Hub drives are an integral part of the drive technology for small electric road vehicles. They are characterized by minimal noise emissions and hardly any maintenance effort. This is achieved due to most of these hub drives being designed as direct-drives, meaning there are no gear stages which are prone to mechanical wear.

However, for more dynamic or even offroad motorcycles, hub motors were unthinkable due to their high weight and relatively low power.

So what makes the AXF500S special?

Our very first proof-of-concept prototype used a conventional hub motor. While the general drive concept perfectly matched the NTRX and the silent exploration of nature, it quickly became clear: With none of the existing hub motors the performance we expect from the NTRX could be achieved.

So, back to mid-drive and chain like almost all other offroad bikes?

Not with us!

Instead, we decided to reinvent the hub motor for motorcycles and thus equip the NTRX with a completely unique drive system.

The key to success: Maximizing torque density, which means, extracting as much torque as possible from a lightweight motor. While geared motors can simply compensate for a lack of torque by using a shorter gear ratio, in a direct drive, the motor itself must provide the full torque directly.

However, such motors are usually heavy and result in poor riding dynamics.