Freegen - taking ebikes to the next level in efficiency, value and convenience

[bonzobanana]

https://ebikes.ca/blog/post/freegen-explained-video-premiere-tuesday-at-12pm-pst.html

An amazing new technology that allows both freewheeling and regen braking with very robust simple engineering by mounting the disc rotor on the planet gear carrier. Perhaps 5 years from now this will be the norm for mid-price to high end geared hub motors. While Grin are bringing this to market I feel the Israel duo behind the technology will likely extend the licensing later.

Regen allows from 5-15% of battery capacity to be recovered but its main benefit is massively reduced wear rates on the brake pads.

The technology is exclusive to bikes with disc brakes but compatible with both mechanical and hydraulic disc brakes. The beauty of the design is the harder you brake the greater the regen unless I have mis-understood it somehow.

Currently in the world market geared hub motors dominate sales by a huge amount dwarfing sales of mid-drive and direct drive hub motors. Direct drive hub motors are hugely popular for larger 2 wheel vehicles like e-motorcycles and e-mopeds but only a small percentage of ebike sales. I feel this makes an even stronger case for geared hub motors to dominate commercially. Hopefully we will move away more from overly complex mid-drive solutions with a high failure rate, short life proprietary technology and accelerated drivetrain wear. An ideal solution for road, gravel and comfort bikes but still an inferior option for e-mountian bikes where mid-drive make more sense due to higher torque and a more balanced bike plus easier wheel removal.

 

[Slick]

Does it aye.

 

[Drago]

Mid drive higher torque? I think people have a fundamental misunderstanding of physics when they trot that out.

 

[Dadam]

Mid drive higher torque? I think people have a fundamental misunderstanding of physics when they trot that out.

I think he's referring to the higher torque motors like the Bosch commonly fitted to eMTBs, not that mid drives necessarily have higher torque.

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I was about 15 and doing O level physics I came up with a great idea. It was a flywheel mounted on my back rack. When going downhill I would engage a brake - a bit like a bottle dynamo - to spin up the flywheel. Then when I was on the flat or going uphill I could re-engage this and it would drive my back wheel. The main - in fact the only - drawback was that my rack was a bit wobbly, so I'd need a better rack. Apart from that it was perfect. I was amazed that no one had done it yet. I resolved that when I grew up I would patent it and make a mint. But for some reason I never got around to it.

 

[Dadam]

Like this?

View: https://youtu.be/gahKxbwUcYw?si=EVHUg_0cO7Dj73mp

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Reads like an advert

 

[OldShep]

As someone who can get 10 years out of a set of brake blocks ( why brake? ) I don't see me producing much regenerative energy. 😀

 

[bonzobanana]

Mid drive higher torque? I think people have a fundamental misunderstanding of physics when they trot that out.

Its a bit of a generalisation for sure but I would say on average mid-drive delivers more torque but also the most popular type of mid-drive ebikes out there are e-mountain bikes which typically have high torque. However there are many hub motor ebikes that deliver similar torque. Fat e-bikes with extra wide hubs can typically deliver more torque as there is a more space for magnets and a more powerful motor. However I've seen many gutless mid-drive motor ebikes that deliver very little torque as have weak mid-drive motors combined with high gearing so deliver low torque. However I still say as a generalisation mid-drive overall delivers more torque. I can't see the point of it existing if it didn't to be honest.

 

[bonzobanana]

As someone who can get 10 years out of a set of brake blocks ( why brake? ) I don't see me producing much regenerative energy. 😀

How does that work, do you just like colliding with other vehicles rather than applying the brakes?

 

[OldShep]

How does that work, do you just like colliding with other vehicles rather than applying the brakes?

Probably helped by cycling in rural areas with little traffic, very few T junctions I need to stop at and a Love of going fast downhill. I also use anticipation, sitting upright at tImes and I do have sticky out ears.
My favourite regular ride is 25 mls with 1200ft ascent, descent there is only one point on that ride you might have to brake and it’s a T onto a main road. If I have to brake there one in four rides that’s a touch of the brakes every hundred miles. Reality is more like one in eight times i need to brake.
Living and riding in built up urban areas, traffic lights on red and your experience might be different.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Reads like an advert

I was gonna spam the opening post, then I realized it was posted by a long standing CC member, not a spammer

 

[mjr]

As someone who can get 10 years out of a set of brake blocks ( why brake? ) I don't see me producing much regenerative energy. 😀

I used to do stuff like that in the fens, then I moved to the Mendips and quickly discovered I needed new brake pads! 😱

 

[bonzobanana]

I was gonna spam the opening post, then I realized it was posted by a long standing CC member, not a spammer

Perhaps I was a bit too enthusiastic with my description but I am very enthusiastic about the technology it seems a fantastic evolution of geared hub motors and a bit of a game changer however my enthusiasm is nothing compared to the main bloke at Grin technology who is absolutely raving about freegen and sees it as a huge step forward for the whole ebike industry.