'Tesla e-bikes' goes bankrupt as bike boom collapses

VanMoof was known for producing e-bikes with minimal designs and high price tags. Photo: Andrew Crowley

Dutch electric bike maker «Tesla e-bikes» has been declared bankrupt as the wheels have pulled away from the pandemic bike boom.

VanMoof is headquartered in Amsterdam, whose minimalist design and tall the prices allowed the company to be repeatedly compared with Elon Musk's electric car. in the era of Covid, the company's sales have skyrocketed.

However, just two years after it raised $128m (£98m) from investors to spur expansion, it was out of business.

p>VanMoof was founded in 2009 by the Dutch brothers Taco and Tis Carlier. The company has approximately 700 employees worldwide and stores in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, London, Tokyo and New York. The company said it has sold about 200,000 e-bikes to date.

His e-bikes cost thousands of pounds in some cases. For example, one of her S5 bikes, billed as «ideal for controlled cruising and long rides,» costs £3,298.

It's models feature electric motors and automatic shifting systems. However, many of the parts used on his bikes are company property, which means that regular shops and mechanics are unable to fix them.

Demand for bikes is falling

The administrators were appointed by the Amsterdam District Court on Tuesday and are considering selling the business or its assets.

It is not yet clear how this will affect subsidiaries outside the Netherlands.

Reports for UK business VanMoof networks. a liability of £1.7 million at the end of December 2021, compared to £267,000 at the same date in the previous year.

VanMoof's bankruptcy comes as the UK bike market slump after record sales during pandemic time.

Electric bike sales have tripled in the five years to 2021, rising from 55,000 in 2017 to 160,000 in 2021, according to data experts. Mintel. However, sales are expected to be around 155,000 in 2022 as cyclists cut back on expensive purchases as the cost of living crisis begins, Mintel said.

Paul Davies, Category Director, Leisure Research, Mintel Reports . , said: «Cost is seen by consumers as the biggest barrier to e-bike sales, and the weakness of the pound is likely to push prices higher in this heavily import-driven market.»

«Although e-bike buyers, tend to be relatively wealthy, a protracted cost-of-living crisis and declining incomes are likely to delay purchasing decisions and some consumers will be forced out of the market on price.”

Mechanical bike sales have also fallen. , according to the Bicycle Association, it will fall by 22 percent in 2022, almost a third less than before the COVID-19 pandemic.