Every year, early summer, Bosch presents the novelties we will see on electric bikes starting next year. Last year, Bosch introduced the new CX engine, the new 500Wh battery, and several systems integrating its system with automatic gearboxes. Due to the maturity now achieved by the Bosch system, there are no revolutionary novelties for Bosch ebikes in 2017.

1) The new Purion command / display

Purion is the name given to the new command / display that can be mounted on the Bosch electric bikes starting in 2017. It is a unit that integrates both the buttons to adjust the bike functions and a mini display.

The two systems present up to now, Intuvia and Nyon, were based instead on a panel detached from the display, which remained central. The Nyon will surely remain available; It is not clear, however, whether Purion will go to the Intuvia or replace it.

Probably Bosch has opted for this simplest solution, leaving the handlebar free from bulky clutches and cables, having seen the press’s special welcome and the fans of the Specialized Turbo Levo, which completely fails any push-button or display on the Handlebar, to maintain aesthetics as close as possible to that of a “classic” bike. Although he did not get to that end, he wanted to simplify things.

2) Double battery

It is now possible to build an electric bike based on the Bosch system with a dual battery. Combining two 500Wh batteries could lead to a total capacity of 1000Wh. Such a solution might be interesting especially for some applications:

Cyclotourism in areas where recharging the battery can be complicated, such as in hundreds of miles of natural space between a “civilized” site and another
Cargo bikes that have to carry heavy loads and therefore take advantage of the battery
Especially demanding mountain bike tours in terms of altitude difference

Until now, it was not uncommon on occasions such as taking these behind two batteries, one to use and one to hold off. The new system facilitates things especially from the point of view of charging and weighing the bike. The two batteries are both connected to the system and seem to work exactly as if they had a single larger battery.

It is important to note that this system is only available on new electric bikes, which are already being created (and will be available to the public from 2017); It is not possible at this time to modify an existing Bosch electric bike to equip it with a dual battery; We do not doubt that parallel non-official system changes will soon be available on the market to allow everyone to take advantage of the dual battery (with the usual warranty doubts).

3) Compact Charger

Bosch has also introduced a smaller and lighter charger (200 grams less) than the classic one we are accustomed to. However, this Compact Charger works at 2 Amps, half of those supplied by the Standard Battery Charger, and is therefore much slower to recharge the batteries. Let’s imagine that it may be of interest to cyclists who want to minimize weights and can let the batteries recharge overnight, between one day of pedaling and the other.

In short, Bosch ebikes in 2017 are an evolution rather than a revolution. Central motors (Bosch as well as Yamaha, Brose or others) have now reached a certain maturity and are already good for most applications. After recovering the gap in Bosch’s torque with the other engines thanks to the CX version presented last year, the impression is that further jumps can come mainly from increased collaboration between motorcycle manufacturers and bike manufacturers , To achieve better integration between electrical components and frames. What has been seen with the Specialized Turbo Levo, in short.