{"id":10589,"date":"2021-12-10T15:38:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub"},"modified":"2021-12-10T15:44:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:44:06","slug":"how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub","title":{"rendered":"How this country became Europe’s cargo bike hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>When Grit Paulussen and her partner Matthias Bogus wanted to treat themselves to a rare evening out recently, they worked out a plan.<\/b><\/p>\n

The couple booked a babysitter for their two young children, reserved a table at a trendy new restaurant in their hometown, Munich, and took their version of luxury transport: a joint ride in their electric cargo bike.<\/p>\n

“Of course, we could have opted for the tube, a cab, or, our normal bikes,” Ms Paulussen explains. “But that evening we just wanted to celebrate our freedom, so it was clear to us that Matthias would ride the cargo bike and I would sit on the passenger seat – for us, that is pure bliss.”<\/p>\n

In their love of cargo bikes, the couple are part of a growing trend. Cargo bike sales in Europe grew by 38% in 2020 and are projected to grow by another 66% this year, according to a European cargo bike industry survey of 38 specialised producers.<\/p>\n

By far the largest European market is Germany, where the national Bike Association (ZIV) registered 103,000 cargo bikes sold in 2020.<\/p>\n

Germany ranks ahead of Denmark with 25,000, the Netherlands with 16,000 and France with 12,000 sold last year, says the European Bike Association (Conebi).<\/p>\n

Ms Paulussen explains that there are several things that she loves about her cargo bike. “It’s a green and swift way of getting around, I can comfortably chat to my kids who usually sit in the front, and thanks to the electric motor, I don’t even break a sweat.”<\/p>\n

The rising demand for green transport and the technological advances in e-bikes are widely seen as two crucial factors driving the trend. In the survey, cargo bike manufacturers report that last year 92% of their models sold were electric.<\/p>\n

That comes at a price, explains Philipp Runge, a sales adviser at Ahoi Velo, one of Germany’s largest cargo bike shops, based in Hamburg. The cheapest electric model in his shop starts at \u20ac3,800 ($4,280; \u00a33,210) .<\/p>\n

“But as cargo bikes become a life-style choice for some people, producers race to build the Rolls-Royce of the market,” he explains.<\/p>\n

One example is the recently released Ca Go, featuring an electronic gearbox, a crash cushioned box, cable steering for tighter turning and folding seats with vibration absorption and adjustable headrests. With all optional extras it costs more than \u20ac10,000.<\/p>\n

“Of course, our bike wasn’t cheap”, concedes Mr Paulussen. “But it allows us to do without a car, which would be a lot more expensive, and luckily, it was subsidised with a \u20ac1,000 by the city of Munich.”<\/p>\n

Several other countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Belgium, now also offer subsidies, say advocacy group European Cyclists’ Federation.<\/p>\n

Yet, the subsidy schemes are often organised in a confusing way. In Germany and Austria alone, there are more than 100 communal and regional schemes, says Arne Behrensen of German pressure group cargobike.jetzt.<\/p>\n

“Some, like that in Munich, are longstanding and well-run,” he says. “But all in all, the local fragmentation is extremely inefficient, as every city, or region, has to design, calculate and administer its own framework – which often run out after a few months.”<\/p>\n

Last year, when Hamburg dedicated \u20ac700,000 to subsidise 33% of any newly purchased cargo bike in the city, the money was used up in less than 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

“The same thing had previously happened in Berlin”, says Mr Behrensen. “At worst, such short-lived chaos throws the industry into disarray, by creating demand spikes and inducing disappointed applicants to put off their bike purchase till the start of a later scheme.”<\/p>\n

Mr Behrensen wants to see more efficient national programmes, as recently introduced in France.<\/p>\n

But things are improving, when Germany expanded a scheme for commercially used cargo bikes in March, in little over six months, more than 2,000 applications for subsidies had been approved – almost five times more than in the whole of 2020.<\/p>\n

Bike dealer Philip Runge says that, up until a few years ago, commercial customers made up only about 10% of his clients. Today they make up about 35%. “We’re even opening a second shop in Hamburg, focusing on heavy-duty bikes for commercial clients such plumbers, dry cleaners, nursing homes or bars and restaurants.”<\/p>\n

Commercial and private cargo bikes are evolving really, says Mr Runge. Manufacturers are starting to produce tailored components – such as the first cargo-specific tyre, by Schwalbe, which combines shock absorption and sturdiness; engines with more torque by Bosch, Shimano or Brose; more robust brakes and wheels, inspired by the automotive industry.<\/p>\n

“More and more expertise, know-how and design elements from the car industry are now moving into cargo-bikes”, explains Arne Behrensen of cargobike.jetzt, Volkswagen and BMW among them.<\/p>\n

The Ono, one of the most advanced heavy-duty cargo bikes available for commercial use, has a weather protected driver’s cabin, radio frequency identification device (RFID) locks for the vehicle, plus batteries that can be replaced within seconds at exchange stations. It also has a freight-carrying capacity of 200kg (440lb).<\/p>\n

It is hoped this type of vehicle – combining van comforts with the ecological flexibility of a bike – might induce the same feeling in delivery drivers, that Grit Paulussen has on her own cargo-bike: a sense of unusual freedom and pure bliss.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. When Grit Paulussen and her partner Matthias Bogus wanted to treat themselves to a rare evening out recently, they worked out a plan. The couple booked a babysitter for their two young children, reserved a table at a trendy new restaurant in their hometown, Munich, and took their version of luxury transport: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-10589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nHow this country became Europe's cargo bike hub - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Grit Paulussen and her partner Matthias Bogus wanted to treat themselves to a rare evening out recently, they wo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How this country became Europe's cargo bike hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Grit Paulussen and her partner Matthias Bogus wanted to treat themselves to a rare evening out recently, they wo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-10T15:38:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-10T15:44:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2021\/12\/img-61b375af45bd0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"549\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"How this country became Europe’s cargo bike hub\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-10T15:38:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-10T15:44:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\"},\"wordCount\":883,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2021\/12\/img-61b375af45bd0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/how-this-country-became-europes-cargo-bike-hub\",\"name\":\"How this country became Europe's cargo bike hub - 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