10,000 people have reserved VanMoof's 50km/h e-bike

by Alex Bowden Jan 24 2022

5 comments

VanMoof is launching a 50km/h e-bike and it wants new speed limits to accommodate it — VanMoof V.jpg, by VanMoof

Top speed exceeds current limits for both e-bikes and S-pedelecs

When the 50km/h VanMoof V was first announced last year, the Dutch firm simultaneously called for Europe’s e-bike speed limits to be updated. This was because the bike will be able to exceed not just the 25km/h limit for e-bikes you can ride without a licence but also the 45km/h limit for speed pedelecs. It’s an odd way to launch an e-bike, but customers seem relatively unfazed by the situation with the firm claiming that over 10,000 reservations have so far been made.

Billed as a ‘hyperbike’ for long commutes, VanMoof says the V has been designed for a “bike-first future.”

“I believe this new type of high-speed e-bike can fully replace scooters and cars in the city by 2025,” said co-founder Ties Carlier.

Germany is reportedly the leading market, accounting for a third of the reservations, followed by the US and the Netherlands close behind.

It only costs $20 to reserve the bike, so it’s not the biggest commitment. Nevertheless, that 10,000 figure is still pretty striking considering the bike was only announced in October.

> VanMoof is launching a 50km/h e-bike and it wants new speed limits to accommodate it

“Getting such a large number of reservations in such a short period of time shows the incredible public appetite for a true car replacement in our everyday city lives,” said Carlier.

“With traffic levels now back up to pre-pandemic figures this mass turning point can’t come soon enough. We’re so excited at the fresh potential this bike represents. The V will upend the hierarchy of our roads.”

The suggestion that e-bike speed limits should be altered is contentious however – even within the e-bike industry.

Bosch eBike Systems CEO Claus Fleischer has previously referred to the 25km/h limit as “our treasure,” arguing that it allows for electric bikes to remain legislatively equal to conventional bikes without licencing or insurance requirements.

There’s no particular sign of limits being changed anywhere in time for VanMoof V deliveries starting later this year. The firm does however promise integrated speed settings that can be set to match different countries’ regulations.

That measure brings to mind BMW’s ‘adaptive mobility’ e-bike pitch, where a vehicle would be automatically limited to 25km/h on cycle lanes but would have the capacity to do electric moped speeds on the road.

Priced at £2,998, the VanMoof V will sit above more conventional 25km/h e-bikes in the firm’s range.

You can read our review of the VanMoof S3 here. It’s a pretty good bike.

Author block

Alex Bowden

Alex has been editor of ebiketips since 2021. He previously contributed news, reviews and more to road.cc and has also had a parallel (largely lapsed) career writing about cricket for various publications.

5 comments

Sriracha 2 years 8 months ago

Not really pedantry, unless you'd consider a moped to be just a petrol assisted bicycle. It is a categorical difference, which is quite different from hair-splitting pedantry. So this vanmoof is well over the other side of the line, it is more akin to an electrically powered moped than an electrically assisted bicycle. The difference is important too, because it draws a line between vehicles which share enough in common with bicycles to fall under the same legislative treatment, from those which don't. Vanmoof is looking to blur that boundary through the language they use, and that needs to be plainly seen, not dismissed as merely pedantic quibbling.

EddyBerckx 2 years 8 months ago

It's a great looking bike and I have great sympathy for the idea put forward by BMW of all companies that you can have a bike ride at 30mph (or similar) on the roads but then restricted to 15.5mph on the cyclepath. Not sure if the technology is there for that but it would help longer distances commuters like myself...but...

...wouldn't you need a motorbike helmet at 30mph speeds? That wouldn't be so nice on the bike path

chrisonatrike 2 years 8 months ago

The trajectory of companies eyeing a less car-full (or at least a more electric) future is no more likley to include concern about the wellbeing of people and a pleasant environment for all than they've demonstrated before. The effects on those not using their products are certainly not that important.

So not really news. If we ever manage in the UK to get a decent number of "ordinary people" on bikes and give them specific infra, obviously some company will be offering a "go-faster" solution or something else that no-one foresaw. Bit like how the microcars have become a fad among the non-disabled in some parts of The Netherlands.

As to the idea however - mixed feelings. Extra distance in given time could be a real decision maker for some people (I'm guessing commuters). Looks like less negatives than cars (including "emit elsewhere" electric ones). These - like electric scooters - probably don't herald the apocalypse.

But they certainly could be an additional headache just when we don't need obstacles to people cycling / wheeling. I've had illegal electric bikes fly by me in the UK and that was almost less pleasant than cars. Doubtless some of the riders will be ill-equipped to handle the speed and will damage themselves and others.

Not that the market cares nor does anyone care for my thoughts but this doesn't look like the solution to a problem we currently have to me - stick with bikes, pedelecs and s-pedelecs which are legally motorbikes here. We certainly can design for and expect reasonable speeds though. For example I think you might have a reasonable fraction of the cost of a velomobile if you want to go fast and can afford one of these!

Secret_squirrel 2 years 8 months ago

Hmm. I think your pedantry is getting the better of you here. e-bike is a generic term the correct terms are pedelec and s-pedelec. The article is essentially correct in calling it an e-bike.

Sriracha 2 years 8 months ago

We complain about the deliberately misleading headlines in the gutter press, for example over the changes to the highway code. Please don't feel you have to join them with your own efforts - if it falls outside the legal definition of an e-bike then it is not an e-bike, by definition.

The text of the article is not much better and rehearses the same misunderstandings as we read in the MSM about how fast you can pedal on an e-bike.