Newsroom

18.05.2022

Start of production of MAHLE´s new e-bike drive

Stuttgart, May 18, 2022

  • New X20 traction motor is being produced at MAHLE''s site in Šempeter pri Gorici/Slovenia
  • New e-bike drive will secure sales growth in the mid double-digit million range for the site in the coming years
  • With a system weight of less than 3.2 kilograms, including battery and control unit, the X20 is the lightest e-bike drive available on the market

MAHLE has successfully launched production of its new X20 traction motor for e-bikes at its site in Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia. Around 20 employees are currently producing the new drive on the assembly line commissioned just this year. The first deliveries to customers have already been made.  The X20 will secure sales growth in the mid double-digit million range for the site in the coming years.  With a system weight of less than 3.2 kilograms, including battery and control unit, the X20 is the lightest e-bike drive available on the market. The new product was developed by MAHLE Smartbike Systems in Palencia/Spain.

"We are delighted that the industrialization of the X20 has gone so smoothly and that we have already been able to deliver the first e-bike motors from Šempeter to our customers," said Dr. Armin Messerer, Vice President Mechatronics, who is also responsible for the E-Bike Drive Systems division at MAHLE. "With our X20 drive system, which can be installed virtually invisibly in the frame and hub, we are offering our customers a top-class product that sets a new benchmark in terms of power-to-weight ratio."

MAHLE''s ultralight X20 drive system is perfectly tailored to the design of gravel bikes, road bikes and urban e-bikes. The hub motor delivers 23 newton meters directly to the wheel—a power output comparable with that of a mid-drive motor with 55 newton meters of torque. Equipped with a sophisticated sensor package that measures acceleration, speed, torque, temperature and pedaling rate, the X20 also uses artificial intelligence to continuously adapt the drive to the person in the saddle. As such, the X20 offers a perfectly customized cycling experience plus an absolutely natural pedal feel which is similar to that of a conventional high-performance sports bike. The new MAHLE drive thus delivers the noise-free support that e-bike riders need.

The e-bike market is growing continuously, thus opening up new sales opportunities for MAHLE''s development and production location Šempeter pri Gorici, both for the X20 motor as well as for next-generation e-bike drives. The location is part of MAHLE''s Electronics and Mechatronics business unit which secured 15 percent growth in sales in the 2021 business year. The customer portfolio of the business unit of the Stuttgart technology group now includes some 300 manufacturers.

Šempeter pri Gorici is one of the central development and production hubs for electric drive systems, and thus plays a key role in MAHLE''s transformation into one of the leading suppliers of components for e-mobility. Electric drives from Slovenia are used in hybrid and electric variants of logistics vehicles, two-wheelers, and passenger cars. 

Contacts in MAHLE Corporate Communications:

Ruben Danisch
Head of Corporate and Product Communications
Phone: +49 711 501-12199
E-mail: Contact by email

Margarete Dinger
Corporate and Business Press Spokesperson
Phone: +49 711 501-12369
E-mail: Contact by email

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