FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany – At Eurobike in September, the Canadian company BionX, which is a spin of company of auto parts giant Magna International that took over car maker Opel in Germany earlier this week, presented its BionX PL250HT motor with integrated SRAM 3-speed gear hub.

Their press release said: “With the use of e-Bikes and pedelecs growing rapidly in cities and the demand for a ‘care-free’ product adapted for personal and rental use increasing, BionX gave its two R&D Teams based in Canada and Austria the task of developing the ultimate care-free product that uses both BionX technology and a new SRAM 3 speeds hub.

“The fusion of BionX’s new SinDrive technology motor and the SRAM hub has created a high performance rear propulsion system that is silent, smooth, easy to use, and perfect for anyone who wants to ride without having to adjust, clean and lubricate external gears.

“We developed this product to target individual commuters, large cities rental programs, communities and business use like postal and police services, in using our proven BionX technology. We were looking at the ideal partner to launch it together with us and naturally opted for Trek thanks to their in depth involvement with BionX in their European and more recently North American ‘powered by BionX’ pedelec programs, together with our common wishes to build the ultimate care free products in using a rear propulsion system, dedicated for city users.”

See the complete article at Bike Europe.

Toronto, Canada — In early 2008, Magna Marque (a subsidiary of auto-parts giant Magna International Inc.) purchased EPS Energy Propulsion Systems Inc., a Quebec-based maker of e-bike retrofit kits that include a battery, electric motor and handlebar control panel, all tied together with sophisticated energy-management software. The system, called BionX, became successful among cycling enthusiasts almost immediately.

Now, Magna Marque plans to leverage the in-house engineering clout of its parent company to grow BionX into the world’s most advanced – and most desired – e-bike propulsion system.

Fewer than 8,000 o BionX systems were sold in 2008, but this year the company expects to sell more than 40,000 and “well over” 100,000 systems in 2010, says president Manfred Gingl. He predicts the business will generate a “few hundred million” in sales in two or three years.

Read the complete article at The BionX Man.