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Rethinking the Form Factor of the Cargo Bike
A ground-up design for Dynamic Drives' Intelectra cargo e-bike
Most cargo bike designs are clearly evolutions of the standard bicycle design. However, a German mobility startup called Dynamic Drives started from scratch with their Intelectra, a cargo e-bike.
The first big difference is how you sit on it. While the standard cargo bike rider position is this…
…the Intelectra offers this:
The company reckons this recumbent seating position offers "faster entry and exit." (I'll leave that for experienced cyclists to debate.) With their chosen seating position established, it was a matter of adding a platform that could support their target payload: Standardized Euro boxes with a total weight capacity of 450kg (nearly 1,000 lbs) including the rider. This yielded the following form:
The bike is a pedelec; pedaling generates juice, helping to charge the battery that powers the motors on each rear wheel. The company says this chain-free design reduces maintenance needs. The battery can be additionally charged by plugging it in, and it takes about 1.5 hours to top it off. The bike's range is 93km (58 miles), and the top speed is capped at 25 km/h (15.5 mph).
It can be fitted out with options ranging from a passenger seat to lids to a Conestoga-wagon-like canopy.
Admittedly it's not the most dynamic-looking design, but it is form-follows-function, and I appreciate that the designers started from a blank page rather than incumbency.
If all goes right, these will hit the streets later this year.
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Comments
standing on the pedals only allows you to apply your body weight, the recumbent position allows you to brace your back against the seat, so you can apply way more power (if you have the leg strength)
Having cargo behind the driver, out of sight, means you will have to have lids for urban use - or you may arrive at your destination with no cargo remaining!
the form factor of the cargo what, sorry?
It's been done before. The prime example of a recumbent cargo bike is the Velove Armadillo. https://www.velove.se/electric-cargo-bike
It needs a front bumper for safety. Just tapping the wall in front will seriously injure you.
No you will not be seriously injured. (Speaking from experience with riding and crashing recumbents). You slide forward and your knees bend. You're not flying over your steering like with an upright bike.
As I recall, a reclining position allows a cyclist to apply more power to the pedals than the usual seated position but check with David Gordon Wilson's Bicycling Science.
Some trade-offs I think, there's no "standing on the pedals" possible in a recumbent position. Better aerodynamics, but that won't be much of a consideration here. I like the flexibility overall, but those non-spoked wheels seem clunky to me, I wonder what inspired that choice.
The non-spoked wheels were probably chosen for safety. This vehicle will be used at low speeds in potentially crowded areas, where spokes might catch clothing or the fingers of small children or passengers.