E-Mobility Engineering | September/October 2023 17 Marko Lehtimaki | In conversation lower volumetric energy density but faster charging and discharging rates without any risk of overheating or loss of lifespan. “All the early software in the motor as well as the bike was built in-house, which is important because, as eyecatching as the motor is, what’s far more valuable is what that motor technology allows you to do,” he emphasises. “As well as everything about the space, CoG and weight optimisation, what many people don’t realise is that, unlike an IC engine, an electric motor can potentially be controlled at the millisecond level. But if you have any kind of power transmission in your bike, you lose that fidelity in traction and handling because you add at least hundreds of milliseconds of delay between motor and wheel. “However, because we have a directdrive electric bike, we get an extremely high resolution of control and feedback, which unlocks the possibility for things like recognising and classifying traction abnormalities, theoretically down to for the rider to control the bike. “By removing the transmission, we cut the number of moving parts to just the two wheels,” Lehtimaki says. “But of all the benefits of our motor design, it’s the low CoG that people really notice the most. We asked some experienced reviewers how much they thought the motorcycle weighed: most guessed that it had to be something below 150 kg, but in fact it weighs 245 kg. “They don’t always believe that figure, because the bike’s as easy to manoeuvre as a scooter, but that’s just how important a low CoG is in electric motorcycle design.” And, having moved the motor and its related control components outside the body of the motorbike, Lehtimaki and his team have been left with copious space inside for the electronics, thermal management, connectivity and so on. By Lehtimaki’s estimates, it has also freed up 30% more volume for the battery, providing longer range between charges – 250 km in the TS, 350 km in the TS Pro and 375 km in the TS Ultra – as well as allowing the use of cells with a The hubless motor enables the bike’s centre of gravity to be positioned very low, enhancing rider handling and comfort, and freeing up internal space for adding battery cells
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