TUNING AN E-BIKE MOTOR – HOW TO RETROFIT AN E-BIKE DRIVE
Do you often ride on steep terrain and want an e-bike with more power? Or do you just want to get a little more torque out of your drive to accelerate faster after a stop? One way to do this could be to upgrade your motor! In this article, we’ll explain how to do it. You will also find out here what general things you need to consider when tuning your e-bike’s motor.
WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ENDURANCE OR ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE – THE REASONS FOR TUNING AN E-BIKE
Sufficient power on the hillside, a long range and a low susceptibility to defects – the latest generation of e-bike drives impresses with their fundamentally high performance. However, if you frequently do lots of kilometers on your e-bike and regularly push your bike to its limits, you may still want it to do even more one day. For many e-bikers, performance and range in particular are factors that need to be increased at some point. While in terms of range, it is mainly a new battery or better battery care that can provide this improvement, in terms of performance it is the motor itself that needs an upgrade.
Basically, you have two options: On the one hand, you can replace the motor, which is not only very complex in most cases, but actually technically impossible. On the other, you can also update your motor software to enable more performance. Depending on the supplier and model, such an update can be a relatively easy way to increase drive power. You will find out how this works in the following sections.
IS IT ACTUALLY LEGAL TO RETROFIT AN E-BIKE MOTOR?
If you want to upgrade your e-bike, the first question is whether such an upgrade is legal. After all, not all e-bike tuning is really legal. Generally speaking, e-bikes must comply with certain technical regulations that must still be complied with even after an update. This includes, for example, that the drive only provides assistance up to a speed of 25 km/h. Appropriate tuning that allows assistance beyond this would therefore be illegal.
You can find out the legal background in your country’s road traffic laws. In Switzerland, e-bikes with assistance up to a maximum of 25 km/h are classified as slow e-bikes or light motorcycles (Art. 18 (b) (1) VTS), while so-called fast e-bikes are classified as other motorcycles (Art. 18 (a) (2) VTS). VTS = Federal Ordinance relating to Technical Requirements for Road Vehicles. The situation is similar in Germany: E-bike that travel faster than 25 km/h are no longer treated by law as bicycles but as small motorcycles (§ 2 no. 11 FZV). FZV = Vehicle Registration Ordinance.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY E-BIKE CAN BE UPDATED?
Besides the legality, the most important basic question is certainly whether your motor can actually be updated. Not every e-bike drive can be tuned, so you need to clarify in advance what options you have. Depending on the manufacturer, this can be easier or more complex. In many cases, for example, you should talk to customer service or a specialist retailer. On e-bikes with the FIT system, however, you can see the upgrade capability directly in the app. Depending on the e-bike model and installed FIT 2.0 components, such an upgrade may or may not be possible.
For this purpose, simply look at the motor settings in the FIT e-bike app. Under the «Expert Settings» [not to be confused with the Easy Settings which are also available; editor’s note] you can set the assistance level (in percent) and the torque (in Nm). In the case of e-bikes that can be updated, information about a possible update is also shown in the bottom half of the display. Here’s an example: On the «Flyer Upstreet5 7.70HS» model, «Power-Upgrade Pro» is displayed in the app. In this case, it would be possible to increase the torque of the Panasonic GX Ultimate FIT drive from 70 Nm to 95 Nm – more than enough power to master even the steepest trails with plenty of momentum.
HOW IS AN E-BIKE MOTOR UPDATE CARRIED OUT?
Can your e-bike be updated? Then it’s time to retrofit! The way to do this is through a qualified specialist retailer, as only trained dealers can carry out such an update without any warranty claims etc. being invalidated. So if your e-bike can be updated, you should contact your nearest FIT e-bike shop and request or buy a corresponding update. If your e-bike already has the latest firmware, you can also request the update directly via the app and do not have to go to a specialist retailer for this first step.
In the second step, however, the dealer becomes active anyway. To carry out the upgrade, they connect the e-bike to the FIT Maintenance Tool available in FIT e-bike shops. The previously purchased voucher code is then entered there, enabling the upgrade to be activated. Finally, the upgrade is also installed via the FIT Maintenance Tool – a process that ultimately only takes a few minutes. The dealer then performs a functional test of the e-bike drive – and then you can continue cycling with more power.
TUNING AN E-BIKE MOTOR – A SUMMARY
Motor tuning enables you to retrofit your e-bike drive and thus increase performance. However, such tuning is only possible with certain brands and models and must also comply with legal requirements. Also, an e-bike motor update can only be carried out legally by trained dealers. You must therefore check in advance whether an update is actually possible for your e-bike and then request the update either via the FIT e-bike app or from a specialist retailer. The update will then be released in the store and a more powerful e-bike drive will soon be available – ready for your next tour!
Do you want to know more about the different motors? Find out more in the following blog post:
29.11.2022