These ‘digital drive’ bikes replace a bicycle chain with software
Ever heard of a “digital drive” bike? It might seem like a strange concept, but several companies are developing commercial offerings that use electronics instead of a bike chain to power a bicycle’s rear wheel.
A digital drive is essentially a form of series hybrid electric bike, unlike a conventional e-bike that is more of a parallel hybrid. On many conventional e-bikes, the rider can either power the bike completely manually with the pedals or completely electronically with the throttle. But in a series hybrid e-bike, which is another term for digital drive, the rider powers the pedals manually that then feed directly into a generator to power the motor in the rear wheel electronically, no chain needed.
The chainring (the big gear by the pedals) is replaced by a generator, and the chain is replaced by software that helps mimic the feeling of a bicycle chain by providing similar resistance.
But without any mechanical power delivery, there’s no chain to rust or gears to adjust. That removes nearly all maintenance associated with a bike’s drivetrain, leaving just the tires and brake pads as the only regular maintenance items.
It also provides a simple form of automatic shifting, though in practice it would be more like an infinitely variable gear range. Software control regulates the pedal resistance, meaning that any gear ratio could be achieved from the same pedal cadence. Riders could even program in their optimal customized pedal cadence based on their own comfort. The problem of getting bogged down on an uphill climb or running out of gears on a downhill would cease to exist.
Gearbox/motor drivetrains exist, but they’re pricey and complex. A digital drive setup like this would be a simpler way to achieve a similar effect.
Digital drivetrains typically still use an e-bike battery as a buffer, allowing for some stored energy to compensate for lower rider input, or storing extra energy when the rider is pedaling hard enough to generate more power than is needed for propulsion. But a lighter and more powerful super-capacitor could also be used in lieu of a battery, shaving many pounds off the weight of a typical e-bike battery.
Companies like Schaeffler have shown off ride-by-wire electric bike drivetrains that use this type of series hybrid approach, though with conventional electric bike batteries.
The Danish company Bike2 is another drive maker that has spent years developing its own digital drive setup, though the technology was taken over this year by the Dutch company Alligt.
Electrek’s Take
The idea of digital drive for e-bikes in interesting and not without several advantages, but it also adds in some unnecessary complication, in my opinion.
For a simple commuter bike, I can understand the argument that the added complexity isn’t worth it. However, I can also see cases where digital drive could be a major advantage.
For cargo bikes, especially larger cargo bikes that have long chain runs, digital drive can clean up the drivetrain and allow designers more freedom in the bike’s geometry. Think of those e-bikes with giant cargo boxes on the rear. There’s usually a long tunnel down the middle at the bottom of the box to allow for the chain to pass through, or the box has to start up much higher. But the lack of a chain could mean the box is mounted much lower, resulting in more cargo space and a lower center of gravity, improving the stability of the bike.
In talking about it with Electrek’s publisher Seth Weintraub, he pointed out that recumbent bikes could also stand to benefit. Many have incredibly long chain runs with long plastic tubes for routing chains around the frame. Digital drive would simplify those complex drivetrains while allowing for an even more stretched geometry.
So while the technology might be a bit overhyped, there appear to be real uses cases that could stand to benefit from digital drive.
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After years of waiting and many false starts, Formula E is finally going to debut its mid-race charging system, which will give cars a quick boost of energy charging at a rate much faster than current road cars can.
For years now, we’ve been hearing about FIA plans to introduce charging stops to electric racing.
In gas car racing, some series allow mid-race fueling and some don’t. The World Endurance Championship, which runs the 24 Hours of Le Mans, obviously needs to fill up several times during the race. But Formula 1, which hosts shorter races, eliminated mid-race fueling in 2010.
Plans to bring mid-race charging to Formula E started in 2021, when the FIA started kicking around plans for an Electric GT racing series with 700kW charging.
But the FIA already had one electric racing series, Formula E, which had debuted in 2014. At the time, each driver had two cars, and would swap mid-race to a fresh car with new batteries.
Battery-swapping had been considered, but it would be too complicated to set up at temporary race facilities in city downtown areas, as many Formula E tracks are.
Then, in 2018, Formula E debuted a new “Gen 2” car which had a big enough battery not to need a charge mid-race, and later a “Gen 3” car in 2022, which had much stronger regenerative braking, capable of 600kW of braking power. Gen 3 also has an “Attack Mode” feature that lets cars unlock additional power for a short period each race, adding to strategy and mixing up the race order.
That 600kW charging ability could also be used for mid-race charging, so Formula E said that it was working on a system to allow for this. It announced that mid-race charging would come at some point in the 2023 season, but then pushed back those plans until 2024, and pushed them back again, this time with an uncertain date.
The issues involved building the charging system in temporary facilities and ensuring safety of the system (and of pit stops in general, which is always a concern when cars are driving rapidly near people). But after winter testing prior to this season, Formula E now says the system is ready to go.
So, once again, Formula E is ready to announce that mid-race charging is definitely, totally, positively, 100% certain at the upcoming Jeddah E-Prix, on February 14-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Formula E thinks that proving this high-power charging technology could help road cars to charge more quickly, which could have myriad benefits for electric cars in general.
The series is calling the system “Pit Boost,” and it will consist of a 34-second pit stop that provides around 10% additional charge to the cars (about 4kWh). While 10% isn’t a lot, 34 seconds is also not a lot of time. For comparison, one of the fastest-charging cars out there, the Ioniq 5, can charge from 10-80% in 18 minutes, which means 10% charge takes 2.5 minutes – five times as long as Formula E cars will manage the feat.
The stop will be mandatory for all drivers to take at some point in the race, and will mean new strategy options for drivers. Taking the stop means getting more energy, which means that your car won’t have to do as much energy saving to get to the end of the race – but it also means giving up your position on track, which can be hard to get back if you do it late in the race.
However, we’ve never seen it happen before, so it will be interesting to see what kind of strategic options develop.
If you’re interested in seeing how it turns out, tune in to the Jeddah E-Prix on February 14-15 to see what happens. It’s a doubleheader race weekend, with night races both on Saturday and Sunday, February 14-15, at 5pm UTC, 9am PST, 12pm EST, and 8pm local time. You can check out how to watch the race in your area by going to Formula E’s “Ways to Watch” section. In the US, Roku should be the most reliable way to watch.
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JackRabbit, the maker of pint-sized electric microbikes, is back with a new product designed to quickly recharge their batteries from pure, uncut photons mainlined into an e-bike directly from the sun. In true independent charging form, the Solar Charging Kit from JackRabbit keeps riders rolling even when there’s not a convenient AC outlet in sight.
Unveiled this week, the Solar Charging Kit consists of a single folding solar panel and a tiny voltage converter that is configured to output 42.0V, which is the exact voltage required by JackRabbit’s little e-bike batteries. There’s also an added USB-A and a USB-C charging port for powering other devices in addition to charging JackRabbit batteries.
“This Solar Charging Kit plugs directly into your bike,” explained the company, “letting you recharge without needing an outlet, but with a speed comparable to the charger that comes with the OG/OG2 (42V, 2A).”
That would mean the panel outputs around 80W of solar power, which the company says can recharge its batteries in just three hours. That fairly quick recharging speed is helped by the fact that JackRabbit’s batteries are a mere 151 Wh, or around a third of the size of most e-bike batteries.
If that sounds small, then you’re right – it is. But JackRabbit is all about going micro, offering barely 25 lb rideables that are easy to store and bring on adventures, even when they aren’t actually being ridden.
With small batteries that fit under the 160Wh limit for many airlines in the US, the batteries can be quickly charged and taken to the widest number of locations. And for riders that want to go further than a single 10-mile (16-km) battery will allow, extra batteries are small enough to fit a pants pocket. The company also offers much larger Rangebuster batteries, though they won’t pass by TSA and make it onto an airplane in your personal item.
It sounds like the Solar Chargking Kit should be able to charge up JackRabbit’s large RangeBuster batteries, though likely in more than three hours.
The $349 Solar Charging Kit is a bit pricier than building something similar yourself, but it’s also safer and more convenient than hacking together your own battery charger since it’s designed to work with JackRabbit’s batteries right out of the box.
Technically it’s only inteded for JackRabbit’s micro e-bikes (themselves technically seated scooters, even if they look and feel more like a typical bike), but it’d probably work for just about any 36V e-bike that requires 42.0V to charge.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen solar charging kits for electric bikes, and it’s a trend that is certainly appreciated by outdoors and camping enthusiasts, festival goers, or anyone who finds themself and their bike spending extended periods in the great, sunny outdoors.
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