2018 Ethec e-bike to travel 400km on a full charge

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ethec e-bike manufacturer from Switzerland is currently working on a new electric bike that promises to go 400 km on a single charge. Headed by Dr Josef Mayr along with two team leaders, Dominic Schmid and Macro Job, the Ethec team comprises of 14 engineering students, 13 from mechanical and one from electrical department of ETH Zurich and two industrial design students from the Zurich University of the Arts.

Battery range is something that most of the electric automakers have struggled with in the past. While low-end electric vehicles offering a range of 120 km and 300 km being the norm for most of the other prevalent brands, the Ethec e-bike is supposedly to go beyond the conventional values to 400 km.

For achieving the feat, the manufacturer used 1,260 lithium-ion batteries that are placed in an orthodox fashion just like on a regular motorcycle. The battery range on the Ethec e-bike is maximised by its patent Battery Management System (BMS) that manipulates variables like temperature and battery charge.

The electric bike utilizes oil-cooling, fans and cooling fins to optimize the battery performance. The temperature and cell voltage are always under the scanner to keep things right and working as intended. The battery pack is rated at 15 kWh which produces a continuous power output of 30 PS and a peak output of 68  PS, which is incredible.

The Ethec bike gets a girder front fork and conventional twin shocks at the back. Braking is taken care of by the hydraulic brakes at either end. What’s interesting is that the Ethec e-bike is brought to halt by pure regenerative braking, which is also used to recharge the battery with the help of twin electric motors, before hydraulic brakes are applied.

A calculative brake force is applied to stop the bike via the sensor on the brake levers. This slows down the bike, thanks to regenerative braking. Hydraulic brakes are applied thereafter if required. The electric bike gets a 7-inch LCD display for essential readouts.