ELECTRIC TWO WHEELER

E-motorbike powertrain
Motorcycle performance refers to the maximum speed, gradeability,
acceleration and operational range of an electric motorcycle, and is mainly
determined by the electric powertrain. The electric powertrain consists of an
electric motor, a motor drive, a power supply, a transmission and the final drive
(the rear wheel and tire).

Figure 1: Electric motorcycle powertrain schematic

A major benefit of an electric powertrain is the simplicity of the system in

terms of a relatively small number of components. The following paragraphs
provide background information on the electric powertrain components.
Electric motor and motor drives
Electric motors convert electric energy to mechanical energy and provide
the transmission with a tractive torque. The energy conversion is controlled by
motor drives which provide significant flexibility in control. Electric motors have
the benefit that they efficiently operate in a wide speed range which eliminates
the need for a multi-geared transmission.

Figure 2: Electric motor envelope

Figure .2 illustrates the torque-speed envelope of an electric motor, which shows

that during initial acceleration, the motor can deliver maximum torque up until
the rated speed. This is referred to as the constant torque region. The motor
delivers the rated torque up to the base speed/motor rated speed (the end of the
constant torque region). The speed where the motor can deliver rated torque at
rated power is referred to as the motor rated speed . The speed range for electric
motors for which the rated power can be delivered is large. For this reason, a
single speed transmission is considered enough. Most small electric vehicles tend
to use brushless DC electric motors, because of their high power to weight ratio,
high speed and ease of control. Because the motor operates at higher speeds, the
motor can be relatively compact and lightweight. For vehicle applications
brushless DC motors can either be designed for mid-drive or hub-drive
applications.

Figure 3: Brushless DC motor for mid-drive application

Figure 4: Brushless DC motor for Hub-drive application

 Mid-drive brushless DC motors have the motor fixed to the frame, whereby
a transmission transfers the motor torque to the final drive (rear-wheel). Hub-
drive brushless DC motors have the motor integrated into the wheel and
therefore the need for a transmission eliminated. Table 3.1 lists the advantages
and disadvantages of both configurations.

BLDC Mid-drive BLDC Hub-drive

Easily available from many
manufacturers
Positioning freedom
Can be installed in sprung portion
of the motorbike
Transmission required which
increases amount of parts
Higher rotational speed, so can be
compact
Specialized motor produced
by few manufacturers
Fixed in the rear or front tire
Contributes to un-sprung mass
No transmission required; less parts
required
No transmission, high torque
required, heavier motor

European legislation limits the power rating of motorbikes per category. The
motorbike to be developed for this project is of the category L1e. This restricts
the maximum speed of the motorbike to be 50 km/hr. Also, the motor power is
restricted to 4kW nominal continuous power.
Power supply
The power supply of an electric motorbike serves two purposes. The first and
main purpose is to supply power to the electric motor. The second purpose is to
supply power to all other electronics and auxiliary devices.
The range of an electric vehicle is determined by the battery
capacity/energy capacity of the power supply and the efficiency of the
powertrain. The energy required to drive a vehicle over a certain distance
depends on the operating conditions and the vehicle parameters. To ensure that
an electric motorbike has the intended operational range in real life, it is
important that real life driving behavior can be modeled, and associated energy
requirements calculated based on this driving behavior. The efficiency of an
electric powertrain is easy to determine. This is the combined efficiency of each
component of the powertrain. Knowing this only the vehicle parameters should
be known. Initially in the design phase, the vehicle mass for example is assumed
and later determined based on the sum of the mass of all components.
Important aspects of the design of an electric vehicle power supply are the
selection of cell technology and the type of cells used. Cells are connected in
series to achieve the voltage rating of the motor. Cells are connected in parallel to
achieve the desired discharge current of the motor.

Cell characteristics:
Cell voltage, Cell capacity, (dis)charge rate, capacity fade Lithium ion cells
come in various configurations/constructions. The 18650cell is by far the most
popular for small electric vehicle .
 The nominal voltage of 18650 cells is 3.6V and the cell capacity can range
from 1600-3500mAh depending on the manufacturer and the specific cell model.
The discharge rate of the cell is defined as the rate at which charge in Coulomb is
drawn from the cell per unit of time. It should be noted that the discharge rate
influences the capacity of the cell. When the current drawn from the battery
increased, the cell capacity reduces. For example: when a battery is discharged
with a current of 5A, the capacity is 2950mAh, however if the same battery were
discharged at a current of 10A, the capacity would be around 2800mAh. These
characteristics are determined per cell and are specified by the manufacturer and
should be taken into consideration when designing a power supply.

Battery pack configuration:

Pack voltage and pack capacity. The nominal voltage of a li-ion cell is 3.6V
and a cell on its own is therefore practically useless for electric vehicle
applications. Most electric motors for EV-applications have a voltage of 48V or
higher. This in return requires a power supply of 48V of higher. To achieve this
voltage, batteries can be connected in series. Hereby the positive anode of the
cell is connected to the negative cathode of the next cell and so forth. By
connecting cells in series, the voltage is multiplied by the number of cells in series.
The current however remains the same. So, when 20 cells are connected in series,
the discharge current of all the cells is the same as the discharge current of 1 cell.
For this reason, connecting cells in series does not increase the capacity of the
battery.
 Ones the battery has the required voltage, it must be able to supply the
motor current for a specific time, i.e. it must have the battery capacity to operate
the motor for the required time. To achieve a specific capacity, battery cells must
be connected in parallel configuration whereby the positive anodes of parallel
cells are all connected, and the negative cathodes are all connected. Here the
voltage between the common connection of anodes and cathodes is equal to the
cell voltage of 3.6V. The discharge current however is multiplied by the number of
cells in parallel. When designing a battery pack is it thus important that the
battery can deliver the current required by the load while optimally utilizing the
cells based on their characteristics as specified in the manufacturer’s
specification.
The design of a battery pack thus comes down to the series-parallel
configuration of cells to achieve a certain voltage and capacity to power an
electric load for a given amount of time.

Final drive
The final drive of an electric motorbike is the rear wheel assembly to which the
driven end of the transmission is connected. The rear tire as part of the rear
wheel assembly transmits the tractive force to the road surface. Hereby the
rotational speed and the tractive torque at the rear wheel determine the
acceleration and speed of the motorbike. An important parameter of the rear tire
is therefore the tire diameter. A large tire diameter requires less rotations of the
rear wheel to achieve a specified vehicle speed. For the selection of a tire as part
of the powertrain design, the tire size must thus be optimally selected to allow for
feasible transmission ratios and enough tractive torque.