Chris Cramer and Chris van Houdt, who’ve been pals for over 10 years, had a gathering 4 and a half years in the past and determined to start out a enterprise collectively. They needed to do one thing that may have a optimistic influence on the setting. Chris Cramer has CEO expertise in addition to management of enormous and multicultural groups, while Chris van Houdt has over 15 years of worldwide gross sales expertise at international corporations. During that assembly, the very first thing that got here to their thoughts was a bicycle, which they drew one on the white board together with some notes throughout their brainstorming session. As they continued their session on transformational enterprise fashions and functions for a bicycle-centered enterprise, just a few issues stood out:
- Bicycles today are increasingly electrical and subsequently want a battery
- The battery would want charging
iii. Widespread electrical car adoption (electrical vehicles, vans, buses and so on) would want native grid infrastructure upgrades
- Grids in most locations are primarily fossil gas powered
- Some locations have weak and intermittent grids
- Some locations are distant and fully off grid
They then settled on constructing an power environment friendly electrical cargo bicycle that has photo voltaic panels built-in on the cargo compartment. This meant that:
- The battery is charged from the solar while the bicycle is in use or at relaxation throughout the day
- Riders will get vital extra vary as they pedal
iii. Zero dependency of charging stations
- No must saturate the electrical energy grid
- Save on labor prices for charging/loading battery
After deciding on centering their enterprise on an eco-friendly photo voltaic powered cargo bicycle, they then sought to deal with some challenges confronted by enterprise operators whose operations contain the final mile supply and repair areas. They then checked out fixing probably the most distinguished issues within the B2B section akin to:
- Parking points in congested metropolis facilities
- High opex prices in gentle of the ever growing fossil gas costs
iii. Meeting targets for emission reductions and the enlargement of emission free zones in main European cities
- Addressing worker wellness and vitality as biking helps workers enhance their health and vitality
- But, most significantly need to contribute to a more healthy planet by lowering using fossil fuels throughout their final mile supply
They then proceeded to construct a crew that features a number of engineers who had beforehand gained photo voltaic automotive and photo voltaic boat racing competitions. Their cargo bicycle, now appropriately named the SunRider, has a 1.6 kWh lithium-ion battery charged utilizing the built-in 545 Wp photo voltaic PV panels. The cargo compartment can match 1 commonplace EU pallet and might carry as much as 150 kg. On a full battery the bicycle has a variety of about 100 km relying on route situations and utilization cycle. The 545W of photo voltaic panels on board imply that on good sunny days the battery will be totally charged from the photo voltaic panels, which offers an extra vary of 100 km and is nice for locations with weak and intermittent grids or distant off-grid areas as nicely.
SunRider can also be a member of the Alliance For Solar Mobility (ASOM), a cooperative worldwide platform to ascertain and foster the Solar Mobility Industry. Amongst others, SunRider additionally collaborates with Lightyear, TNO, and Sono Motors. Cargo bikes have been discovered to be quicker and far cleaner than conventional vans within the final mile logistics and distribution sectors. SunRider says that, in comparison with a typical diesel, it reduces CO2 emissions by 97.7%, and 83.5% in comparison with an ordinary again loader electrical cargo bike (grid charged).
Deloitte’s Discover the Future 2020 Predictions for UK Technology, Media and Telecommunications additionally summarizes the attraction of e-bikes. The battery help makes pedaling an entire lot simpler for longer. Average speeds on e-bikes will be as much as 50% increased in contrast with commonplace bikes. The battery help additionally makes acceleration on take-off a lot simpler after stops. Riders additionally get an influence enhance when going uphill, carrying heavy masses, dealing with headwinds, and in instances when a rider could encounter a mixture of all of those on the similar time. All of those coupled with real-time monitoring by way of apps make e-bikes, and particularly cargo variations, good for the house supply trade.
SunRider is already working with a number of huge gamers akin to IKEA, Vodafone Ziggo (Ziggo), and BENU pharmacies. Pharmacies are a key goal market, as medicines require velocity and cooled deliveries for big volumes of small packages.
Vodafone Ziggo says “the SunRider has a spacious cargo box in which the technicians can conveniently store their equipment and keep it waterproof. The exercise gained while pedaling will also help improve their health. But this bike has yet another benefit — it generates solar energy. Solar panels that convert the sun’s rays into energy have been fitted both to the sides and the top of the cargo box.”
They can even be capable of seize ‘big data’ en route, “the bike’s on-board equipment will record a whole host of data that will enable Vodafone Ziggo to work as effectively as possible. Not only will the equipment check which route is the most efficient one, how many kilometers the bike has covered, how fast the engineer is riding and how many calories he/she is consuming, for example, but it will also record things such as how much sunlight is available that day — and how much energy therefore needs to be generated.”
SunRider is concentrating on the worldwide marketplace for its self-charging photo voltaic cargo bicycle.
All pictures courtesy of SunRider
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