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21. August 2020The bicycle startup Swapfiets will soon deliver its bicycles in several cities using the Carla Cargo bicycle trailer. Other partners in this sustainable project include the battery and energy service providers GreenPack and Swobbee. More cities, including those abroad, are set to follow.
(Berlin/Freiburg) Cycling is the best way to get around quickly and environmentally friendly. The startup Swapfiets makes carefree bicycle use easier for its members with its innovative subscription model. Thanks to the new cooperation with Carla Cargo, the sustainability balance is further improved: Swapfiets bicycles are now sustainably delivered in some cities using the Carla, the electric cargo trailer for heavy loads.
Each Carla Replaces a Car
Until now, the rental bicycles from Swapfiets were delivered to members using conventional transporters. In Berlin, Cologne, Bonn, Münster, Mainz, and Hamburg, this is now a thing of the past: Starting now, 6 Carla trailers are in operation in these cities to transport the practical bicycles emissions-free – bicycle delivery by bicycle! The innovative cargo trailer can carry 4 Swapfiets bicycles, which are safely transported thanks to the bicycle carrier module BILLY BIKE developed by Carla Cargo. In Berlin, the Carla delivers Swapfiets bicycles 6 days a week and travels about 45 kilometers per day. Each trailer replaces a car. Next, thanks to Carla, bicycles will also be delivered by bicycle in London, Paris, and Milan.
In addition to the environmental benefits, there are further advantages: The agile Carla is often faster in city operations and significantly saves on acquisition and ongoing operating costs compared to expensive diesel transporters. The innovative cargo trailer can be mounted on any bicycle, transforming it into a modern cargo bike with just a few adjustments. With a load capacity of up to 150 kilograms, even heavy loads are no problem for the Carla.
Sustainable Bicycle Logistics on the Last Mile
To be prepared for every topography, the electrically assisted Carla is equipped with powerful interchangeable batteries from GreenPack, which can easily handle daily travel distances. The batteries can be easily swapped out as needed, allowing the fleet to be in operation around the clock. Thanks to the GreenPack battery, the e-cargo trailers also connect to the innovative swapping stations from SWOBBEE, the first manufacturer-independent battery charging and swapping system for electric light vehicles in Europe, developed by GreenPack. What Swapfiets is for bicycles, SWOBBEE is for batteries: customers rent the battery along with power and service. SWOBBEE stations are already available in Berlin, Freiburg, and other cities in Germany, enabling quick and easy battery swaps. More cities in Germany and abroad will follow, as the Berlin-based battery-as-a-service provider aims to become the central power station for micromobility.
“Carla is the efficient last-mile solution for bike sharing, bicycle rental companies, and bicycle subscription providers. With Carla, it has never been easier to deliver bicycles, collect defective bikes, and return them after repairs,” explains David Hansen, CMO of Carla Cargo.
“The successful collaboration with Carla Cargo is a real enrichment for our concept and the perfect solution to transport Swapfiets as environmentally friendly as possible. If local infrastructure and logistics allow, we will also use e-cargo bikes in other cities in the future, bringing us closer to our vision of livable cities,” says Richard Burger, founder of Swapfiets.
Tobias Breyer, CMO of GreenPack and SWOBBEE, adds: “We are very pleased to contribute with our standardized swap batteries to ensure that Swapfiets can operate even more sustainably and efficiently in the future. In conjunction with an intelligent swapping infrastructure, e-cargo bikes and e-cargo trailers are the future of urban logistics and the environmentally friendly solution to many traffic-related problems.”
Photo: © Swapfiets
www.swapfiets.de www.carlacargo.de https://swobbee.de www.greenpack.de
About Swobbee
Swobbee, as a leading Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider, supports companies in the micromobility sector in realizing an efficient and sustainable energy infrastructure. The brand belonging to the Berlin startup GreenPack mobile energy solutions GmbH aims to establish a mobile and sustainable energy network to actively shape the energy and mobility transition. In addition to comprehensive BaaS services, Swobbee offers the first manufacturer-independent battery-sharing system in Europe with its Battery Swapping System (BSS). This allows corporate and location partners to use numerous electric mobility applications, such as e-cargo bikes, electric scooters, e-kickscooters, and gardening machines, in a risk-free, cost-benefit optimized manner.
About Carla Cargo
The trailer concept of Carla Cargo was founded in 2015 to enable community-supported agriculture in Freiburg to deliver its grown vegetables in an environmentally friendly manner by bicycle. The cargo trailers have a loading area of 165 x 65 centimeters and can transport loads of up to 150 kilograms. As an electrified Carla, the cargo trailer has its own motor and battery, making it easy to achieve large ranges. The concept was designed by engineer Markus Bergmann, who hails from Zwickau. Five years ago, he founded the startup in the Freiburg incubator Grünhof, which now produces in Kenzingen and employs over ten people. In the early days, ecological farms in Germany were the first customers of Carla Cargo. However, demand quickly grew from couriers, craftsmen, and micro-entrepreneurs. Today, companies from the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Ireland, the UK, and Scandinavia are also among the customers of Carla Cargo.
