The end of BionX?

You can become a GRINVESTOR and receive ebike products.
http://www.ebikes.ca/about-us/grinvestors.html
I learned of this a year or two ago, I found it quite a unique way for Justin to raise capitol.
 
Speaking of hacking an orphaned BionX D-series hub...out of the currently available sensorless 6-FET controllers, is there one that stands out as working well with high electrical frequencies?
 
DANG Wish I has money to invest in Lord Justin/Grin Tech.... UNfortunatey, living "life below the poverty line", politicians and taxpayers think that a "starvation diet" will save them some money "down the road". [Sigh]
 
willing to loan a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000 to Grin for at least 12 months. For the duration that the funds are on loan, you will receive 8% annual interest payment in the form Grin Tech store credit.

8% aint too shabby but who has a spare $10k just laying around. Imagine investing $100k, oh the things I'd get, thats $8k worth of Grintech stuff!
 
markz said:
8% aint too shabby but who has a spare $10k just laying around. Imagine investing $100k, oh the things I'd get, thats $8k worth of Grintech stuff!

Empirically, an awful lot of people.

Who has a spare $10k and is into ebikes? That's a harder question...
 
markz said:
willing to loan a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000 to Grin for at least 12 months. For the duration that the funds are on loan, you will receive 8% annual interest payment in the form Grin Tech store credit.

8% aint too shabby but who has a spare $10k just laying around. Imagine investing $100k, oh the things I'd get, thats $8k worth of Grintech stuff!
here's a thought.

you know how on kickstarter & the like in addtion to your roi you also get a t-shirt or some other bonus?
how about as an added incentive invest $100k get your name in red on E•S as a part owner.
and not just the colour but full priveleges that come with ruling elite status.
like the epaulletes & riding crop, immunity from moderation, the whole magilla.
i would liquidate some holdings for dat.

i can hear barentz sphincter puckering already.
 
A member of the German Pedelecforum posted this "emergency solution" if you do not have a BionX battery.

If you do that the console takes longer to react, you lose the battery gauge and the clock.

sadly also recuperation will not work.

Maybe deactivating code 3774 (overvolt protection) could help?

I assume(!!!) that battery voltage up to 60V should be possible on the "newer" BionX motors built from 2010...

I don't now if the "soft start" function on the built in controller still works. (slow precharging of the capacitors)

BionX_BMS_Ersatzschaltung_ElektrischerAufbau.PNG
 
Kudos to that man! Having that info makes it cake to DIY packs, it's so fortunate so many nice motors/drives won't be scrap.
 
Syonyk said:
Who has a spare $10k and is into ebikes? That's a harder question...

Ha ha. Well enough people that we've been able to "give the finger" to the royal bank of Canada after they several times denied our application for a reasonable business line of credit some years ago! (Apparently not owning a house or a car makes you quite unworthy in their eyes.. )

Anyways I wanted to touch base back to much earlier in the thread when people were speculating on the cause BionX going insolvent like this. itselelectric earlier wrote this which was news to me

Itelectric said:
The real reason that BionX filed bankruptcy:
• It is not because proprietary system
• It is not because lace of market share or cost too much

The reason as the following events:
• Magna is one of larger auto parts company in Canada, owned by Frank Stronach, major partner GM, FORD, BMW, etc…
• Magna wanted get into e-car components / motor for auto industries, such as GM and Ford
• Magna purchased Bionx to gain electric motor technologies in 2008
• There was a project arrangement between Bionx and GM to develop some type electric car motor
• Bionx was unable to deliver the project on term
• GM fined BionX for 4M+ penalty for breach of contract
• BionX was unable to pay for penalty, and this is one of the major reason why BionX went under
• There are will be 60 – 90 days to find a new buyer/investor, until then everything up in the air

And it looks like this was almost entirely correct. There is now actually a ton of public information about this currently available on the Grant Thorton website which has all of the court proceedings between BionX and GM that sheds light on the fallout of that relationship.
https://www.grantthornton.ca/en/service/advisory/creditor-updates/#Bionx-Canada-Inc

It makes for some very interesting reading in how big business contracts can go south. The project was not for an electric car motor but for 8000 pieces of a new mid-drive system for an electric bike that GM was having produced by a "Chinese Manufacturer". Here is a summary document
https://docs.grantthornton.ca/document-folder/viewer/docul8LWsxcWho7J/155154572582424181?_ga=2.133288590.1077876087.1524040747-1654375964.1524040747

And a much more detailed one that is for a legal document pretty readable.
https://docs.grantthornton.ca/document-folder/viewer/docul8LWsxcWho7J/147031830189417194?_ga=2.58897069.1077876087.1524040747-1654375964.1524040747

The Ebike Program.jpg
GM Middrive System.jpg
Beta Program.jpg

etc.
 
Jeebus, welcome to N. American business acumen.
 
Appears there might have been some slight problems with the collaboration, too bad, a lot of us would like to buy a made in N. America drive system. Look for a new movie coming soon to a theater near you-"Who Killed The Electric Bike?"
 
Itelectric said:
• Magna purchased Bionx to gain electric motor technologies in 2008
• There was a project arrangement between Bionx and GM to develop some type electric car motor
• Bionx was unable to deliver the project on term
GM fined BionX for 4M+ penalty for breach of contract
• BionX was unable to pay for penalty, and this is one of the major reason why BionX went under

• There are will be 60 – 90 days to find a new buyer/investor, until then everything up in the air

Sounds to me like the company has been looted if it cant pay the 4 million dollar fine.
Good ridden's
 
Cephalotus said:
A member of the German Pedelecforum posted this "emergency solution" if you do not have a BionX battery.

If you do that the console takes longer to react, you lose the battery gauge and the clock.

sadly also recuperation will not work.

Maybe deactivating code 3774 (overvolt protection) could help?

I assume(!!!) that battery voltage up to 60V should be possible on the "newer" BionX motors built from 2010...

I don't now if the "soft start" function on the built in controller still works. (slow precharging of the capacitors)

BionX_BMS_Ersatzschaltung_ElektrischerAufbau.PNG

I'm not sure you need the +5V - I'm not sure where the CAN High line comes from. It wouldn't surprise me if it was from the battery pack, though...

Regen not working is no surprise, the controller can't know the battery state and if it's safe to push more current in.

But, yes, that looks quite reasonable and I've been messing with that sort of thing myself as well.
 
tomjasz said:
Jeebus, welcome to N. American business acumen.

Partnering with GM? That seems like something you'd only do if you were a big enough player to take over the remnants after they destroy themselves.

Any bike industry business that's stupid enough to collaborate with a stinking car business deserves to fail.
 
I guess GM was hoping for Bionix proprietary systems expertise, so that no one but themselves could fix their cars or supply replacement parts. :mrgreen:

My last car was a Buick Century. It’s been rotting for so long that a 30 ft tree with an 8 inch trunk had grown through.

I still have a running ´69 Landcruiser though, that my neighbour is using as a tractor sometimes. I hadn’t sat in it since 1997. :wink:
 
MadRhino said:
´69 Landcruiser though, that my neighbour is using as a tractor sometimes. I hadn’t sat in it since 1997. :wink:
My dream vehicle. Diesel Landcruiser. Car, truck, tractor, stump puller, snow day rescue vehicles, and all round best vehicle I ever owned. Nearly impossible to find except a few in Canada. It ran like champ on Jet A.
 
Syonyk said:
Cephalotus said:
A member of the German Pedelecforum posted this "emergency solution" if you do not have a BionX battery.

If you do that the console takes longer to react, you lose the battery gauge and the clock.

sadly also recuperation will not work.

Maybe deactivating code 3774 (overvolt protection) could help?

I assume(!!!) that battery voltage up to 60V should be possible on the "newer" BionX motors built from 2010...

I don't now if the "soft start" function on the built in controller still works. (slow precharging of the capacitors)

BionX_BMS_Ersatzschaltung_ElektrischerAufbau.PNG

I'm not sure you need the +5V - I'm not sure where the CAN High line comes from. It wouldn't surprise me if it was from the battery pack, though...

Regen not working is no surprise, the controller can't know the battery state and if it's safe to push more current in.

But, yes, that looks quite reasonable and I've been messing with that sort of thing myself as well.

From what I understood from reading here and there:
- Apparently you need the 5V to keep the console alive.
- The CAN High line and CAN Low are "communication signals" (into/out of the battery): they allow communication with the motor and console. The 260ohm is working as "termination resistor" (closing/terminating the CAN bus communication line. This way the battery is isolated from the communication loop).
Cheers,
Miguel
 
Not good news Cephalotus. Here's the latest report dated June 8, 2018. Looks like they've narrowed it down to three buyers to divide most of the assets. The top two appear to be auction houses. The entire document is 517 pages, mostly appendices. Click on "summary of the sale process" at table of contents then scroll down to "the results of sale process .

https://goo.gl/iZhPxj

"101. The Accepted Purchasers and the respective Parcel Offers are summarized as follows:

(a) Crescent Commercial Corporation: Parcels 8 to 24;
(b) 7575289 Canada Inc.: Parcels 2, 3, and 5; and
(c) Amego Electric Vehicles Inc.: Parcel 1."
 
BobG said:
(a) Crescent Commercial Corporation: Parcels 8 to 24;

Well these parcels include all the goodies from the perspective of a budding ebike manufacturing company. Hopefully Crescent Commercial's auction process allows for online registration and bidding!
 
Just posted to the BionX electric bike Owners group on FacePlant (sp?)...

BionX stores in Europe will be continued

Dear Distributors & Dealers,

We would like to inform you about the current state of insolvency of BionX Canada.

Since February 27, 2018, BionX Canada Inc., based in Aurora, Canada, is under bankruptcy administration. At the beginning of June, individual assets of BionX Canada were sold to three independent companies. The business in North America should not be continued according to the current state.

By contrast, BionX GmbH continues to do business. Important parts, such as the subsidiary itself as well as licenses, name and production rights and the software are still for sale. The European headquarters in Haar near Munich is currently working under pressure on a relocation of engine production. The delivery of batteries has already been successfully directed to Europe. Spare parts deliveries and warranty claims can continue to be guaranteed with only a few restrictions. BionX Europe GmbH, based in Weiz, Austria, is closed.
 
Welp.

Gonna be an awful lot of pissed North American owners with dead systems here in the next few years.
 
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