RayVolt Launches eXXite, A Technology-Focused Line Of E-Bikes
Barcelona-based RayVolt has built some of the most creative electric bike designs in the industry, and just announced that it is launching eXXite as a completely new brand.
We first heard of eXXite with the announcement of the prototype of the X1 nearly three years ago. After taking time to fully flesh out the brand with a full range of e-bikes, founder Mat Rauzier and his team are finally ready to launch a fully thought out eXXite brand. The new eXXite line up includes the X1 as well as a host of new tech-focused electric bikes aimed at a wide range of possible use cases.
Disclaimer: Accommodations for the author while attending the launch were paid for by RayVolt.
The announcement was made by Rauzier at a launch event at the MEAM museum in the heart of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. The event was well-attended by international media and RayVolt representatives from around the world. The event showcased the history of RayVolt before rolling out the red carpet for the new line of eXXite bikes. Rauzier is a relentless designer, already looking well beyond the first 3 production bikes to the low-step fat frame CoolX e-bike, the classically designed LaX scooter, an urban commuter bike, and the modern fat tire bike known as the BullX.
I eagerly sought out the new eXXite bikes and spent some quality time with each one in the shop and riding them around the narrow alleys of the Gothic Quarter. Naturally, the flagship of the eXXite line, the X1, was first up. It is a full-sized electric bike with an aggressive speed bike style posture. The frame is what sets this bike apart from the masses, with its flowing oversized frame paying homage to the likes of the Cruiser and the Clubman in sister company RayVolt’s lineup.
Mounting the bike, the oversized top tube reveals a dock for a phone with an integrated wireless phone charger. It’s a neat solution and uses not only the phone’s display, but its sensors and camera to augment the bike’s electric motor and batteries. This is all made possible thanks to the brains of the operation, RayVolt’s EIVA 2.0 app. EIVA 2.0 underpins both RayVolt and eXXite’s bikes, allowing riders to see current power levels, speed, update firmware, perform remote diagnostics, and more.
For a global brand, having the ability to remotely connect to and diagnose a bike through the EIVA 2.0 app is a game changer. Talking to RayVolt’s representatives from around the world, they lauded this capability, sharing how it made life so much easier for owners and the company alike. Without the ability to connect to the bike
As an app, it can easily be updated as new features are added, even pushing firmware updates directly down to the bike. EIVA is truly next level and even after spending thousands of hours on hundreds of different electric bikes over the years, it blew me away. Features like EIVA’s AutoPAS, which uses the gyro from the phone to automatically detect a hill and increase or decrease the pedal assistance system (PAS) accordingly, exist on no other bike.
The X1 also features eXXite’s exclusive pedal regen braking. This sounded like the kind of tech magic that might never make it into production when they first announced it, but eXXite’s team pulled a rabbit out of their hat and delivered. One of RayVolt’s earliest innovations was designing their own motors from the magnets on up. That gave them some wicked insight into how motors work and how to control them.
Typically, e-bikes use a pedal sensor to determine how much assistance the motor should provide. You pedal faster, the motor kicks in more power. That keeps your pedal action and the assist from the motor in sync. RayVolt realized that this could also work in reverse. They built regeneration capability into their motors and tied it into the pedal assist sensor, just in reverse. What that means is that you can pedal forward to go faster or pedal backwards to engage the regen to slow the bike down. It sounds like magic, and trying it around the compact streets of Barcelona, it worked flawlessly. For times when you need to stop on a dime, the bike’s hydraulic disc brakes were more than up to the task.
Looking beyond the technology, the X1 features an integrated headlight on the head tube and integrated tail lights on the drop outs in the rear. The X1 also sports integrated turn signals on each end of the handlebars that will activate automatically when turning. The sleek posture of the bike is accentuated by the choice to have the frame overlap the stem of the bike. This results in a shallower turning angle than on most bikes, but after realizing this and putting in a few minutes riding the bike, it was little more than an afterthought.
A closer look will likely have you gawking at the massive rear motor because of its sheer size. RayVolt designed these motors to be larger because they found that the larger the diameter, the quieter the motors became. This is immediately apparent when riding the X1 Power (and RayVolt’s bikes featuring the optional “power hub” motor) as it glides silently down the road. The posture of the bike feels very much like an urban crossover bike, but it sports a fat set of tires that give it a far more comfortable ride. We were some of the first outside the company to ride these fresh off the production line prototypes, with the flagship X1 slated to launch later this year.
The first two production models from eXXite are a pair of intelligent folding bikes, the XS and XXS. These twins seem like your run of the mill compact e-bikes, but are packing eXXite technology under the hood. This includes the intelligent regen braking, which can also transform the bike from a mobile city bike into a personal trainer.
The EIVA 2.0 app has a special mode that allows owners to prop the bike up on a standard rear wheel stand and engage the regen to use the bike as a fixed trainer. This is great for staying in shape in the off season, and actually uses the effort put in while training to recharge the battery. It’s a slick combination and only the start of what’s planned. eXXite plans to integrate the base training functionality into a fully fleshed out interactive trainer with ties into the wide range of bicycle training apps like Zwift. Why purchase a dedicated training bike when you can use your daily commuter to do double duty inside and outside the home?
It is exciting to see how Rauzier and his team carried the eXXite brand forward from the initial launch of the X1 three years ago and fleshed out a complete brand around the initial concept. In that time, COVID slammed e-bike supply chains and put a damper on their ability to ramp up the brand, but they did not simply sit by. Based on the technology they put on display at the launch event presentation and in the bike attendees rode around the city, it is clear that the RayVolt team has been hard at work building the technology, refining concepts, and moving them into production for the masses.
The new stable of eXXite bikes open up a new chapter not just for the RayVolt family, but in the world of electric bikes. Their one-of-a-kind designs have set a new bar since the launch of RayVolt and with the launch of eXXite and EIVA 2.0, they are packed with technology that puts them in a league of their own.
For more information about eXXite or to order an electric bike from the future, head over to its official website.
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