Bosch eBike CEO: Investments in Europe will help stabilise supply
As a market-leading electric bike components supplier, Bosch can be viewed as the bellwether for the market. With that in mind, CI.N once again sits down with Bosch eBike Systems CEO Claus Fleischer for an update on all things eBike…
With the cycling marketplace on a tilt toward transport, Bosch rounded out a near complete portfolio of motor options for manufacturers with a late summer limited edition, magnesium-bodied motor aimed squarely at the competitive electric mountain bike space. It was, according to CEO of Bosch eBike Systems Claus Fleischer one of the final pieces of the puzzle to cover all bases on the dominant consumer facing side of its business.
“This is our super reactive, super sporty option that just gives raw performance out of the corners and over the obstacles. We have so many that just wish to enhance their training, improve their techniques and compete. The Performance CX line has been so successful, but the Performance Line CX Race Limited Edition delivers the best reactivity our engineers could manage, supporting the rider to 400% of the pedal input and increasing the ride dynamics.”
At 2.75 kilograms, the new drive unit is the lightest drive in the entire Bosch portfolio and comes with an 85Nm torque kick that offers apparently ‘explosive support’ at even over 120rpm; all of course within the legal frameworks that govern motors in Europe.
It is, of course, a fringe product but indicative of the broad church that electric biking has become over time. With professional electric bike racing now very much establishing itself, the marketplace has the same depth, arguably even more, than the pedal cycle market and a mass appeal to customers as yet unreached. For bike shops that’s great news.
Demand is of course one thing, but supply quite another and notoriously there have been stubborn gaps in the electric bike market that persists even as much of the rest of the marketplace has more than caught up. Uniquely placed in its size and thus industry demand, Bosch has been at the coal face of battling against other electronics giants to secure key component supply, not to mention being acutely aware of other raw material issues, new and potential conflicts and numerous other complications that have wreaked havoc on everything from price to delivery timetables.
Claus says of the current geo-political climate: “Unpredictable events have been so commonplace, we’ve had yet more Covid lockdowns in China and logistics issues where the ports have been affected. In an attempt to hedge against electronics shortages, we have tried to redesign our electronics to make it possible to use alternative components. This will continue into next year so our exposure is lowered. Most forecast a cooling of the economy into next year. This should reduce demand and we can therefore better improve the supply. When it comes to Taiwan, the situation is not so much about bicycle industry, but if a political conflict escalates. Of course, any trouble connecting with the semiconductor industry will bring an effect on bicycle industry. All this considered, we are now seeing investment into the USA and Europe in such components and as is generally the trend the bike industry will nearshore its production to get a better handle on supply.”
Clearly impressed by the progress in Portugal, where foreign and local investment has swelled to deliver a cluster of manufacturing firms in one locality, Claus suspects further joint ventures to establish in Europe ready for the what he perceives to be a promising longer-view outlook for the eBike market. The company has itself recently invested in Europe in a big way.
One way or another, the market will seek to get a hold on pricing in order to keep true the notion that cycling does well out of a downturn as a result of its low cost. That is of course a tricky task when the world’s markets are largely pointed to an inflationary recession, potentially a long one. So, given that electric bikes are inherently more expensive than pedal cycles, what’s Claus’s take on how his customers will face this challenge?
“I think we are now seeing two effects in play. Number one, in Europe past six to eight years there has existed a high willingness to pay more torque and watt hour energy. So, a willingness to pay for more range has been driven from consumer demand into the development stronger motors and bigger batteries. That’s increased every year. However, it looks like dealers and consumers have come to a natural limit, where within the framework of a 25km/h EPAC and the available installation space the metrics cannot go further. So, with that we have a natural limit and it now begins a reversal toward less weight and less cost, which will also means less Nm and Wh. We see this demand for lower price points developing fast now with clients,” he explains.
While price might be the consumer’s new priority, what’s the Bosch view on other important progress being made to deliver the long-term vision where eBikes take over the streets? In a word, safety.
On the technology front, that’s multipronged and began with the recent second-generation ABS system, as collaborated on with Magura. “Safety is at heart of what we do as it makes eBikers cycle more. Research seems to show that they’ll cycle up to three times more and for longer and technology makes these trips both easier and safer.”
That’s the hardware side, but being Bosch the thought train doesn’t stop there. Claus is optimistic about technologies that make all transportation intelligent and able to communicate, in particular innovations that see vehicles like cars finally recognise and adapt to pedestrians and cyclists. “Our solutions will be the change, we have been attending conferences to make sure we are part of this technological progress,” he says, adding “of course it’s important that we continue to care too about infrastructure that promotes safety.”
We’re told, while on the subject of innovations on the software side that by the time this issue is printed Bosch will have made an announcement on a new navigation technology.
With technological progress new doors open and so with such great focus suddenly on the fleet marketplace, we wonder when will Bosch really step up its B2B offerings?
Claus says it’s coming: “We launched during Eurobike bike the Connect module alarm function and GPS for fleet operators. Mainly we have focused on consumer market and private personal use and not so much on professional and commercial. We will expand our B2B offerings in future with connectivity solutions developing, there are notably more requests from the industry for Bosch to be involved.”
Still very much in a state of constant evolution, the product and the limits of design are being challenged frequently and ever-more from those from outside of the bike world. It’s not always entirely welcome when the limits of legislation are tested, so we ask the Bosch eBike Systems CEO’s take on recent clampdowns on those sending to market product that sits outside of standard electric bike regulation. As was the case last time we interviewed the Bosch eBike Systems boss, his viewpoint has remained robust; protect the status of an eBike as a bicycle at all costs.
“It is very important that EU commission and UK all have the same common understanding that EPACs will cut off of 25kmh and remain categorised as a bicycle. This is super important because the bicycle as means of transportation gives so much freedom to operate and expands a person’s horizons of where they can ride and even out in nature it’s expansive for people. This freedom is so important and it brings high acceptance for cycling. We must not in any way reduce the consumer fascination and perception of an eBike, so we clearly draw this line in the sand to preserve the market. Anything above and beyond goes for type approval, but this is a separate discussion.”
Where they may be some willingness in discussion is around the weight limits on cargo bikes, where at present 250kg is a ceiling. For loads up to this marker Claus says that use of bicycle components works just fine, but where those boundaries are being tested (and they frequently are) heavier duty components are required, along with a more built-up chassis. Here is where new type approval discussions may be useful, says Claus.
The other big conversation that the bike industry is increasingly engaged with is sustainability and the electric bike’s role in challenging for a share of reduced car trips, whether using a combustion engine or the supposedly clean electric car. Claus is keen to put into context the environmental differences.
“If we compare the CO2 footprint of a bike, eBike and car of any engine type, then the CO2 lifecycle of the bicycle and eBike are at least close together. The combustion engine and battery electric car are by a factor of 100 to 200 worse for the planet. The difference between a bike and eBike is comparably so small. Generally speaking, if you use an eBike for 450km instead of the car you have compensated for the CO2 emissions of the eBike battery’s production,” says Claus.
In recent years the batteries put to use in electric bike products have steadily reduced down the levels of precious materials, with cobalt usage down 65% over the years when comparing earlier batteries to the products Bosch now offers.
He concludes: “We try to reduce the weight of bikes, but also in doing so the material usage. As a company we now look very much at whole lifespan of components, from raw material, through shipment, usage and then end of life. Aside to this, we have a specific programme for efficient and low-waste logistics, which is constantly reducing plastics and creating more eco-friendly packaging. We have a project team set up working directly with our engineers that design sustainability in to product before, not after launch. That’s a process that’s continual and changing the way the entire industry produces products.”
