Lightweight Partners on eBike Design

The "uber" Lords of carbon fiber, Lightweight, have taken a surprising departure from wheels, to collaborate in the development of a unique eBike called – the Velocité Project. 

According to Lightweight, the project is the result of a grant obtained  from German Ministry of Education and Research, to help progress the future of urban electro-mobility. Thus, the name of the grant – "Transform: Mobility into eXcitement".

Lightweight partnered with CarboFibretec to create the visionary bike that was unveiled at this week’s EuroBike show.  

Rather than using an existing e-motor and battery system, the team created an all-new ground-up design, which yielded a motor system contained within the rear wheel itself. Specifically, by including a ring of magnets where a braking surface would normally be located, the wheel actually becomes the motor’s "rotor", which is driven by a series of wound magnetic coils that make up the "stator", which is incorporated into the oversize seattube. 

In total, the project enlisted the participation of five partners, two from the commercial product sector and three academic engineering research groups:

• Trinamic Motion Control, a commercial motor control company developed the motor electronics and electronic control systems.
• Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology designed the battery cell chemistry and control chip architecture.
• At the Fraunhofer Institute for Transport and Infrastructure researchers worked on energy storage and the battery management systems.
• Engineers at the Technical University of Dresden’s Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) oversaw bench testing of prototypes, computer simulation, and technical system design.
• The Lightweight team of engineers took the lead project coordination role through their sister company CarboFibretec to develop the frame and drive system, the overall design, to manage the development of the motor, component development, and component integration.

Specifications 

• 500W high speed pedelec (requires vehicle registration for on road use)
• exceeded the project’s sub 15kg weight goal (14.8kg/32.6lbs as it hung at the show)
• incorporates an all new magnetic DC motor concept
• works by magnetic flux between wheel (magnets) and frame (coil), as a typical electric motor would between between rotor and stator, respectively
• uniquely developed battery and control electronics
• fully integrated design concept into the complete bike
• allows incorporation of traditional bicycle tech, such as standard tires, brakes, Ultegra Di2 drivetrain, etc.

It will be interesting to see if such an intricate and elaborate concept will ever come to fruition. Given the current critical significance of society seeking  alternative means of transportation, along with countries hoping to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels, it could just happen.  🙂 

Lightweight.info