Electric Bike Drive Systems

The top 5 companies that make technology for electric bikes are Bosch, Brose, Shimano, Yahama, and Bafang.

Electric Bike Motor

Ebike motors consist of an electric motor, gear box, motor controller, torque sensor, cadence sensor, and/or speed sensor...all housed in a compact enclosure. Electric bike motors range from 250W to 1,000W and above, with the majority of ebike motors being 250W or 350W. Electric bike motors can be mid-drive units (mounted at the pedal crankset), rear hub (mounted on the rear wheel), or front hub (mounted on the front wheel). Most ebike motors are either mid-drive or rear hub units.

Bosch Motors (all mid-drive)

Bosch Line	Power	Torque	Speed	Note
Performance Line CX	250 W	75 Nm	20 mph	e-MTB
Performance Line Speed	250 W	75 Nm	28 mph	road
Performance Line Cruise	250 W	65 Nm	20 mph	cruise
Cargo Line Speed	250 W	75 Nm	28 mph	cargo (551 lb)
Cargo Line Cruise	250 W	75 Nm	20 mph	cargo (551 lb)
Active Line Plus	250 W	50 Nm	20 mph	city
Active Line	250 W	40 Nm	20 mph	city

Bosch ebike motor

Electric Bike Batteries (Ah)

Ebike batteries consist of the battery, battery management system (BMS) and associated charger. Electric bike batteries are available at 36V, 48V, 52V, and 72V, with the majority of batteries being 36V or 48V, matched to the motor. Electric bike batteries are either frame mounted (internally or externally) or rear-rack mounted (a few are fronted-mounted in a bag too). Internally-mounted batteries are usually located inside the down tube and are not visible, presented an integrated look. Externally mounted frame batteries are usually located on the down tube, but a few vendors also use a triangle enclosure that is mounted between the frame members.

Bosch Powertube battery (internal mount)

Electric Bike Displays

All the major ebike technology vendors offer a handle-bar mounted console/display unit, which is a small computer that provides bike telemetry, ride modes, range calculation, speed, and other pertinent data. Many offer bluetook capability that allows you to sync with your smartphone.

Electric Bike Apps

There a few ebike apps available for your smartphone., with the big ones being the Bosch COBI.bike app, Shimano E-TUBE app, ESB.bike app, and the MAHLE app from Ebikemotion. These are all cloud-based and allow you send bike data to the cloud, and receive data from other e-bikes.