Design of an E-Cargo Bike

Abstract

A cargo bike is essentially a vehicle that is human powered and has provisions for the transportation of goods. Cargo bikes have been in use in different forms since the 1920s. Cargo bikes can also be referred to by different names depending on geographic location, context of use or even by the number of wheels it has, namely freight bicycle, carrier cycles, cargo trike, Long John, Long tail, Porteur bicycle, Bakfiets and rickshaw. These bikes have been used by various professionals like bakers, milkmen and delivery men in the past and have now been adopted by various professions like street vendors, advertising distributors, municipal garbage collectors as well as the urban parent. The post-modern urban transportation scene is taking a step back in history by embracing the cargo bike as a solution that is economical, sustainable and most importantly, fast. These bikes are quite popular in the cities of Copenhagen and Amsterdam; 25% of families in Copenhagen with 2 or 3 children own a cargo bike. Germany is seeing a rapid rise in interest for cargo bikes owing to the initiatives of the government. Many old and new cargo bike manufactures have a very fairly large market in the country. Several local cargo bike dealers and initiatives have helped in spreading awareness about them. Germany is also the biggest market presently for Van Raam bicycles. Van Raam presently designs and manufactures only special needs bikes. They have been approached by a German client, E-Motion Technologies to design and develop an electric cargo trike that can be sold in the German market. E-Motion Technologies have a very large network of dealers in Germany. Evaluating the market for cargo bikes in Germany, the marketing strength of E-Motion and the design & engineering capabilities at Van Raam this project is a strategic move forward for Van Raam in tapping a new market. Van Raam finds this opportunity as a starting point to expand their portfolio by introducing a new line of cargo bikes. This project illustrates the process of developing an electric cargo bike and finally presents the new cargo bike design.