Taiwan's ITRI Develops Super-Slim Rim Motor for E-bikes

Featuring substantial weight and thickness reductions, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan recently announced its successful development of a super-slim rim motor that can be used on ordinary and folding electric bicycles.

Lighter by 50% and 30% thinner, ITRI said that the newly developed rim motor is highly regarded by many bicycle makers in Taiwan.

Dr. Wu Tung-chuan, ITRI's vice president and general director of Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories (MSL) under ITRI, pointed out that the new rim motor is expected to be easily installed on most bikes, turning them into e-bicycles and helping local e-bike makers shorten product development period. Also consumers would have more options with the rim motor.

James Wang, deputy director general of MSL, said that the rim motor model adopts the innovative axial flux motor technique, making it owns a thinness of only one inch and weighs only two kg, but generating a two- to three-folds torque that generated by the same unit weight of traditional counterparts.

Wang added that ITRI is applying the patents for the rim motor, which can easily be installed on the side of front or rear wheel of a traditional bicycle, achieving the goals of simplifying e-bike production processes and adding new values to bike products.

Many local bicycle makers have expressed high interests in the innovative rim motor. Pacific Cycle Inc., a major maker of high-end folding bikes, said that it would more vigorously tap into the e-bike sector in the future. Pacific Cycle has cooperated with ITRI in adopting the super-slim motor on some of the company's models for exploring possible business opportunities.