Niche Mobility launches revolutionary eBike system

Niche Mobility, a Girona, based start-up, has introduced regenerative breaking as part of a radical new eBike system called Automatic Digital Transmission System (ADTC).

Co-founded in 2021 by auto and motorcycle industry veteran Marc Barceló, Niche Mobility offers mobility solutions for electric bicycles, and, with the introduced the ADTC system (Automatic Digital Transmission System), aims to deliver a product which transforms electric bicycle rides.

ADTC offers an automatic transmission for eBikes, giving riders greater autonomy, and more power, increasing engine torque, saving weight, regenerative braking and an anti-theft system. All these features offer a ‘cycling as transport’ based user group more safety, comfort and pleasure when riding an eBike, as well as a much lower maintenance cost.

The Niche Mobility team

Marc Barceló, the CEO of Niche Mobility, was the founder of the electric motorcycle brand Volta Motorbikes. At Niche Mobility he has been joined by Francesc Queralt, CBO of Niche and co-founder of the digital platforms Social Energy and Social Car. The partnership is completed with Enric Delgado, former CTO of Volta Motorbikes, as COO; and Lluís Olivet, founder of OTC Engineering, as advisor. In short, Niche Mobility has built an experienced team of serial entrepreneurs with a clear vocation for sustainability.

In-House expertise creates a unique eBike product

The solution designed, developed and patented in-house by the Niche Mobility team, becomes the first drive system for electric bicycles with regenerative braking and virtual gearbox. The product, totally compact and adaptable to eBikes of all kinds, has its own motor, battery, display and charger.

Regenerative braking for eBikes

• Niche Mobility has developed the first eBike assisted motor capable of recovering energy during braking and deceleration phases.
• Furthermore, the amount of regenerative braking would be modified via the App (or the dashboard menu), by choosing different driving modes, which also modifies the assistance, and the gearshift profile.

Automatic shifting at an accessible price point

Regarding the shifting system, some other mechanical electronically system are available at the market for products at high prices. What Niche intends is to make the automatic transmissions affordable to the mass-market mid-priced eBikes.

How does this work?

All this achievement could be fulfilled thanks to digital transmission configuration. Input power (thought pedal crank arms) is mechanically independent from output. Input power coming from cyclist is directed to the generator, which charges the battery. Depending on many factors like speed, input torque, slope and other, the generator can vary the resistance having a completely real pedalling feel. On the other side, the traction motor is linked to the rear wheel. The gear ratio between input and output could be infinitively, continuously and seamlessly adapted to set the perfect point in any situation. In addition, the amount of assistance can be smoothly regulated. Furthermore, this traction motor could be switch to a generator when needed (activating the regenerative braking when down hilling or hard braking).

Everything is done digitally.

In terms of anti-theft safety, as the pedal crank arm and the chain sprocket are not mechanically linked, the bicycle won’t move by pedalling unless the user activates the system with the App on his mobile phone or via a password on the dashboard.

A market ripe for disruption

As digital cameras disrupted on the 90’s, because have clear advantages in some points regarding analog cameras, the same will happen with digital transmissions in e-bikes, with clear advantages in some markets.

Introducing ADTS to the marketplace

This system will be sold only to OEM (bike manufacturers), and will save them from installing a conventional mechanical and/or manual shifting system on their bike, with the benefit of saving costs and weights, and also having better features (regen brake, digital automatic transmission and even reverse gear if needed)

Purely speaking about performance, with a power of 250W, it could deliver a torque up to 120Nm, allowing it to be deployed on any type of eBike. At the beginning, the company will focus on urban mobility and cargo bikes, as it is the segment where its advantages can be much more appreciated.

ADTS works with a 450Wh or 650Wh battery and, as for its maximum assistance speed, it is adjustable according to legislation (i.e. 25km/h in EU version). Also 450W and 45kmh version will be available on a second step, and the option to upgrade it with a throttle.

Fundraising

 

Marc points out that first round fundraising is already on the go, with a crowd-equity campaign.

Niche Mobility decided to rely on equity crowdfunding for further development of its ADTS, through Crowdcube platform, and raise 300.000€ to boost development and homologation of its first units.

Within the European Next Generation funds, the project has been already granted €238K by the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving of the Spanish Government, after being identified as one of the most relevant initiatives in the contribution of technological solutions to green mobility market.

Exponential growth

Niche Mobility projections are to manufacture 500 units for Europe during 2024, before increasing its production capacity to around 50,000 units in 2027. Likewise, Niche Mobility forecasts locate a positive EBITDA for 2025.

Niche Mobility’s solution covers all segments of e-bike market, from private users, bike sharing, to last-mile delivery bikes. In this sense, the start-up team anticipates that its market in the European Union, aimed at e-bike manufacturers, will grow 13.5% annually, reaching 13.5 million electric bicycles in 2030.

Specifically, Niche will focus its product on electric urban and cargo bicycles (mostly used in last-mile delivery), providing a more robust, low-maintenance solution and offering much more comfortable rides to urban and professional cyclists.