Morelle: start-up aims to fully charge e-bikes within 15 minutes

Contents

Thanks to silicon anode technology, the e-bike from start-up Morelle will not need to be plugged in for several hours like previous models but will be fully recharged within 15 minutes. The company also wants to use the technology for humanoid robots. Among others, mountain bike pioneer Gary Fisher is involved in the development.

Silicon anodes instead of graphite

The company wants to achieve the fast charging time by using silicon-based anodes; conventional anodes for e-bikes are usually made of graphite. Compared to graphite, silicon is said to be able to store up to ten times more energy, which could increase the energy density of the Morelle battery.

According to Morelle, the battery technology is said to be “unique in its ability” to “simultaneously offer high performance, high energy, and high charging speeds without compromising service life.”

Morelle is not the only company to use silicon anodes: the cell chemistry is also used in the battery of the new Whoop 5.0 fitness tracker.

According to the start-up, the battery is designed to withstand fast charging for a service life of 1000 cycles, which is a good value. Morelle is currently working on increasing this further. To this end, the company has developed a proprietary machine learning model that constantly monitors the condition of the battery remotely and dynamically improves the battery's service life based on individual usage profiles, the company explains to Forbes.

Charging with up to 1,500 W and 50A

To fully charge the Morelle bike within 15 minutes, far more energy is required than for conventional e-bike models, which are usually charged with 100 to 300 watts. The e-bike should be able to be charged with 1000 to 1200 W via conventional sockets. With a special charger, the charging power can be increased to 1500 W, which could be more interesting for fleet operators.

The two founders, Michael Sinkula and Kevin Hays, initially wanted to sell the idea of fast charging to e-bike component manufacturers such as Bosch. However, these rejected the idea, which is why they founded their own company.

E-bike to weigh less than 14 kg

Many details about the manufacturer's first e-bike are not yet known apart from the battery technology. It is to be equipped with a 350 Wh battery that is integrated into the down tube. The total weight is said to be around 14 kg, which is low for an e-bike.

The e-bike is also to be fitted with a mid-motor that offers assistance at speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h). In Europe, this would make the bike an S-pedelec requiring registration.

Morelle plans to start deliveries in the first quarter of 2026. The e-bike will initially only be sold in the USA at a starting price of 3,000 US dollars. The start-up is already accepting reservations from 50 US dollars.

Morelle was founded by battery scientist Kevin Hays together with biomedical engineer Michael Sinkula. Both formerly worked at Ionblox, a company that develops batteries for electric VTOL aircraft. In 2023, the year the company was founded, they brought mountain bike legend Gary Fisher on board to act as chief bike designer.

In addition to being used in the company's own e-bike, the battery technology will also be installed in humanoid robots from the US start-up Under Control Robotics (UCR) from the fall.

(afl)