Valeo’s New Smart E-bike System

Valeo, a Paris-based battery-powered mobility vehicle group, who makes electric cars, delivery droids, autonomous shuttles and more, jumps into the e-bike space with an innovative e-bike powertrain. The motor and an automatic transmission are together as one single, mid-mounted drive unit. It’s a partnership with Effigear, who makes the automatic transmission already for traditional bicycles,

Because the gearing is internal, it’s belt-driven, meaning quieter and cleaner operation. The 48V motor is powerful, offering 130Nm of torque, making it ideal for cargo bikes. Valeo isn’t making bikes, they’re making the system for other manufacturers to use on their bikes.

The system is supposed to be very user-friendly, and has some interesting safety and anti-theft features, like a protected way of disabling the drive entirely at the display. There’s a “boost” function to help climb hills and pass other cyclists. There’s also a walk-assist mode. There’s even some regeneration and a reversing mode.

Valeo says this system will be available to bike manufacturers at a price similar to other e-bike systems. This system looks really interesting, we really look forward to trying it. Stay tuned, we’re setting up a podcast interview with someone from the company very soon.

According to McKinsey Center For Future Mobility in 2020, the electric bike market is booming, with a fifteen-fold expansion expected over the next 10 years.