EDINBURGH, Scotland (BRAIN) — The Scottish manufacturer Intra Drive, maker of an 8-speed e-bike motor/gearbox, has launched a new investment round to raise funds to open a production facility at its headquarters in Edinburgh.
Intra Drive showed its motor Eurobike last year and since then has focused on bringing it to production. The newest version of the motor has tighter integration with Shimano EP8 motor mounts, and is lighter with integrated electronics and a new display.
The gearbox offers a 470% gear range. The company said the sealed gear system promises reliable shifting in harsh environments and increased required service intervals. Intra Drive also applies a "circular economy model" to achieve the lowest environmental impact possible over the product's lifetime, emphasizing repairability, availability of spare parts, and long-term support. The company expects to bring the product to market in the first half of 2024.
Orange Bikes showed a bike with a pre-production intra Drive powertrain with a Gates belt drive system at the TweedLove bike festival in Scotland last month.
Mark Ravilious, Intra Drive's founder, said, "Over the past ten months we have made huge progress on industrializing our powertrain technology, have built the majority of the supply chain, and look forward to offering pre-production units to bike brands in the coming months. We are excited to announce a new investment round that will enable us to complete testing and prepare for manufacture at our HQ in Edinburgh".
Since its inception in 2016, Intra Drive has received funding from Scottish Enterprise, the Niche Vehicle Network, and closed a seed investment round in November 2022. The company has filed two patents, and said it has strong interest from several bike brands.
More information: intra-drive.com.
