Bosch Unveils Ebike "Smart System" with Over-The-Air Updates and More - Eurobike 2021
Bosch is one of the biggest players in the eBike drive unit business. They've just announced a new smartphone app that connects to new ebike hardware which they claim improves the user experience. The app connects via Bluetooth to a new remote and display. Bosch have also announced a new, larger, 750 Wh battery.
eBike Flow app
Bosch's brand new app is claimed to offer a range of benefits.
Firstly, it allows all the relevant information about the bike to be displayed in one place, which would be difficult to do with just a bar-mounted display. "The eBike Flow app bundles all important information on the home screen—from the connection status of the eBike to the next service appointment and the current charge status of the battery. It also shows the total mileage of the drive and how it is distributed among the different riding modes."
Secondly, it allows such things as the support levels, maximum speed and torque to be fine-tuned to suit the user and location. It can also automatically record ride data, which can be connected to other apps like Apple Health, even if you forget to turn on Strava before setting off.
Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, it allows the software to receive over-the-air updates using a Bluetooth connection to the phone and the phone's internet connection. It's not clear what these updates will involve, though Bosch say they will "continuously enhance the eBike experience with new, innovative features."
Firstly, it allows all the relevant information about the bike to be displayed in one place, which would be difficult to do with just a bar-mounted display. "The eBike Flow app bundles all important information on the home screen—from the connection status of the eBike to the next service appointment and the current charge status of the battery. It also shows the total mileage of the drive and how it is distributed among the different riding modes."
Secondly, it allows such things as the support levels, maximum speed and torque to be fine-tuned to suit the user and location. It can also automatically record ride data, which can be connected to other apps like Apple Health, even if you forget to turn on Strava before setting off.
Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, it allows the software to receive over-the-air updates using a Bluetooth connection to the phone and the phone's internet connection. It's not clear what these updates will involve, though Bosch say they will "continuously enhance the eBike experience with new, innovative features."
LED remote controller and e Kiox 300 display
Bosch's new minimalist control unit indicates the battery level and assistance mode with LEDs - the number of illuminated lights indicates the state of charge and the colour changes to represent the different assistance modes. This allows the controller to be used on its own without a separate display. It also pairs directly with a smartphone through Bluetooth so the app connectivity can be used with or without the display.
The new e Kiox 300 display has a colour screen with a display that can be fully customised via the app. Bike manufacturers will be able to customise the display so the screen matches their branding. The screen has no buttons and is controlled via the remote.
PowerTube 750 battery
A new internal battery offers a whopping 750 Wh of capacity. While there are bigger internal batteries out there (Norco offers a 900Wh unit for Shimano's motor), Bosch's previous largest battery was 625 Wh so this is 20% larger. The claimed weight is 4.4Kg and a full charge will take six hours, or two hours for a 0-50% charge.
Compatablity and Availability
Bosch also told us that the Smart System components are only compatible with the 2022 Performance Line CX motor for now. "None of the components are retrofittable/backwards compatible. It’s a new system that will work with model year 2022 products and forward. We expect additional drive units to be incorporated into the smart system (made compatible) in the future."
Bosch says the eBike Flow app will be available for Android and iOS from this fall, in English, German and French. More languages will follow.
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64 Comments
100% certainty this is coming to ebikes.
“Sorry! You haven’t unlocked North Carolina trails yet. Subscribe for $10/mo to get unlimited regions or purchase North Carolina separately for a one time payment of $5*
*updates extra.”
The insult electric bike with over air updates including sexism, fitism, classism and more. Updates not included - bike will tell your partner who you really been riding.
I'm a cargobike guy, a place where you see very expensive, high end and strange bikes meeting 'normal' people that want some urban mobility, fitness, outdoor connection in their lives vs. a minivan. It is often a bloodbath, because the bikes themselves suffer from all the normal cycling quirks ('standards,' durability/longevity, etc) hitting people that just dropped 6K on a bike and can't change a flat, don't know how to shift gears etc.
Bosch has been on the forefront of an automotive style model of scheduled service with your authorized service center. That's a great line for the customer, but more colossal expense, and every single Bosch approved, certified service center in my STATE has zero understanding of the system. They're just an entry point to send parts back to Bosch, which is a colossal time sink. I was a mechanic, I can fix these myself, but parts availability is incredibly poor, by design, and the electronic problems are unassailable without Bosch shop tools, and you're voiding your warranty if you do anything other then ride the thing.
Their devices run FreeRTOS, plus many other open source components. Let's hope someone find a way to write an entire open source firmware for those devices.
I've been talking with shops in Germany and Austria. Suckers that try to hack their Bosch system come to them and pay. It's a good revenue source for Bosch and the shops.
specialized and giant got this right , min clean display
all this e Kiox 300 display nonsense looks awful imo
Edit: looked it up and it seems the lock function is an opt-in thing, with a one-time setup (purchase through app).
Useless and dumb design IMHO
Do you even read PB bike comments every time anything remotely electronic is announced/discussed in a PB article?
Wait until you order your new bike and then get informed about the 1year+ lead times for the latest BLE IC's holding up production.
So anyone that already dropped loot on extra Bosch batteries or chargers is SOL? Doesn't really make me want to invest in a Bosch system.
Or 80% of max speed?
Or the eMTB in km/h and 21.4 Bosch’s instead of 21,4 (with a comma for the metric people km/h is meant for)?
Really hope that e-drivetrain manufacturers aren’t going the same dark route like most of the automotive industry - ever larger displays and continuously worse interfaces.
It’s a bike!
And yes, Bosch, it’s ok to copy some thoughts from Shimano or Spezialized (Brose) - so please, look up the words “unobtrusive” and “purpose built”.
Thank you.
Hope that app at least let’s people who buy this customize the color scheme.
Many bike people work their dream job... but guess what... cant afford a nice bike because... they work in a bike shop lol.
I loved my days in the industry, but for the most part it's a dead end job. Just because you like what you do doesn't mean it will make you rich. You're working on people's toys, and customer's know it's not a necessity 9 times out of 10, so there's realistically only so much you can charge for what amounts to a hobby; and thus only so much you can pay your employees. A good wrench is valuable, but it's also not 8 years of school and open heart surgery either.
^Or you can just tip the mechanics/staff if you appreciate what they do for you. I drank so much free beer when I worked it shops, lol. A cold 6 pack is always a cool move.
Like watching hairless chimps throwing poo when they get distressed. Male hormonal-equivalent of being bitchy. It's like they're implying that your dick falls off if you get an ebike, at least in their eyes.