VanMoof is continuing into the new year. The brand new owners of the electric bike brand are planning to launch a lot of new products already next year. We have listed for you what you can expect from “VanMoof 2.0.
2023 was a chaotic year for VanMoof. And that’s another understatement. After major problems, the manufacturer ended up in bankruptcy. But last summer it was announced that the company will be taken over and restarted.
The Verge spoke with new leaders Elliot Wertheimer, Albert Nassar and Nick Fry. They gave a sneak preview of what we can expect from the new VanMoof in 2024, and that’s more than electric bikes.
Millions in investment
There’s no question that the new leaders face quite a challenge. There is a plus, though: the original company went bankrupt this year with millions in debt. But those don’t have to be paid off.
Still, it is expected to take a lot of time and money to make the relaunch a success. Fry thinks it will take at least three years before VanMoof 2.0 can stand on its own two feet. Before then, the company will have to invest heavily. The new owners expect to invest tens of millions in VanMoof 2.0.
Purple Fog (Image: VanMoof)
Repair service
VanMoof will soon make parts available for repairing electric bikes. Workshops of other companies can use these parts to repair bikes. Instead of running service hubs themselves, VanMoof will partner with stores.
The new management wants the new products to be more reliable and easier to maintain. They want to make bikes that can be serviced in as little as 20 minutes. That way they want to avoid people having to wait for a long time, as with the old VanMoof.
VanMoof electric bikes of even higher quality
In addition to being VanMoof’s new CEO, Nick Fry is also a top executive at parent company McLaren Applied. That company is also a regular supplier for Formula 1 parts. The owners also want to apply that knowledge in new electric bikes.
“How do you win in Formula 1 and win in auto racing? You win by efficiency,” Fry says. “What you get very good at is making things that are as light as possible, as small as possible and as efficient as possible.”
The first images of the new scooter (Image: VanMoof)
VanMoof will also launch an electric scooter for the first time in 2024. That will hopefully hit the market in the first half of the new year. Initially, the electric bike manufacturer will focus on the European market. But the company will later re-expand to the US as well.
