New Drive from Bafang for Heavy Duty Cargo Bikes

Among cargo bikes, heavy duty cargo bikes represent a special fraction that has been growing steadily lately. More and more businesses are discovering the advantages of these pedelecs. After all, they can move payloads of 300 kilograms or even more. Moreover, thanks to their classification as bicycles, access to city centres is granted at all times and on a wide variety of routes. However, to carry so much cargo, such a bike itself quickly weighs 100 kilograms. Not to mention an additional trailer.

Looking at these figures, it becomes clear that an ordinary electric drive would quickly reach its limits if it were to power such vehicles. In such cases, bicycle manufacturers therefore rely on specialists. One of them is the Heavy-Duty-System from Bafang. It was specifically designed for use on chain- and belt-driven heavy duty cargo bikes with three or four wheels. Its automatic gearshift has three gears and an additional reverse gear. An integrated differential gear ensures the smoothest possible gear changes even under full load.

Impressive power

The Heavy-Duty-System is based on the M620 mid-mounted motor. The Chinese manufacturer offers two different versions of it. The first generates an astonishing 750 watts of power, the second even 1,000 watts. The maximum torque is 160 Newton metres in each case. To control the drive, Bafang uses a speed sensor mounted on the chain stay and a torque sensor. With the help of the electronics, the Heavy-Duty-System can, according to the manufacturer, also call up its power at cadence up to a maximum of 190 revolutions per minute. Of course, so much concentrated power is no coincidence. At 5.3 kilograms, the M620 is the expected heavyweight.

No oversized battery

This is less true regarding the corresponding battery. Given its capacity of 600 watt-hours, the BT F04’s 3.5 kilograms are a normal average. Developed as an Intube, the battery can be fully integrated into the frame. However, the frame tube provided for this should not be too narrow. At 334 millimetres, the battery is not excessively long. However, the width and height of 89 millimetres and 86 millimetres respectively are at the upper limit of what frame designers are confronted with today.

BT F04 battery

Sufficient time should be scheduled for charging. Bafang estimates 8.5 hours for a complete charge with a 2A charger. If you use a 3A charger, the time is reduced to 5.5 hours. For a cargo bike in fleet operation, these values sound like quite long standing times. Perhaps we haven’t heard the last of this from the manufacturer yet.

Everything in sight

On its website, Bafang names the C190 as the display with which the Heavy-Duty-System can be operated for the most part. The TFT screen measures 3.5 inches diagonally. This is large enough to immediately see important information such as the speed, the current support level and the remaining capacity of the battery. The lighting system uses an automatic system that activates the headlights based on the prevailing light conditions in the surroundings. Bluetooth is apparently available as an option for communication with an app.

Display C190

Bafang has not yet presented the drive to the public with utmost resolution. The industry service Velobiz assumes that this will only happen at this year’s Eurobike in July in Frankfurt am Main. Then possibly with additional information or updated specifications.

Pictures: Bafang Electric (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.