Can Mahle’s M40 e-MTB motor challenge DJI’s dominance?

MBR tests the new Mahle M40 e-bike system on a prototype carbon frame with no name. The motor we tested was pre-production but he still came away impressed.

Mahle’s M40 e-bike motor system consists of a relatively compact 2.5kg mid-drive motor capable of delivering 850watts peak power and 105Nm torque. Basically the exact same numbers that Amflow and DJI delivered with the Avinoix M1 motor at launch, before increasing peak power to 1000watts. The new Mahle M40 system even uses a similar Hall-ring speed sensor with 84 pick-up points to get the most accurate data from the rear wheel.

Mahle offers the M40 system with two internal batteries: the iM5 534Wh battery weighs 2.5kg, while the iM8 800Wh battery is 3.8kg. The bike I rode had the 800Wh battery fitted, and complete with Ohlins suspension and Maxxis Double Down casing tyres, the MX build weighed an impressive 21.14kg. Which makes it considerably lighter that the 25kg Pinion MGU Haibike gearbox e-bike that he range tested in MBR’s last video.

The head unit has a 1.9in colour display and the TRIO 3-button wireless controller makes it easy to navigate the onscreen metrics or swap between the three power modes. No silly names here, just Mode 1, 2 or 3. Simple! And because it’s an 48V system, the battery doesn’t D-rate and go into limp mode too quickly, so you still maintain a decent level of assistance even when the battery lever drops well below 10%. Not full beans until the lights go out, like the Gen 4 Specialized Turbo Levo, but pretty close.

I did have a few false endings to the range test though, as the system still provided assistance even when the battery level read zero. In the end, we managed to eke out 1,437m of vertical on a full charge of the 800Wh battey. That’s seven metres more than the original Amflow PL Carbon range test, but there’s not much in it at all.

To wrap it up, Mahle’s M40 system is competitive both on the trail and on the scale, but has it done enough to challenge DJI’s position as the best e-MTB motor? Time will tell. But if Mahle has managed to iron out the bugs for launch it’s definitely in the race. Hopefully we can get a production bike with the M40 system to test soon.