e-Bikes, e-Scooters & Light Electric VehiclesBIKE europe20

That’s not all. The French Boschplant alias Bosch-France is cele-brating its 50th year in business.Since last week of 2010 mass pro-duction of the first Bosch e-bikekit began here. Delivery to themarket started in February. BikeEurope was happy to get a look atthe mass production debut of the

Bosch e-bike drive system atBosch-France, located in Monde-ville in the Normandy region.

PartnersAt Eurobike 2010, the BoschGroup was celebrating its entryinto the e-bike market. Togetherwith its bicycle partner Cannon-dale, they celebrated their e-bikekit world premiere. But in 2011,Cannondale won’t be the only bi-ke supplier using the new kit,which includes a drive-unit, batte-ry pack, charger, and HMI (hu-man-machine interface). Accor-ding to Rainer Jeske - Senior VicePresident, Automotive ElectronicsPowertrain Systems - Ebike, in ‘Ye-ar One’ there are 13 bicycle sup-pliers with 16 bicycle brandsusing the new system.

Asked about the largest challen-ges Jeske and his team had whenbuilding up the new company’s e-bike division based in Reutlin-gen/Germany and the productionat Bosch-France in Mondeville, hesays: “First of all we had to convin-ce our top management. That wasnot easy. Then we had to talk to allparties within Bosch Group thatare able to help us out to bring itall together. Moreover we as acomplete newcomer into the bi-cycle industry had to find a goodpartner. Luckily we found Cannon-dale. Last but not least, before theproduction start, we had to achie-ve some improvements after ourofficial world premiere on Eurobi-ke. The products we had at Eurobi-ke have been prototypes.” All in allBosch spent two years in R&D be-fore showing the first e-bike kit onEurobike 2010.

Additional improvementsWhat exactly changed betweenSeptember and December – thetime between Eurobike and thebeginning of the Mondeville-ba-sed mass production? Automoti-ve Electronics and E-Bike SystemsSales and Marketing DirectorClaudia Wasko points to some expert critics popping up afterchecking the new product in Friedrichshafen.

“We took the criticisms on noiseand vibration most seriously. OurFrench production team was verysuccessful solving these pro-blems.”Rainer Jeske also notes that a setof problems that arose with trans-mission components was activelyaddressed. This means that theuse of internal gear hubs in com-bination with the Bosch e-bike kitis now without any problem. Jeske as well as Christophe Barret,Vice President and CommercialPlant Manager Automotive Elec-tronics at Bosch-France, point togrowing relationships and syner-gies between the German e-bikedivision and the French produc-tion team when working on thisgroup project. Although there ha-ve been many challenges to startthis project from scratch to the fi-nal mass production, looking back,Barett says, “It required from all ofus a lot of flexibility. We in Francefor example had to search for newsuppliers and the foundation of acontinuous system. For us this wasnew because the bicycle industry– different from our customers outof the automotive industry – relieson a seasonal business.”

Circuit boards productionWhen it comes to the new e-bikedrive system, what exactly is ma-

nufactured and assembled atBosch-France with its more than1,000 employees and yearly salesof € 210 million? The company’sDirector of the Preparation & Rea-lization Department for Electro-nics Fabrication Philippe Balocheshows the electronic devicesbeing produced at his factory hall. “Most of the fully automated prin-ted circuit board production withbrazing is already done for auto-motive products,” said Baloche.“This is a field with which we atBosch-France have long experien-ce. Producing printed circuitboards for an e-bike kit or some-thing different isn’t such a big

change.” Totally different to theprinted circuit board production isthe production of battery packsand drive-units. It is housed in thecompany’s second production halland is taking place at two assem-bling lines each. Here Gilbert La-bourot is the master of the compa-ny’s new production lines.“All assembling processes – frompressing bevel and free wheels,mounting smaller printed circuitboards, fixing torque sensors andlaying cables, mounting the uppershell with the Bosch print on topof the drive unit to scanning the

MONDEVILLE, France – This year German automotivesupplier Robert Bosch GmbH has a lot to celebrate.The latest good news is the record result of approxi-mately € 47.3 billion in fiscal year 2010. With an eyeon the previous year’s result – in the year of theworldwide crisis – this was a most impressive come-back. For 2011 the German giant is aiming to surpassthe € 50 billion benchmark. Moreover, Bosch Group iscelebrating its 125th anniversary, as well as the 150thbirthday of company founder Robert Bosch.

By Jo Beckendorff

BIKEe-System for e-scooters is in the pipeline

Bosch Starts E-Bike Drive System Production

The complete Bosch e-bike system (from left to right): battery pack, HMI-display and drive unit.What’s missing on this picture is the charger. Photo Bosch

Bosch offers two different battery packdesigns: One – new – for the carrier (lefthand) and a standard one for the frame (righthand). Photo Bosch Continued on page 21

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21BIKE europe

bar code and the final improve-ment of all functions – is done he-re step by step,” explains Labourot.Samsung delivers the lithium bat-tery cells used for the Bosch batte-ry packs. The assembling of thebattery packs starts within the twoU-shaped assembly lines with thecorrect positioning of the batterycells and the connection betweenbattery pack and printed circuitboard (brazing the negative termi-nal before the positive). Bosch of-fers two battery pack designs – astandard one mounted at theframe and – a new one mountedon the carrier. Both of them are as-sembled at Bosch-France.

Made in EuropeAccording to Rainer Jeske, thereare, “some parts of our new e-bikedrive system previously partially-produced in Germany”. An exter-nal supplier for example makesthe HMI display. “But it all comestogether here in Mondeville atBosch-France, and is completelymounted and assembled over here.”Even with an eye on those Boschunits and external suppliersdoing some preliminary work forthe entire e-bike system, it’s all‘Made in Europe’. Jeske emphasi-zes, “Customers are looking forEuropean-made high-end pro-ducts.” And Bosch takes that de-mand seriously as it’s the compa-

ny’s goal to get to a 20% marketshare in the international e-bikemarket. The course for fast mar-ket penetration is set. To reachthe 20% market share as quicklyas possible, Bosch and its e-bikesystem service partner Maguraare working hard.“Since Eurobike we had a total of60 training courses being atten-ded by approximately 2,200 spe-cialty dealers,” explains Jeske.“This year we and Magura want tooffer a total of 100 training cour-ses. The current Magura lectureteam of five people will very soonreceive some more manpower.And beginning of March we willhave our multi-lingual hotline forspecialty dealers ready to go.”

Also e-scootersTalking to Rainer Jeske – the topman behind the introduction ofthe Bosch e-bike drive system – itturns out that he is also responsi-ble for e-scooters. “This is also atopic we are seriously workingon,” he says. Different from the e-bike drive system, Bosch’s e-scoo-ter business is being handled byBosch-China in Shanghai. HereBosch is working together with amajor Chinese scooter producer“delivering several parts for the e-drivetrain”. A complete e-scooter-kit isn’t rea-dy yet but it is in the pipeline. Inhis role as Senior Vice PresidentAutomotive Electronics Power-train Systems e-two-wheelers

(and not only e-bikes) Jeske is po-sitive about the potential of acomplete e-scooter drive system.“This product group is not onlybeing sold on the Chinese marketbut rolls more into the high-enddirection and into the internatio-nal market”. Somehow it’s funny.While the high-end and Made inEurope e-bike products are con-centrating first on Europe and theUnited States (and perhaps laterinto Asia) Bosch is approachingthings the other way round whenit comes to its e-scooter ambi- tions. The reason is easy to explain.Currently China is – thanks to gov-ernmental subsidies – the mostattractive market for environmen-tal-friendly e-scooters where, no-

wadays, there are some 30 millionproduced per year.

BIKEe-e-Bikes, e-Scooters & Light Electric Vehicles

Rainer Jeske (left), responsible for the Bosch e-bike systems and Christophe Barret, plantmanager Bosch-France, proudly present one ofthe first mass-produced Bosch e-bike drive-units. Photo Bosch

This year’s Taipei International Cycle Show will undoubtedly fea-ture the results of the multi-milli-on dollar investment the Taiwangovernment has made in its ‘GreenVehicle Development Program’. AsTaiwan aims at becoming a globalindustrial partner for green vehi-cles, it is focusing on getting theright products in place. All of thisis to establish the country as theworld’s leading high-tech pro-ducts supplier. Bike Europe visited

the country’s Industrial Technolo-gy Research Institute and was in-troduced to a super slim hub mo-tor for electric bicycles, as well asto the STOBA technology for lithi-um batteries.

New polymerAt ITRI some 60 engineers are de-voted to the development of newbattery technologies. Their firstmajor accomplishment is STOBA.This stands for Self-TerminatedOligomer with Branded Architec-ture. Simply put, it is a new poly-mer developed by ITRI that effec-tively prevents lithium batteriesfrom exploding when damaged,as has occurred in several high-profile cases in recent years. Thoseincidents took place with laptopcomputers, where lithium batte-ries are commonly used. Nowa-days, they’re also found in higherpriced and better quality e-bikes.And with iPhones, iPads, and ta-blet computer sales soaring; all ofwhich are all fitted with lithiumbatteries, it’s clear that the STOBAtechnology is very valuable.

What the technology does is sta-bilize the thermal runaway pro-cess that occurs when a Li-Ionbattery is punctured. To be moreprecise, the technical explanationby ITRI says, “STOBA is a nano-si-zed polymer material which is ad-ded in the battery to form a pro-tective membrane on the surfaceof the electrode electric material.A second stage polymerizationprocess will be triggered while aninternal short happened in thebattery that blocked the lithiumion transportation and preventsfurther heat accumulation. Theburning catastrophe is conse-quently inhibited, and the batterybecomes safe.”Since the development of thisnew technology the ‘High SafetyLithium Battery SOBA Consortium’

has been established. ITRI says ina press statement, “This Consor-tium is to build a strong positionfor Taiwan’s battery industry in theemerging electric vehicle market,in the hope that Taiwan will beco-me one of the top three lithiumbattery producers in the world.Mass production of high safety lithium STOBA batteries startedend of 2010.”

Super slim hub motorAnother major accomplishmentby ITRI is the development of a su-per-slim hub motor. According tothe research institute it is 50%lighter and 70% thinner. As well,the new motor produces two tothree times the torque generatedby traditional units of the sameweight, with comparable produc-

tion costs. ITRI’s R&D manager Yu-Pin Peng explains that what’s newwith the ITRI hub motor is the Axi-al Variable flux technology, whichis being used for the first time inan e-bike motor.

“Variable Flux technology is ba-sed on the principles of electro-magnetism and permanent mag-netism, which not only contribu-tes to the motor’s power but alsoto the motor speed control. Cur-rently available super slim hubmotors use rare earth magnetswhich are primarily produced inChina and are subject to exportcontrols. Thus the use of variableflux has obvious advantages re-ducing the use of rare earth mag-nets,” said Peng.The Intelligent Vehicle Technolo-gy Division of ITRI hopes that thenew motor will spark a majorchange in the current market andwill diversify the use and charac-teristics of the traditional e-bikemotor. R&D manager Yu-Pin Pengexplains that the fundamentalchange to the motor’s functionwas reached by increasing thepower density at each unit, i.e.horse power, while also increasingtorque density, yet keeping thewhole unit as light as possible. Given the current trends in elec-tric bikes, Yu-Pin Peng believesthat e-bike users are looking forhigher speeds as well as highertorque. This opinion is reinforcedby current trends in e-bike salesin Europe.In the leading e-bike market – the

Netherlands, bike manufacturersand other suppliers of electric bi-kes are turning to new targetgroups. In particular, commutersthat use e-bikes for longer distan-ces are believed to be the nextgeneration of e-bikes buyers. InGermany, Europe’s second biggeste-bike market, more and morespeed-pedelecs are being offered.ITRI’s first super-slim hub motor –weighing 2100 grams and 1 inchthick, was shown at the 2010 Tai-pei Cycle Show. ITRI’s researchteam and Taiwan parts maker Joy-Tech cooperated to install the mo-tor on a Pacific Birdy folding bike.In addition, the research team andJoy-Tech worked together to cre-ate a powered wheel, also display-ed at the 2010 Taipei Cycle Show.Response was positive from firmssuch as Merida, Giant, Sanyo, andother domestic and foreign com-panies. At the 2011 Taipei Interna-tional Cycle Show ITRI’s super-slimhub motor is expected to be thestar at numerous booths!

Taiwan Invests Millions in Development of new BatteryTechnology & Hub Motor HSINCHU, Taiwan – Taiwan’s environ-mental problem is clear to everyone who has visited the island.Too many polluting scooters. More than 12 million for a totalpopulation of 23 million! That’s going to change. Not only byurging its citizen’s to turn to (electric) bicycles, the Taiwangovernment is also investing millions into turning the 2 and 4stroke scooter engines into electric ones. To that end, the coun-try’s research institute ITRI is developing new electric motorsand new battery technologies.

By Jack Oortwijn

Through Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)

Taiwan Invests Millions in Development ofnew Battery Technology & Hub Motor

Continued from page 20

At ITRI some 60 engineers are devoted to thedevelopment of new battery technologies.Their first major accomplishment is STOBA.Simply put, it is a new polymer that effectivelyprevents lithium batteries from explodingwhen damaged. Photo Gazelle

ITRI’s R&D manager Yu-Pin Peng: ‘The ITRI hubmotor has Axial Variable flux technology,which is being used for the first time in an e-bike motor.’ Photos Bike Europe

ITRI’s first super-slim hub motor: weight is 2100 grams; 1 inch thick; is 50% lighter and 70% thin-ner and produces two to three times the torque generated by traditional units of the same weight,with comparable production costs. Photo Gazelle

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