"Bike-by-Wire" - Chainless Ebike Drive System

[LimboJim]

Gotta hand it to Google News feed - it keeps leading me to intriguing ebike info.

The following piece seemed worthy of an EBR post:

Schaeffler announces chainless e-bike drive - electrive.com

www.electrive.com

Excerpts from a press release:

The central component of the Free Drive system is the Schaeffler generator, which sets the constant resistance on the pedal while simultaneously absorbing the rider's pedaling power. The regenerative solution is a serial hybrid drive that converts the mechanical energy generated during pedaling into electric energy, which in turn is converted back into mechanical energy in the wheel hub motor. Excess energy is stored in the battery...

“Regardless of whether the system is used in 2-, 3-, or 4-wheel applications, the absence of a mechanical connection between the generator and motor means that Free Drive can provide maximum flexibility in the bicycle architecture and a freely configurable pedaling sensation, which is tailored to the requirements of the bicycle and the needs of the rider, while ensuring minimal wear,” says Dr. Jochen Schröder, President of the E-Mobility Division.

The first application I thought of was hand-cranked adaptive bikes/trikes. Could be amazing!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It's going to be damn inefficient. Think of the generator and then the motor efficiency. Both can have, say, up to 80% of efficiency. Multiplied, the overall efficiency would be some 60%. 40% of the pedalling energy being converted to heat.

P.S. A chain drivetrain offers over 95% efficiency.

 

[retiredNH]

All the disadvantages of a hub motor with few of the benefits?

Whenever you see things like this, think about "why" was it published? The answer most of the time is that someone is raising money to do something, and has a good PR machine behind it. It's an example of PR trumping reality. I should add that when I saw the article, the picture made no sense to me, so I didn't even bother to read it.

 

[Art Deco]

Yes, it's for publicity only. Probably will end up crowd funded, where non bikers will think it looks cool. A conversation piece.

 

[J.R.]

There was a chain less, belt less ebike in 2013. I believe it had a couple different names. We discussed it on the forum a few times.

Redirect Notice

"According to the press statement, the Footloose hybrid drive system brings power directly to the drive wheel. When you pedal, mechanical energy transforms into electricity and feeds the e-bike battery. Using a throttle, the motor drive can be controlled."

 

[Art Deco]

There was a chain less, belt less ebike in 2013. I believe it had a couple different names. We discussed it on the forum a few times.

Redirect Notice

"According to the press statement, the Footloose hybrid drive system brings power directly to the drive wheel. When you pedal, mechanical energy transforms into electricity and feeds the e-bike battery. Using a throttle, the motor drive can be controlled."

Must have been a big success. Not.