Conceptual Development of a Multi-Functional Cargo Bike
Challenges to Explore:
Cost: Cargo bikes remain relatively expensive to purchase and repair. While production costs and prices are dropping as the industry scales, the practice by large companies of making their products proprietary continues to drive up both purchase and repair costs. The “right to repair” movement provides a glimpse of what ethically made products should aspire to be.
Utility: The use cases for cargo bikes are still limited today. Many potential applications remain unexplored.
Size: The larger size of cargo bikes limits their practicality. Storing, parking, and transporting them by train, car, or airplane presents design challenges that have emerged in recent cargo bike iterations. However, there is still room for improvement.
Why: I am passionate about the challenge and potential of engineering, and I have a particular love for bikes, especially cargo bikes. Not only are they the most efficient means of transportation and cargo movement, but I also see them as “happiness machines.” It’s hard to feel down while riding a bike. Cargo bikes have come a long way in recent years, thanks to advances in neodymium magnet manufacturing for the computer industry, which have made electric motors lighter, more powerful, and more affordable. These improvements have enabled cargo bikes to carry heavier loads, travel further, and require less effort. Now, it’s time to take the cargo bike concept to the next level.
Through multiple iterations and years of testing, this concept has taken shape and is already in use. The goal is to make it a commercially available product, as well as an open-source design. More work is still needed.
Guy Hazwi
Berlin
