The Finnish company Revonte is working on an e-bike drive with a mid-motor and integrated, continuously variable gears. This would allow you to set the desired cadence and then always ride in the same speed range on the crank without shifting gears. According to Revonte, the whole thing should work just as unobtrusively and reliably as an automatic gearbox in a car.

Shifting operations are also possible according to Revonte, and a corresponding gearshift is already being considered. The technology for this is nothing new, a so-called CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) exists in cars as mentioned above and such systems from NuVinci and Enviolo are also used in bicycles today. Continental also offers a system that is not widely used, in which the motor and CVT go hand in hand.

Since an electric motor and a continuously variable transmission are by no means new technologies, it will be a challenge for Revonte to adapt them to the dimensions of the bike and to meet the requirements of bike manufacturers. However, the task of equipping the drive with suitable software that meets today's connectivity requirements and includes functions such as navigation, cloud and theft protection is likely to be much more demanding. According to Revonte, the drive should also be intelligent and be able to adapt to the driver's driving style. The start-up, which was founded in 2018, is not yet able to provide a timeline for how and where the drive will reach the market.

https://revonte.com/