E-Motor Enables Chain-Free Bike-by-Wire

An increasingly-seen sight in Berlin and other German cities is the oversized electric cargo delivery bike, hissing along (and sometimes in bike lanes) like parcel-laden sailboats on appointed Amazon rounds. German manufacturer Schaeffler sees an opportunity: it is introducing a new generator at the heart of a smart drivetrain concept that some observers are calling bike-by-wire. It's a bike with no chain.

Schaeffler is working with German electric drive maker and systems integrator Heinzmann to develop a complete bike-by-wire drivetrain. The partners had a prototype on display in Munich (and the previous week at Eurobike) with a robust cargo three-wheel e-bike made by Bayk. Production models could come out as soon as first-quarter 2022.

Bike by wire physically de-links two kinetic systems: the turning pedals and the powering wheel on a bike. They are instead linked by a controller, an electronic brain, which directs power to either battery or hub motor. It also sends a resistance signal to the pedal, so the rider feels that he or she is pushing against something. Instead of producing motion, pedaling is producing current. Taking the chain out of the mix—if done successfully—would fly open the cramped world of cycle design to new shapes and configurations. Remove the electronic brain, however, and you're left with a stationary exercise bike bolted to a wheeled frame powered by rear electric motors.

Read more at IEEE Spectrum

Image Credit: Schaeffler

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