in one unit. Exciting times certainly lie ahead in the world of e-bikes and light electric vehicles.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Mid-drive mega-launch at Eurobike as Bosch, Yamaha, Brose and Pinion stake their claims in the future world of mid-drive technology
• France’s Kilow combine innovation and style with their new e-bikes
• Wings – the tandem microcar from India

[Read more…] about E-Bike News: Bosch, Yamaha, Brose and Pinion all Release New Mid-drives and Lots More!

The Performance Line SX is aimed at higher-performance e-bikes, particularly eMTBs, road e-bikes and gravel e-bikes. The entire system, including controller weighs just a bit more than 4kg total. We will dig more into the weight in a bit, but because so many lightweight systems give up performance to save weight, we will first look at the impressive output of this system.

Surprising power

The Performance Line SX motor produces up to 600W. That’s the number they lead with because it’s the number that most impresses on paper, but it doesn’t really sell this motor the way it deserves. It also produces 55Nm of torque. What they don’t say up front is that like other Bosch mid-drive motors, the Performance Line SX runs at 250W nominally, which is the same as other Bosch mid-drive motors.

A 250W mid-drive motor that produces 55Nm of torque and maxes out power at 600W would be a snooze-a-rama if this were a hub-drive motor, but for a mid-drive motor, these are very solid stats. Mid-drive motors are able to multiply their output with the aid of the e-bike’s drivetrain. Just as gears help a rider get up a hill and back down, those same gears can help a mid-drive motor’s output translate into what is effectively more than 1500W thanks to the 600W max output of the Performance Line SX motor.

People often wonder why Bosch’s motors are limited to a nominal rating of just 250W. There are two answers to this question. The first is simple: EU regulations don’t permit them to make a mid-drive motor that produces 750W and 100Nm of torque. The second answer is more existential: Once someone has had a chance to ride an e-bike with a Bosch motor, they are unlikely to declare it underpowered.

[Read more…] about Bosch Performance Line SX Motor

The importance of education comes up in two very different ways this week. Firstly Specialized’s new, high quality kid’s e-mtb show that they, for one, rate the importance of getting kids into e-bikes early and on reliable and impressively performing e-bikes. Less positively news from the US and the UK shows how the label of ‘e-bike’ is still being misinterpreted – either wilfully or innocently – even though the legal definitions of e-bikes on both sides of the Atlantic have been well publicised for many years now. Clearly it’s an ongoing challenge for all in the e-bike industry.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Specialized’s Turbo Levo SL Kids is just for kids
• Äike and Tempo bring high quality, durable e-scooters to the Bay Area
• Pendix look to challenge Bosch, Shimano et al with new mid-drive
• E-bike terminology still causing confusion
• Stromer and Alinghi Red Bull adopt Pinion’s latest Smart.Shift transmission technology

[Read more…] about E-Bike News: Specialized’s Premium Kids’ E-MTB, High Quality E-scooters in the Bay Area and Lots More!

The (e)revolution Show is a new e-bike show at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It is being presented alongside The Big Gear Show, which is an outdoor gear/clothing/nutrition show. There’s also an e-bike test track and the e-bike brands in attendance have most of their models available for test rides.

Opening day of the show was attended largely by retailers, suppliers and journalists. We at Electric Bike Report were stoked to get an early glimpse of the new offerings!

Special Edition Yamaha YDX Moro 07

The first e-bike we saw upon walking in the hall was a brilliant silver Yamaha YDX Moro 07, the flagship of their eMTB line. The special edition of 300 eMTBs feature a polished aluminum finish to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary making e-bikes. Yes, 30 years! While the standard YDX Moro 07 goes for $6399, the commemorative edition only goes for $100 more—$6499.
[Read more…] about (e)revolution E-Bike Show