E-bike Tuning: Possibilities And Risks - PowUnity

Which tuning solutions are available for which e-bikes?

Most tuning chips are limited to specific engine brands. If you want to use them, you have to search specifically for your motor. However, you can get tuning solutions for engines from different suppliers from manufacturers such as SpeedBox.

Tuning chips for Bosch motors

Bosch is one of the leading manufacturers of e-bike motors. Its drives are installed in e-bikes of various brands, from Haibike to Cube. Tuning chips for Bosch motors are available from SpeedBox. With SpeedBox 1.0, the manufacturer has even developed a chip for 4th generation motors with Smart System. The bikespeed products are an alternative. A special feature here: The speedometer shows you the real speed.

Tuning chips for Yamaha engines

SpeedBox also offers various tuning solutions for Yamaha engines. A competitor in this field is, for example, sIMPLEK with the Stick Pro.

Tuning chips for Panasonic engines

If you want to remove the speed limit on an e-bike with a Panasonic motor, you can use a tuning box from badass, for example, in addition to chips from bikespeed or SpeedBox. Whether it lives up to its name remains to be seen.

Apart from the examples mentioned, you will find many other tuning solutions on the market that are compatible with different e-bike drives. They come from brands such as SpeedBox, bikespeed, DoubleDongle, PearTune or SpeedChip.

How expensive are tuning chips for e-bikes?

How much you have to pay for a tuning chip varies depending on the product. In most cases, the costs range from 150 to just over 200 euros. As you can see, it’s not cheap.

Why you should not tune an electric bike

As we already mentioned, we strongly advise against e-bike tuning.

There are several reasons for this:

Why you should not tune e-bikes

We have already mentioned it: We strongly advise against e-bike tuning.

There are several reasons for this:

Technical risks of e-bike tuning

Simply fit a chip and the bike goes faster. When you take the chip off again, everything is the same as before. Is that how simple you imagine electric bicycle tuning to be?

In reality, things are more complicated. The use of chip tuning, dongles and the like often leads to technical problems:

• E-bike manufacturers, or manufacturers of e-bike motors, find e-bike tuning a thorn in the flesh. After all, it increases the risk of stricter legal regulations for e-bikes. This could have an impact on demand. In addition, companies have to deal with dubious warranty claims as a result of tuning, which is why manufacturers like Bosch and Co. are trying to put a stop to tuning. For example, drives compare signals from the speed sensor with other measured values. If there are noticeable deviations, the motor reacts with an error code and heavily throttled support. However, observers, for example in Stern, noted that it took only a few months for manufacturers of tuning solutions to outsmart these safety locks.

• Unlike S-pedelecs, conventional e-bikes are not designed for constant speeds of 30, 40 or even more km/h. This also applies if you only ride on well-paved roads. This is also true if you ride exclusively on well-paved roads. Therefore, even with higher-quality e-bikes, tuning leads to more wear and tear on components such as the drive, gears or brakes. Cheap models quickly go down the drain.