New E-mobility hall provides a glimpse of a promising future for the bicycle

Jul 05, 2018

New trade show concept for the Eurobike Rothaus Hall / A1 - Cargo bike area - Prominent names among the exhibitors

How is the E-bike contributing to the transformation of transportation? What are the consequences of digital revolution for the bicycle, which largely still remains an analog product? And how is the bicycle revolutionizing logistics in the inner city? Answers to these and other exciting questions will be available in concentrated form from July 8 - 10, 2018 at the new E-mobility hall, Hall A-1, at this year’s Eurobike.

"In the bicycle market, E-mobility is not just wishful thinking or a vision of the future, but the reality that we live every day, as E-bikes continue to conquer the market. In Germany and other European countries, the market for E-bikes is growing by leaps and bounds. Not only more and more commuters and families are discovering that E-bikes are a very impressive means of transport, but increasingly commercial users are as well,” reports Dirk Heidrich from Messe Friedrichshafen, which organizes the Eurobike. Analogous to their success in the marketplace, providers of E-bikes and their respective system components have been booking more and more exhibition space at the bicycle industry’s leading international trade show for several years. Now, with a new focus for the Rothaus Hall, Hall A1, this trade show at Lake Constance is giving the subject of E-mobility a stage of its own at a central, prominent location.

There, visitors to the Eurobike will find a high concentration of international market leaders, but also some newcomers in the E-bike segment. Thus, for example, systems provider Sachs Micro Mobility is exhibiting its first solutions for the E-bike market at the show. So far, the new joint venture, which is a partnership between Magura, BrakeForceOne and ZF, has kept silent about its premiere as a Eurobike exhibitor, but in industry circles automotive supplier ZF is already being talked about as a new player in the E-bike segment.

But the other names in the new E-mobility hall also read like a who’s who of the international vehicle and transportation industry. In the immediate vicinity of Sachs Micro Mobility alone, companies like BMZ Drive Systems, Brose, ContiTech, Marquardt, Matra, Oechsler and Schaeffler, among others, are showing off the new products for the Eurobike. Other well known names from the E-bike world in Hall A1 are, for example, Bafang, BESV, BionX, Diavelo, Fazua and MyStromer.

Besides E-bikes and systems components, the Cargo Bike Area is another thematic focal point in the E-mobility hall that holds great potential for the future. "In a study, the European experts network Cyclelogistics [1] calculated that more than half of private and commercial deliveries in inner cities could be shifted to cargo bikes with electric drives. The potential from cargo bikes to help achieve climate goals is enormous: If only one in 1000 inner city delivery runs could be shifted to bicycles, the EU would save more than 37,000 tons of CO² annually,” explains Eurobike project leader Dirk Heidrich.

But concerns about environmental protection are not the only thing that is leading logistics providers and tradesmen, among others, to increasingly climb onto bikes in urban areas.  With loads of up to 150 kg in some cases, cargo bikes offer only marginally lower performance than a comparable conventionally powered vehicle, yet take up much less space and are more maneuverable in inner-city traffic.

Deutsche Post AG is at the forefront not just of the commercial application of E-bikes, but with its subsidiary Streetscooter has now also advanced to being a well respected manufacturer (and Eurobike exhibitor) of professional cargo bikes.  At the Cargo Bike Area in the E-mobility hall, Hall A1, more than 30 specialized manufacturers will exhibit their new products in this segment.

The 27th Eurobike is open from Sunday, July 8 to Tuesday, July 10, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and only for trade visitors and accredited journalists. More information is available at www.eurobike-show.com and www.facebook.com/eurobike.tradeshow.