Demonstrated at EUROBIKE 2023 in Frankfurt, the Cocotte e-bike uses GaN technology to free urban riders from worrying about battery power and packing portable chargers
Wise-integration, a French pioneer in digital control of gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN ICs for power supplies, and Savoy Group today announced the new GaN charger for e-bikes embedded with the battery of the new electric bike from KILOW, Savoy Group’s e-mobility division.
Introduced at EUROBIKE 2023 at Frankfurt Messe, June 21-25, the urbanized e-bike and onboard charger free riders of two common pain points they face on the streets: running out of power and packing the added weight of portable chargers.
The world’s first GaN on-board charger and Wise-integration’s GaN devices for e-bikes are a highly integrated solution assembled by Savoy Group.
“Our charger is embedded in the battery itself, making it the lightest, most compact and convenient charger on the market,” said Wise-integration CEO Thierry Bouchet. “This technology enables e-bike users to easily charge their bikes on the go, wherever they are.”
Called Cocotte, the new e-bike is designed and manufactured by KILOW, a rebranded light e-mobility division of Savoy Group, a French Tier 1 automotive supplier. In addition to its urbanized e-bike, KILOW’s e-mobility line includes e-bikes for street-and-trail, e-scooters and its new four-wheel off-roader, La Bagnole.
“Wise-integration’s innovative onboard charger places our urban e-bike in a class of its own,” said Émile Allamand, CEO of Savoy Group. “Combined with Cocotte’s automatic gearbox that identifies the most appropriate gear for the situation and effort of the cyclist, and its other features, KILOW packages the best of leading-edge technologies in lightweight micro-mobility.”
“Wise-integration’s technology supports KILOW’s fundamental credo: ‘less is better’”, said Arthur Allamand, marketing director for the brand. “Anything we take away, be it weight, electronics or gadgets, actually gives the user something more in terms of maintenance, ease of use or peace of mind”.
Building on the success of Cocotte’s novel offer, a combination of French design and engineering strengths and awareness of consumer convenience, Bouchet said Wise-integration will extend its GaN products and solution for power-supply and e-bike manufacturers across the European market. Thanks to the combination of the WiseWare digital controller and WiseGan, Wise-integration is able to improve power density that provides more power for embedded fast-charging capabilities.
Wise Integration’ GaN devices provides power electronics designers with new levels of power density, performance, and cost-effectiveness. Gallium nitride (GaN) is a wide-bandgap, next-generation semiconductor technology that has become key for development of advanced power electronics. It operates up to 20x faster than silicon and provides up to 3x the power or 3x the charge in half the size and weight of silicon devices.
