The Freedom of Design – Revonte ONE for E-Bike Manufacturers

Jukka Mäennenä on 2022-06-03

Highly positive is an understatement when describing the reception of the Revonte ONE Drive System by the current market. The automatic & stepless transmission, and highly capable drive unit create a ride experience that needs to be felt first-hand. Another, but till now barely discussed, strongpoint of the Revonte ONE is the freedom of frame design for bike manufacturers and OEM’s. 

And that’s the topic of this article.

One Hardware for Every E-Bike

Versatility was one of the design goals when setting out designing the Revonte ONE. In practical and very brief terms this means that one hardware – meaning the Revonte ONE Drive Unit – can be used in all types of e-bikes ranging from lightweight commuters to heavy-duty cargo e-bikes. This is achieved with ingenious mechanical design found inside the drive unit, as well as the high level of configurability our software provides. 

For product designers, this is very welcomed news since one type of motor interface can be used throughout the lineup. Product managers are another happy group of people since only one drive unit type needs to be ordered and kept in stock to cater for the needs of the whole e-bike portfolio. The same goes for the other components in the drive system such as the battery, and the handlebar controller.

Mounting the Motor

The Revonte ONE Drive Unit employs a dedicated motor mount. When it comes to performance metrics, the drive unit is highly capable, to the extent that it can meet the demands of professional heavy-duty cargo e-bike use. The motor mount was designed accordingly to withstand the loads and stresses caused by the respectable output that the drive unit can give out. 

The motor mount is an open mold design, and the dimensions and all the relevant information is shared freely with our partners. If you are an e-bike manufacturer interested in using the most advanced e-bike drive system around, get in touch at [email protected] 

The theme of versatility, and configurability continues in motor placement. Unlike some other models in the market, the Revonte ONE Drive Unit can be placed in any orientation desired! Want to have the motor tilted to 30° or even 75°? Not an issue. This particular design freedom might be of a high value in cargo e-bikes in which the frame designs are all but set, and the development is ongoing. In addition to this e-bike category, the freedom of design enables innovative, and even futuristic designs such as the P2 by our partner Lavelle bikes. 

Plenty of Battery Life

An e-bike drive system would not be complete without a proper battery – that’s where the Revonte AKKU comes into play! We collaborated with Akkuvision GmbH, to create a top of the line battery using the latest Li-Ion technology to offer a complete, and ready-to-implement, e-bike drive system solution. 

Revonte AKKU is not just some e-bike battery. Offered in 540Wh, and 720Wh capacities with identical form factors, it meets the demands and price points in nearly all cases imaginable. In addition, not only two, or three, but four(!) batteries can be connected in parallel, thus giving an unheard of battery capacity of 2.8kWh!

Easy to Design, Easy to Use

The Revonte ONE Drive System provides an unparalleled ride experience. Easy-to-use, fun, and engaging – just pedal and the carefully honed assistance software will take care of the rest. The ease of use and the amount of “boost” available from the drive unit caters for riders of all ages and abilities. The Revonte ONE Drive System will change how e-bikes are used and thought of.

The same design ethos reaches all the way to the design table of our partners. At every step, we’ve made sure that integrating our drive system into any type of e-bike is not only possible but as simple as it can be. Configuring the ride profiles will provide the finishing touches. 

What Makes a Good E-bike Drive System – And How We’ve Met the Demanding List of Criteria

Jukka Mäennenä on 2021-08-06

Even though the e-bike industry can be considered quite young, a considerable amount of maturation has taken place in just a couple of years. Gone are the days when a bike manufacturer can bolt a motor around the bottom bracket, place a battery on top of the pannier rack and call it an e-bike.  Besides more polished looks the assistance behaviour has improved by leaps and bounds – and the Revonte ONE Drive System is going to take it to the next level. 

Read further to learn more.

Ride Experience

When it comes to evaluating drive system performance, assistance behaviour rules the game. No matter how nice looking, light or easy to use the system is, it does not matter if the ride experience resembles that of a cheap scooter that gas water mixed in the gas tank. 

We’ve taken great care in developing the assistance behaviour of the Revonte ONE Drive System to the extent that it feels as if the bike is thinking already one step ahead. How is this accomplished you might ask? By refining the software with the aid of continuous and prolonged testing and by using high-quality sensors to detect even the smallest actions performed by the rider. 

A close second to the assistance behaviour is the ease of use. Conveniently the Revonte ONE Drive System scores the very top on this department, thanks to its automatic & stepless transmission. Just pedal – the bike will take care of the rest! 

Configurability – on more than one level 

It is already commonplace that a drive system has some level of inbuilt configurability by offering the choice between different assistance modes and possibly even more detailed settings. With the Revonte ONE Drive System, we’ve taken the configurability aspect to the next level. 

First, the bike manufacturer can configure the drive system according to their needs, whether it’s a commuter bike or a heavy-duty cargo e-bike. After the initial specs the end-user – meaning the rider – can configure the drive system according to their wishes or needs via our dedicated app. 

Inbuilt Modularity

What makes the Revonte ONE Drive System truly unique is that a single drive unit can be used in all types of bikes from a high-performance e-mtb to a commuter designed year-round daily use. From a bike manufacturer’s perspective, this is a very welcomed feature since it lessens the needed design considerations, product variants and stock overhead. 

And that’s not all. The Revonte AKKU is the smartest e-bike battery out there for a good reason. Both AKKU 5 and AKKU 7 share the same form factor, i.e., they have the same physical dimensions, hence making them interchangeable. This enables the bike manufacturer, or the rider, to spec his or her bike with just the right amount of energy storage capacity. 

The various inbuilt modular features make the Revonte ONE Drive System the ultimate choice both from bike manufacturers, but also from rider’s perspective.

Reliability

When it comes to power transmission, the century-old chain is still looking for a worthy rival. With the Revonte ONE Drive System, one can use a wide single-speed chain which is the most robust and durable type there is. Add to that the fact that the ingenious design of the Revonte ONE Drive Unit makes damage-prone derailleur obsolete, the reliability factor gets multiplied. 

As a nice bonus replacing the whole drivetrain costs only a fraction of that compared to a set consisting of a complex cassette, multi-speed chain and compatible chainring. 

Up to Date

Nobody likes to ride an old bike, especially if a newer or better model is available. There is no way to stop the ongoing technological development – which is only a good thing – but we’ve done everything in our power to keep Revonte ONE Drive System up to date and performing at its best for as long as possible.

How can this be done once the bike has left the factory floor then? By software updates which can be made swiftly and effortlessly, thanks to the inbuilt 4G connection which is a default feature in the Revonte ONE Drive System. 

In Closing

An e-bike drive system has to tick a lot of boxes to be a top performer in all areas. Revonte ONE Drive System does this with flying colours and goes even beyond that. The automatic & stepless transmission and the simple construction of the drivetrain itself take the e-bike ride experience and ease of use to an unprecedented level.

The one and truly smart drive system out there – Revonte ONE.

AKKU – The most Versatile E-bike Battery In the Game

Jukka Mäennenä on 2021-02-26

From the start, the Revonte ONE Drive System was planned to be a complete system that offers a one-stop solution for e-bike manufacturers. An essential part of this is the energy storage system, i.e. the battery. The Revonte AKKU complements the Revonte ONE Drive System exceptionally well, thus making the drive system complete.

Read further what makes the AKKU the most advanced e-bike battery in the market. 

Configurable by Nature

A high degree of configurability runs deep in the core of the Revonte ONE Drive System. Consequently, we wanted to keep this overarching principle in mind when designing our battery. It would make little sense to design the most configurable and advanced e-bike drive system on the market only to later limit its capabilities by an additional component.

Needless to say, we are very pleased with the final product and the Revonte  AKKU crossed all the boxes it was intended to, and even more. In the following, we cover the main features found in Revonte AKKU and why it’s the most advanced e-bike battery in the market.

Two models

From the start, it was decided that two models will be offered in order to fulfil match every use case and price point found in the market. 

Looking for a more affordable bike and long-range isn’t on top of your priorities? Then a battery with a smaller capacity will serve its purpose more than well and it makes little sense to pay extra for the energy storage capacity which isn’t needed.

On the other hand, if long-range and ample battery capacity is of the essence, then it’s best to choose a model with the biggest battery possible, and this is where the Revonte AKKU truly shines with its Smart Linkin Feature which is covered later. 

The two models are named according to their capacities. The AKKU 5 has a capacity of 530Wh, whereas the AKKU 7 boasts a capacity of 705Wh. Both models use the latest 21700 Li-ion cell technology which ensures long battery life, and excellent properties when it comes to charging and high discharge currents. The latter is vital for high power peaks and high-torque situations of which the Revonte ONE Drive Unit is capable of. 

Interchangeable Sizing

Lot’s of functions and configurations with a minimal amount of product variants. This is the ethos of the Revonte ONE Drive System and the fact that the ONE Drive Unit can be fitted to any type of e-bike, whether it’s high performing e-mtb, commuter bike or cargo e-bike, is a testament to that. All the finer tuning and configurations are done solely by software.

Both AKKU 5 and AKKU 7 share the same physical dimensions to keep the possible product and design variants at a minimum. This is especially beneficial from a bike manufacturers point of view since there’s no need to modify the battery compartment and interface of the frame depending on which AKKU model is used.

Besides this, the end-user has the freedom to upgrade to the larger AKKU 7 model later on, if more range or just longer timespans between recharging are to be desired.  

Smart Linking Feature

Last, but definitely not least is the Smart Linking Feature which makes the Revonte AKKU a true outperformer in the e-bike battery game. Thanks to the forward-thinking battery management system, BMS for short, up to four AKKU batteries can be connected in parallel, thus bumping the overall energy storage up to over 2.8kWh!

This amount of energy will keep a cargo e-bike going a full work shift will still leaving some “juice” in the tank. Ample battery capacity enabled by the Smart Linking Feature will benefit more conventional bike types as well. For example, embedding two AKKU’s in the downtube of a traditional e-bike produces a combined battery capacity of 1410Wh, which has been unheard of until now.

Sure, it does come with some additional weight, but in applications where exceptionally long ranges are high on the priority list, this is an option that can be built without any additional components or parts. All the “smarts” are already included in the highly developed BMS.

A Result of Collaboration

The Revonte AKKU was developed in collaboration with AKKU Vision GmbH, a leader in battery development from Germany.

The end product and especially the features it offers distinguish it in the market by a clear margin: latest Li-ion cell technology, easy customization for e-bike manufacturers, and the Smart Linking Feature which can be found only from the AKKU-powered Revonte ONE System.

One Drive System with many possibilities to power it. Choose the one that suits your needs the best.