Tag Archive: innovation

  1. Technologies poised to redefine e-bikes

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    Source: Bike Europe

    Technological developments showcased at CES 2026 in Las Vegas have highlighted how the next phase of e-bike innovation is likely to be driven less by radical new hardware and more by the adaptation of smart technologies from adjacent industries, particularly automotive, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

    While the Consumer Electronics Show was dominated by automotive platforms, AI-driven systems and robotics, the underlying message for micromobility was clear: many of the technologies capable of transforming e-bikes already exist and are now beginning to scale down for lighter vehicles.

    Solid-state batteries move closer to reality

    One of the most significant signals from CES 2026 was the growing presence of solid-state batteries, which until recently have remained largely confined to research laboratories and conceptual demonstrations. For the e-bike sector, these batteries offer the potential to address long-standing limitations, including energy density, safety and thermal risk.

    Solid-state technology promises higher capacity in smaller packages, improved intrinsic safety and significantly reduced fire risk. Key features include its ultra-fast charging capabilities, measured in minutes rather than hours, which points to a future with minimal downtime. Although high costs continue to restrict mass-market adoption, premium e-bikes and shared or swappable battery systems are already emerging as early adopters of the technology.

    Connectivity as a core platform

    Connectivity has also emerged as a foundational element of next-generation e-bikes. CES 2026 demonstrated how low-power, long-range wireless technologies originally developed for smart cities and industrial IoT applications are now ready to scale into micromobility.

    Rather than functioning as standalone vehicles, e-bikes are increasingly being positioned as connected urban assets, with integrated monitoring, remote diagnostics and links to broader mobility networks becoming standard features, particularly for fleets and shared systems.

    Embedded intelligence and rider assistance

    Artificial intelligence is following a similar path of migration from cars to lighter vehicles. Automotive-grade AI and edge computing platforms are now being repackaged for e-bikes, enabling smarter dashboards, contextual alerts and early-stage rider assistance systems.

    Connectivity specialist Quectel illustrated this trend at CES, demonstrating how its modules are evolving into full platforms capable of supporting intelligent e-bike functionality. Jesse Wang, product director at Quectel, said: “We’re working with a lot of e-bike vendors. They’re our customers. They use our modules for connectivity and creating new intelligent e-bikes.”

    UK-based startup Dock-Y also showcased advanced safety applications through its edge-AI powered rider assistance system, Kav-Y. Designed for both individual e-bikes and fleets, the system combines radar, vision and machine learning to detect hazards in real time and deliver visual, audio and haptic warnings, bringing automotive-style assistance to urban cycling.

    A proving ground for AI-driven mobility

    Another emerging theme from CES was the application of AI-powered maintenance and diagnostics to micromobility. Adapted from automotive fleet management, these systems analyse battery health, motor performance and usage patterns to predict failures before they occur.

    Given the relative mechanical simplicity of e-bikes and the scale of global fleets, the technology could have a substantial impact on reliability and operating costs. It has been suggested that e-bikes could become one of the fastest proving grounds for agent-based AI within the wider mobility sector.

    Demonstrations from companies working with Qualcomm-based platforms showed convergence towards telematics-first architectures, Linux-based smart displays inspired by smartphone user interfaces, and integrated chipsets combining connectivity, rider assistance and control systems.

    Chinese manufacturers shift strategy

    CES 2026 also highlighted a strategic shift among Chinese e-bike manufacturers, where brands used the event not to compete on price (with tariffs remaining a constraint in the US market), but to reposition themselves as global technology brands.

    By emphasising software, connectivity and design, these manufacturers signalled an upmarket move that industry analysts suggest has been accelerated, rather than hindered, by trade barriers.

    Opportunities for the e-bike industry

    While CES 2026 did not deliver a single headline e-bike announcement, it offered clear evidence that many of the technologies needed to transform the sector are already proven in automotive and IoT contexts. As these systems scale down in size, cost and power consumption, the opportunity for the e-bike industry lies in adopting them without compromising the simplicity and accessibility that underpin the appeal of micromobility.

  2. Submissions are open for The Eurobike Award 2023

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    Designers, developers, manufacturers and importers from the bicycle and mobility industry have until 14 April to submit products and innovations to the 2023 edition of The Eurobike Award.

    The Eurobike Award 2023, the renowned award for innovative and high-quality products in the bicycle and future mobility industry, will be presented for the first time at Messe Frankfurt after a one-year break and the relocation of the leading international trade fair Eurobike from Lake Constance to the Main River. For the first time, EUROBIKE is cooperating in the realisation of the award with the German Design Council, the design and branding authority in Germany is an experienced initiator of highly respected design awards.

    Industry professionals can take advantage of this unique opportunity at EUROBIKE, submitting products and project innovations in a total of nine categories – including newly established product groups such as light electric vehicles, digital solutions, and mobility and infrastructure concepts. The deadline for submission is 14 April 2023.

    Visit the Eurobike Award 2023 homepage, here.

    Winners can look forward to a large award ceremony and a central award exhibition in Future Mobility Hall 8. Awardees can benefit from the reputation of the EUROBIKE Award, being an advantageous marketing tool to position products on the market.

    Designers, developers, manufacturers and importers from the bicycle and mobility industry can submit their innovations – regardless of whether they are represented as exhibitors at EUROBIKE 2023 or not.

  3. A robot on bike paths? The next generation of last-mile delivery solutions

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    Source: Fietsberaad

    THEO is the name given to a self-driving robot delivery method, or ‘bot-as-a-service trike’, that operates on the bicycle path.

    The vehicle was developed in Germany and during testing has delivered its test orders to a closed university site. THEO is primarily designed to undertake fast, same-day delivery of goods and last-mile deliveries by logistics companies.

    The robot’s maximum speed is 20 km/h, with a trolley that can carry a maximum of 100 kg, in 8 individual compartments. THEO is 70 cm wide and 168 cm long.

    The designers describe THEO as a semi-autonomous trike, optimized for cycle paths. Semi-automatic means that THEO’s actions are monitored from a central control room. “If cycle paths are not available, [the robot] is also fast, light and agile enough to drive on conventional car lanes without causing congestion.”

    THEO is registered with Mobilitylab, a partnership between several provinces to get startup pilots off the ground in the field of mobility. The intention is that these startups will test their innovative solution in the regions of Rotterdam, Noord-Brabant, Limburg or Utrecht.

    (Image: Fietsberaad)

  4. Bafang completes the building of its EMC Laboratory

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    The electromagnetic compatibility facility will substantially and positively impact on LEVA-EU member Bafang’s product development, driving up quality and efficiency while reducing costs

    After two years and a capital investment of more than ￥10 million (approximately 1.44M€), Bafang has successfully completed the building of an Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) laboratory, becoming one of the few companies in the global electric system industry to own such a facility. The Bafang EMC laboratory will provide a large amount of test data support for future product projects and effectively achieve the key aims of “cost reduction, efficiency increase, and quality improvement”.

    What is EMC?

    Imagine that when you turn on a vacuum cleaner, the TV next to you becomes blurry. This phenomenon is called Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), occurring when a device conducts its voltage or current and influences other devices. In the process of product manufacturing, solving the EMI problem is a key task, and EMI interference will be exposed through EMC testing. An EMC laboratory can fully verify the immunity of a system‘s equipment in its electromagnetic environment, which could be also called electromagnetic sensitivity. In addition, an EMC lab can judge whether the system equipment causes EMI that is above a particular limit to other equipment.

    Bafang‘s EMC Laboratory

    The Bafang EMC laboratory covers an area of about 120 m² and has both a Semi-Anechoic Chamber and an EM Shielding Chamber. The testing capabilities cover eBikes, civilian goods and components, and can fully meet the EMC testing requirements for motors, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), controllers, sensors, batteries, chargers and various other products.

    Based on the ISO17025 laboratory management standard, the Bafang EMC laboratory not only has comprehensive testing methods, but can also achieve mutual recognition of data with top laboratories in the world due to the advanced equipment within.

    R&D & Cost Reduction Advantages

    With the continuous accumulation of experience in EMC testing and rectification, Bafang will cultivate more excellent and highly talented EMC-focused testing teams and hardware professionals, with the aim of minimizing EMC-related problems across the product range. Bafang‘s EMC Laboratory will also speed up overall project R&D progress and provide a solid foundation for R&D innovation.

    It is foreseeable that with its high utilization rate and relevant industry qualification certification, the Bafang EMC Laboratory will accelerate a considerable reduction in costs related to EMC pre-compliance testing and components‘ CE certificating, and so, will truly achieve the company’s “cost reduction” goal. In line with Bafang’s commitment to creating advanced laboratory facilities, in addition to the EMC laboratory, the Bafang Laboratory Centers also feature spaces dedicated to Environmental Reliability, Battery, Mechanical Reliability, Aging, Acoustics and more. This large-scale, comprehensive laboratory structure ensures product stability and effectively improves the competitiveness of Bafang in the market.

    Scan the QR code to view a VR panorama of Bafang Laboratory Centers

    In the future, Bafang will strive to obtain laboratory qualifications accredited by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS), and continue to promote quality management to a new level.

  5. Riga becomes the testing ground for six mobility innovations

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    Scheme aims to further develop innovative mobility prototypes in real-time

    Source: Themayor.eu

    The Mobility Incubator Program has recently been launched in the Latvian capital, Riga. Organized by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the scheme aims to further develop innovative mobility prototypes in real-time. If successful following this initial stage the prototypes will act to raise the living standard of city residents and serve as an attractive prospect for potential investors, being implemented on a wider scale.

    The teams and their prototypes:

    The projects were developed over a period of 10 weeks following the 48-hour mobility hackathon in April. The six pilot projects are as follows:

    • The Mikropoint team – A new mobility point in Zemitana Square, combining a shed for electric scooters and bicycles, a mini bicycle workshop, and bench. Aims to increase the mobility network for environmentally friendly vehicles.
    • The getUgo team – Remote control of autonomous vehicles, machines and other devices with a teleoperation software and hardware platform.
    • The E-Stop team – Offers a solution for storing and charging e-scooters within the Alfa shopping centre.
    • The electrify team – Promotion of electromobility by offering electric minibuses for passenger transport (still under development).
    • The “Velorūme” team – Offers bicycle storage the size of a single parking spot.
    • The Simplecharge – Encouraging the use of street lighting poles to charge electric vehicles.

  6. 14th edition of International Design Awards

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    In 2019, the ingenious Belgian “Cycling through the trees”, realized in Hechtel-Eksel, won gold in one of the architecture categories at the International Design Awards (IDA) in Los Angeles, USA. It was a beautiful promo for Tourism Limburg, that commissioned the project and a huge reward for  the designers, BuroLandschap, Atelier Ensemble and De Gregorio & Partners.

    If you want to follow in their footsteps, now is the time to submit your entry for the 2020 edition. IDA is always looking for visionary, iconic designs in product design, fashion, graphic design, interior design and architecture. A 19-member jury of experts from all over the world decides who receives the awards. The criteria are diverse: aesthetics and functionality, durability, innovative content, ergonomics, etc.

    All further details are on the IDA website

    Have a look at last year’s fabulous Belgian winner: cycling through the trees.

  7. Environmentally-friendly graphene bio-inks for rechargeable batteries and energy storage devices

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    Source ​Letizia Diamante @ Graphene Flagship – Researchers at Graphene Flagship partners Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, CIC EnergiGUNE and INCAR-CSIC, Spain, have produced rechargeable batteries and energy storage devices made of a non-toxic and environmentally friendly graphene-based material.

    With current metal-ion batteries reaching their theoretical limitations in terms of cycle life, capacity and power, researchers focused on metal-air alternatives, such as sodium-air (Na-O2) batteries. Equipped with sodium anodes and oxygen-trapping cathodes, these devices have interesting and unique rechargeable capabilities: NaO2 is produced when the battery drains its stored energy, which is then recycled back to form metallic sodium and oxygen when the battery charges.

    In this study, a cathode was made using a porous graphene-based aerogel. The Graphene Flagship team fabricated it by electrochemically exfoliating graphite foils with the help of molecules derived from DNA building blocks, such as adenosine monophosphate. These biomolecules insert into the graphite structure, causing the foils to swell. The foils are then scraped off and processed further, resulting in the formation of graphene flakes, around 1-2 nm in thickness and 400-600 nm in width.

    The Graphene Flagship researchers also highlighted a secondary function of these biomolecules: they are adsorbed on the surface of graphene, allowing the flakes to be dispersed in water. The resulting conductive ink is preferable over others that contain organic solvents for several reasons – above all, due to its low impact on the environment. The Graphene Flagship researchers then used a freeze-drying technique to transform the ink into an aerogel, suitable for the battery’s cathode. These new batteries could be recharged 50 times with an efficiency of 94%, which is a very competitive result that out-performs other graphene-based cathodes.

    “We believe that the phosphates in these biomolecules are the main reason for this success. These chemical groups allow NaO2 to be recycled more quickly during the charging phase,” explains Nagore Ortiz-Vitoriano, from Graphene Flagship partner CIC EnergiGUNE, who co-authored this study.

    With no need for any additives, this graphene ink was also used for printing electrically conductive patterns as part of storage devices, such as micro-supercapacitors. These devices showed a remarkable performance, comparable to the current graphene-based devices, and retained around 75% of the initial performance after 5,000 charge/discharge cycles.

    “We will keep refining the structure of our devices and continue to improve their capacity and cycle life, as well as reducing the energy losses during operation,” says Jose Maria Munuera, from Graphene Flagship partner CSIC, and corresponding author of this study.

    “By demonstrating that an aqueous graphene-based bio-ink improves the performances of batteries and supercapacitors, this work provides a novel sustainable material solution to advance the field,” comments Vittorio Pellegrini, the Graphene Flagship’s Work Package Leader for Energy Storage.

    Andrea C. Ferrari, Science and Technology Officer of the Graphene Flagship and Chair of its Management Panel, adds: “Meeting the sustainable development goals is at the core of the Graphene Flagship science and innovation. Energy applications are amongst the promising impact areas for graphene and related materials. This works shows a sustainable approach for the production of graphene to be used in re-chargeable batteries, with a double advantage for the environment.”

    References

    J.M. Munuera, J.I. Paredes, M. Enterría, S. Villar-Rodil, A.G. Kelly, Y. Nalawade, J.N. Coleman, T. Rojo, N. Ortiz-Vitoriano, A. Martínez-Alonso, and J.M. Tascón. High Performance Na-O2 Batteries and Printed Microsupercapacitors Based on Water-Processable, Biomolecule-Assisted Anodic Graphene. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 12 (1), 494-506 (2019).