Novel modular powertrain proposal for e-bicycle
B Stojić1, A Poznić1
1
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department for
Mechanization and Design Engineering, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 6, 21000 Novi Sad -
Serbia
Abstract. Bicycles with electric pedal assist systems are becoming increasingly popular, with
increasing versatility, a range of intended areas of use, and different design approaches for
system realization. This paper deals with the proposal for a novel modular drivetrain concept
based on a friction driving wheel, for which a brief design outline is given. Desired performances
based on law constraints and average bicycle driving experience analysed, and basic powertrain
properties required for their realization assessed.
1. Introduction
Cities around the world are being more and more exposed to problems of urban traffic (jams and
congestions, lack of parking etc.) and related environmental issues. Without doubt, one of noteworthy
possibilities to mitigate such difficulties is more massive use of bicycles in urban transport. Recent
growth of usage of bicycles with electric pedal assist systems (further: e-bikes), as reported e.g. in [1],
can probably provide significant contribution to realization of such concept.
E-bikes are becoming increasingly popular, with increasing versatility and range of intended areas
of use. They can help certain groups of population that, for whatever reasons, have difficulties in or
reluctance to bicycle riding to overcome such issues. Pedals can be turned with virtually no physical
resistance; carriage of heavy load is made easier; average cyclist can achieve greater distances and
overcome uphill or wind resistances; greater average velocity means shorter stay outside by bad weather
conditions, and so on. It can be expected that all these features can make bicycle transport more
favourable option to broader public.
Aiming to contribute to further increase of usefulness and flexibility of e-bikes usage, this paper
proposes novel modular drivetrain concept based on a friction driving wheel, which can be easily
attached to or removed from the bike. Basic design outline of the system will be given. Desired
performances based on law constraints and average bicycle driving experience will be defined, and basic
design parameters required for their realization calculated.
2. Short review of conventional e-bike concepts
While the term "e-bike", used in broad sense, can assume any bicycle or similar single-track vehicle
with electric motor added, it is important to bear in mind what can be understood by this notion in legal
sense. National requirements may vary from country to country all over the world so it has to be observed
depending on the geographic region. Regarding legal definition that applies on European Union level,
EU directive 2002/24/EC defined e-bikes as "cycles with pedal assistance which are equipped with an
auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kW, of which the output is
progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 km/h, or sooner, if the
cyclist stops pedalling" [2]. From 2016, named directive was repealed by regulation 168/2013 [3], but
the definition remained unchanged.
Most common used layout types of e-bikes are hub drive in the front or rear wheel, or mid drive,
Figure 1. In a hub-drive system the motor is installed on the centre of the rear or front wheel and thus
the driving torque from the motor is exerted directly on the wheel. A mid-drive motor is built into the
frame, between the pedals, so that the motor powers the chainring, from which the torque is being
delivered to the rear wheel via the chain in conventional way. Using hub drive is most appropriate way
to make an e-bike by converting i.e. upgrading conventional bicycle by attaching necessary components,
although there are also many factory – produced e-bikes that use such layout. Mid drive requires
dedicated form of the frame at least in the region where the chainset with drive is located and is therefore
less suitable for conversion of existing bicycles so that e-bikes of this type are mostly factory - produced.
Figure 1. Rear hub (left) and mid (right) drive [4].
There are many criteria affecting optimal choice of the overall layout and specific individual
components, most important being mass, size, desired driving performance and range, impact on centre
of gravity location, tyre adhesion with the ground, suitability for implementation and maintenance,
vibration characteristics and so on. Beside layout choice, there are other important design parameters,
such as above all battery location and size, electronic controls used etc. Overall choice will also depend
on designated area of use (urban commuting, open road journey, off-road riding, cargo transport etc.).
According to review [5], for contemporary factory produced e-bikes it is most common to encounter
bicycle weight in the range from around 15-17 kg for especially lightweight or compact designs to more
typical 20 kg or so. Declared driving range varies in broader span, somewhere between 60 and 140 km,
and expected battery charging time 2-4 h. Mid and hub drive concepts are more or less evenly
represented. Referred list of e-bikes currently assessed as being best on the market by specialized
journalists does not include any e-bike friction drive.
3. Background of using friction drive on e-bikes
Friction torque transmission direct to the bicycle tyre is burdened with some inherent drawbacks which
prevented it to become more broadly adopted so far, such as above all intensive tyre wear, significant
mechanical losses and unsuitability for wet conditions. These circumstances will probably remain
unchanged so that this concept should be viewed as niche, but it though features its own potential
benefits and merits so it is certainly worthwhile to further deal with development possibilities. Above
all, as opposed to hub or mid drive, friction drive offers extended level of modularity. This means that
an ordinary bicycle can, by temporarily attaching driving module, be used as e-bike, and be quickly and
easily put back to original state whenever desired. A number of cases where such option could be
purposeful can be thought of, e.g. as anti-theft measure, to make tyre repair easier, to avoid impact of
precipitations, to exploit merits of recreational bicycle driving, to share same device between more
bicycle users, to circumvent situations where authority representatives could express doubt in fulfilment
of legal requirements for e-bikes and so on. Modularity and occasional use would, furthermore, mitigate
the problem with the tyre wear. In addition, costs of such systems are expected to be less in comparison
with conventional ones.
Beside listed benefits of modularity from practical viewpoint, it could possibly to some extent have
certain societal impact on the attitude towards e-bike usage. Namely, despite listed general features of
e-bikes that can make more probable that an average person will decide to use bicycle (especially one
with e-assistance, but which can also lead to become fan of "ordinary" bikes through time) as regular
means of city transport, it is not rare to receive comments from general cyclist community that are
underestimating or negative towards more broad usage of electric assistance on bicycles. Although
relatively few and in general not meant to be malicious, such statements could, though slightly,
negatively affect general public opinion on this matter. It could be hoped that modular approach, where
the bicycle itself remains unchanged and can be used as such whenever needed or wanted, can soften
such hard-line attitude and help to make e-bike concept more acceptable to more general cyclists'
population.
Lastly, although this is not the topic dealt with by this paper, let it be mentioned that some of the
components for e-bike conversion available on the market, final products or individually produced e-
bikes, do not fulfil requirements for street-legal use. Although currently in many countries it to some
extent remains unclear which way authorities' representatives will check fulfilment of these
requirements in individual cases should any doubts arise, in controversial situations it would certainly
be beneficial to be able to quickly remove device that could potentially represent legal issue.
4. Powertrain design basics proposal
Currently, several friction drive products are available on the market, e.g. [6]. In general, friction drive
uses friction wheel or roller that is attached directly to, or integrated with, the output shaft of electric
motor. From this wheel, torque is transmitted to bicycle tyre by means of frictional tangential reaction
force between the two. Appropriate means of tension i.e. exerting normal force to realize enough friction
between friction wheel and bicycle tyre necessary for friction based torque transmission has to be
applied.
In this paper, authors propose especially compact design where the whole device can be placed
between the seat tube and seat stays, Figure 1. Such compact design does not interfere with rear bicycle
rack as opposed to many of the present design solutions, leaving more options available for bicycle use.
Simple design (Figure 2) consists virtually only of electric motor carrier, comprising parts for attachment
on the bicycle, and motor with friction wheel itself. Carrier is made from two parts, one of them rigidly
attached to the bicycle frame, and the other one, pivoted with respect to first one, which holds the motor
with the wheel. Pivoting enables degree of freedom necessary to press friction wheel toward bicycle
tyre realizing normal i.e. tensioning force. The latter can be applied by mounting torsional spring directly
to the pivot of electric motor carrier, or by using coil spring between the carrier and appropriate mount
located on the bicycle frame or seat post. Tensioning system is currently under development.
Figure 2. System placement on the bicycle.
Figure 3. Device design and appearance.
5. System sizing considerations
Key features of driving system for e-bike are its driving performances and the range that can be accessed
with fully charged battery. Assuming legal requirement valid in most countries (permanent motor power
250 W, e-assistance cut-off speed 25 km/h) are fulfilled, driving performances will be mostly limited
by these factors. Driving range is the feature that can be more affected by designer's choice. However,
criteria that should be applied to make the choice are somewhat vague. One of the key parameters, the
overall mass of the bicycle, e-drive add-on and driver (possibly with some luggage) can vary in very
broad range, strongly affecting energy required to ride certain distance.
Furthermore, it is impossible to predict rider contribution, i.e. share of driving energy supplied by
the rider compared to that from the battery, which can be anywhere between 0 and 100%. Different bike
riders can exhibit different kinds of behaviour in this view, and the circumstances affecting this
behaviour may also vary substantially. This is probably one of the reasons why, to the knowledge of
authors, no standard driving cycle has yet been developed for this vehicle category, which could assist
range calculations and assessments. Finally, choice of the battery can be also limited by what is
economically and technically feasible to be used for this purpose.
From the other hand, it should be also kept in mind that, in order to retain benefits arising out of the
system modularity, choice of the battery and way of its attachment to the bike should also be in
accordance with overall system concept which means that neither possible nor meaningful to adopt
single solution. Dealing with this significant topic is, however, omitted in this paper.
For all the reasons listed, it is only reasonable to give tentative evaluation of range related
characteristic. For this, a worst-case scenario will be assumed, meaning that the cyclist exerts no
mechanical power on the pedals (except to compensate for mechanical losses, which are very small) i.e.
all driving energy comes from the battery. Based on common experiences, it will be adopted that,
supplied 250 W mechanical power, average cyclist in average conditions on the level ground will attain
velocity of roughly 20 km/h. For 1 h of continuous riding under such conditions ("full-throttle" on the
level ground), cyclist will cover 20 km, while total mechanical energy consumed by the motor will be
250 Wh, giving total amount of 250/20 = 12.5 Wh/km. Expanding adopted conditions by introducing
variable velocity, and/or road sections with uphill and downhill slopes, would basically not affect this
result by itself because of energy conservation. If, however, in such circumstances driver would have to
apply friction brakes, which is more realistic scenario, this would introduce additional energy losses and
amount of energy required for certain road distance will rise. Besides, efficiency of energy conversion
between battery and the motor has also to be taken into consideration. To make final assessment, energy
requirement for these general conditions will be adopted by doubling calculated value. Justification for
such (largely arbitrary, but experience-influenced) approach can be found in literature, e.g. [7], and this
assessment is nevertheless only provisional. So, final assessment for consumption of energy supplied
from the battery amounts to approximately 25 Wh/km. Compared to common experience, this
consumption assessment may appear too high. It is worthwhile mentioning that real value could be much
better, probably 50-100% or even higher in sense of less energy requirements, providing that no full
throttle is applied all the time and that the cyclist contributes in a certain level applying his/her own
energy to pedals.
To express this result in a way more convenient from viewpoint of battery capacity declaration, which
is given in [Ah] by battery producers, it is necessary to obtain current in [A], according to battery voltage.
Results for voltages of 24V, 36V and 48V are summarized in the Table 1.
Table 1. Estimated battery capacity required for 1 km road distance using only e-drive.
24 V 1 Ah/km
36 V 0.7 Ah/km
48 V 0.5 Ah/km
6. Conclusions
In this paper new modular friction drive for electric assisted bicycle was proposed. With comparison
with existing designs, proposal features noticeable compactness, leaving space for the usage of rear
bicycle rack. Introducing modular design, system is used without bicycle conversion, i.e. bicycle itself
remains unchanged and can be used anytime as originally built. Idea of modular friction drive is not to
replace, but rather to complement existing choice of e-bike layouts. General characteristic of friction
drives were analysed and conclusion was made that, despite some inherent drawbacks, this concept can
offer a number of advantages making further research and development of this niche approach
purposeful. Further research work that should lead to practical prototype realization possibility
comprises above all tensioning system development and defining ways the battery can be connected to
the system and attached to bike.
Acknowledgment
This research has been supported by the Faculty of technical sciences Novi Sad, Serbia - Department of
Mechanization and Design Engineering through project "Testing, design and expertise in the field of
mechanization in order to increase the quality of the teaching process and scientific research activities
of the Department of Mechanization and Design Engineering".
References
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