In-wheel permanent-magnet brushless DC motor drive for an electric bicycle

This paper presents the design of an axial-field permanent-magnet (PM) brushless dc motor drive for use on an electric bicycle. Details of the motor and the electronic converter are given. Performance analysis using the finite element method is briefly discussed. A prototype motor was constructed for verifying the actual performance. Good correlation between the theoretical and experimental results has been obtained. Test results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed motor design.