Comment by jacquesm
4 years ago
You can't. These bikes are DRM'd to the hilt and any attempt at hacking them will cause the bike to brick itself which you can only reset at the dealership. You can do that three times and then it's permanent.
The penalties for having such a hack detected on your bike - assuming you would get away with it - is confiscation. I would strongly advise against such tricks.
You can see how much work just changing out the battery was. There are plenty of parties selling limiter removers or speed boxes but they're all illegal and you are uninsured when using such a device. My bike is perfectly legal to ride.
> You can't. These bikes are DRM'd to the hilt and any attempt at hacking them will cause the bike to brick itself
This does not match reality at all. E-bikes are some of the most modify-able and hackable devices out there. Most of the parts are interchangeable, and a decent portion of these bikes are assembled piece by piece. I can change the acceleration profile of mine at will, via bluetooth. Amperage limits, battery codes, everything. I have used many devices and parts and kits, and have never even once seen DRM present.
Oh, sure, I'm making it all up. I just spent two months picking apart the Bosch e-bike system, I think by now I know what I'm talking about but feel free to prove me wrong and show me how you're able to get your battery to talk to a Bosch controller without using a Bosch BMS.
Hint: you won't be able to, the key is embedded in an NXP processor that has it's fuses blown (both sides, controller and battery) and any kind of hacking you want to do will have to be at the sensor level and even there I would advise you to use an older version of the firmware because the newer ones are very good at detecting such hacks.
I think you both can be correct. The more expensive e-bikes as sold in the EU are DRM'd to the hilt, whereas cheaper bikes sold elsewhere or assembled from kits won't have any restrictions. On reddit/r/ebikes you can see some crazy builds that would get you a hefty fine in most of Europe.
7 replies →
I mean... I'm not on a Bosch E-Bike?
You're in the realm of replacing original parts with the new battery mod. Why not replace the Bosch motor controller with any available motor controller that lets you configure your throttle inputs however you want?
5 replies →
>but they're all illegal and you are uninsured when using such a device. My bike is perfectly legal to ride.
Plenty of people 'technically' break the law in small ways every day. If your bike looks like a normal bike, and you're not doing outlandish speeds, I'm not sure it matters whether or not your bike is 'technically legal'.
Right up to the point when you cause and accident, it turns out that you are not insured and you are now in debt for the rest of your life. This is not a small matter.
How does someone on a bike 'cause an accident'? How exactly is a cop going to know that you've modified your bike? They aren't tour de france officials. I'd be fine taking my chances. You seem to have a very legalistic outlook that doesn't translate to reality.
1 reply →
Another clueless American ebiker question about Europeon law. Is the article's bike legal? Individual can self build a high energy battery with parts and tools from online sellers putting an alibaba balance charger in parallel with the original BMS, no external testing review or inspection. And the authorities/insurance don't care about this customization vs the factory model they presumably inspected before certifying.
Alternatively if you software configure a motor controller so that it sends motor current from a throttle instead of a torque sensor in the pedals, you'll be busted?
> The penalties for having such a hack detected on your bike … is confiscation
In what jurisdiction?
Edit: just realized it’s your article and you’re in NL. Confiscation might be an issue there but it’s not universal by any stretch.
It's treated the same way as a souped up scooter would be. Get caught and you are more than likely to lose it. The good news is that you can then try to buy it back at government auction ;)