Bicycles

Höganäs unveils lightweight electric bicycle motor

Höganäs unveils lightweight electric bicycle motor
The new lightweight environmentally-friendlier electric motor from Hoganas, suited to bikes and other small vehicles
The new lightweight environmentally-friendlier electric motor from Hoganas, suited to bikes and other small vehicles
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The new lightweight environmentally-friendlier electric motor from Hoganas, suited to bikes and other small vehicles
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The new lightweight environmentally-friendlier electric motor from Hoganas, suited to bikes and other small vehicles
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A new electric motor designed for use with electric bicycles, scooters and other lightweight vehicles has been launched by Swedish company, Höganäs. The motor takes advantage of "metal powder technology", resulting in high performance but with reduced size, with a range of up to 75km between charges. The motor has been shown during the World Expo in the heart in Shanghai, China, one of the world’s stronghold for electric bicycle manufacture and deployment due to its cost efficiency, flexible and environmentally-friendly means of transportation.

Metal powder technology involves reducing the metal to tiny, individual particles, heating and injection-molding them into the desired shape. The results can be stronger than other manufacturing methods.

“We chose the bicycle motor as a first application when introducing our new motor concept. The bicycle motor is very challenging, in terms of performance as well as cost, but we are confident that we have a unique product. It is lighter than other electric motors and in the e-bike it has a good range, up to 75km, thanks to high efficiency”, Höganäs Group CEO Alrik Danielson said. Höganäs says it is the leading manufacturer of metal powder, extending the technology to new applications.

“The e-bike motor is a good example of the Power of Powder. It is a highly efficient and very compact motor for direct drive applications. By combining high power per mass with a modular design, the motor is suitable for a wide range of applications in addition to electric bikes, such as scooters, other light electric vehicles, pumps, fans and generators”, said Danielson.

Environmentally desirable

The stator is based on metal powder manufactured from metal scrap, and the motor design can be easily recycled, it also uses less rare earth magnets and copper-wire than comparable conventional electric motors according to Höganäs.

The new motors go on sale this fall, starting with models for the bicycle industry. “With this bike motor, we want to show that we have the technology to support innovative electric motor applications development,” said Danielson.

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4 comments
4 comments
Anumakonda Jagadeesh
Very Intelligent Invention.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
chinaeu
very nice design. it shoule be good for the electric folding bike. please visit our electric folding bike side for reference: folding-electric-bike.electric-bicycle.de
Bob Anderson
This may be a good motor, but where are the real specs? The range delivered by an electric vehicle is primarily a product of battery capacity. MANY bicycle hub motors exist, and while they have differing weights and wattage capacities, the difference in efficiency from one to the next is usually not a big factor. Sure, cost vs. effectiveness is a prime factor in acceptance, but the major cost is still providing enough battery capacity to \'go the distance\'.
tkj
I agree with Bob Anderson .. a 75km (62mi) range is more than double the range of a typical 10Ahr battery/bike and this increase in range can not be explained merely by the fact that the stator (the outer \'shell\' that holds the magnets) weighs a bit less. (Any brand\'s \'EV range\' statements must be taken with many grains of salt.. there are no uniform standards in its measurement.
It will take any factory a *long* time to recoup the costs of replacing existing stator manufacturing equipment with \'powder\' technology, mainly cuz its not expensive now to make a stator .. and the market is not yet large.
The fact that the wires can be smaller is really suggesting that the power is less in their \'prototype\' model, and this is confirmed by their revealing that fewer magnets are used. The rotor shaft could never be made by powder metallurgy: torques can be enormous , all endured by the small diameter rotor.
It would seem they\'ve merely designed a motor for bikes that is cheaper to make and that could theoretically sell for less , with some small (very small!?) range increase. Advertising such a high range between charges, tho, does not suggest the motor\'s gonna sell for less!!! It will cost more.
Bottom line: This device will have a minimal effect on the EV bike market. The \'ebike hackers\' wont use it cuz they want lots more power; the public won\'t buy it cuz its more money for less power.