ADAC stands for Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, and it is precisely this ADAC that has been making a strong case for cyclists for a few months now. With some wooden slogans like "Yes, mia san with the e-bike there" or "Simply relaxed electrified", the commercial branch of the club, the ADAC SE, launched a pilot project in Munich in July with the aim of finding out, "like electromobility fits into everyday life on two wheels ". This is how Mahbod Asgari, CEO of ADAC SE, formulated it at the launch in July.
Under the title "e-Ride", ADAC members can initially subscribe to an e-bike only in Munich. You get the city pedelec delivered free house, a briefing in functionality and technology and pay for it monthly from 89 euros upwards, depending on the duration of the contract. Six months are the minimum. The price includes a fully comprehensive insurance and an on-site service. There is also a one-off entry fee of 198 euros. "According to the current state, we will make the offer available throughout Germany," says ADAC spokesman Christian Buric. Maybe also for non-members.
Bike sharing has been around for a long time. But renting the bike over a longer period of time instead of only spontaneously mounting on a Nextbike or Call-a-Bike is new to the market. Nobody gets shared anymore: the customer receives a bicycle that feels like his own, says Sven-Ulrik Schneider, co-founder of Smafo. The start-up from Gütersloh has been offering subscriptions for e-bikes since the end of 2018 - previously in Paderborn, Bielefeld and Gütersloh. While classic bike sharing "completely shuns smaller towns and rural areas," the concept of subscriptions also works beyond the metropolitan areas. Sharing bikes are rarely available at the last stop on the outskirts, but the rental bike can be parked everywhere.
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Bicycles on subscription: Paradies für SchraubermuffelSmafo is only the youngest and smallest player in the market niche just opening up between the classic bicycle trade and the bike-sharing companies operating in Germany since 2000. The largest suppliers currently come from Radlerland Holland: the start-ups Swapfiets and VanMoof, who have so far priced out bicycles without battery drive in regular operation, but are also electrifying their further course of action. "The offer with e-bikes will be rolled out in all German locations next year," says Swapfiets CEO Steven Uitentuis.
Conveniently ride the Hollandrad classic by subscription
Swapfiets was founded in 2014 by students in the Dutch city of Delft and has been represented in Germany since March 2018, meanwhile the city bikes are available from the cooperation partner and manufacturer Gazelle in more than German cities. Their distinguishing feature: the blue front tire and a front luggage rack. VanMoof made first with his clean Urban-Bikes to buy attention, also since 2018 can rent a VanMoof "Smart Bike" in the monthly cycle also.
The offers are similar: the customer pays a running fee and uses the bike, virgin or repaired returns exclusively. At Swapfiets regular 19.50 euros are due monthly, at VanMoof it is 25 euros plus a "key fee" mentioned start fee of 98 euros. Smafo collects for his low-entry E-City bike with 100 kilometers range and the battery on the rear rack monthly 59 Euro Euro, the entry fee is also 59 Euro.
Bicycle detectives are part of the offer at a provider
But the providers promise an all-round carefree package. If the secured bike is stolen, Swapfiets will give you 60 euros excess, and Smafo 120 euros. At VanMoof try our own "Bike Hunter" for a fee of 100 € to find the wheel again, it has built a GPS transmitter. If it is not found, the customer gets replacement after 14 days.
For Schraubermuffel the offers are paradise. If something goes wrong, companies take care of it free of charge, even if only one disk needs to be fixed. "Even the smallest repairs should only be done by our team, which is the purpose of our 'Bicycle as a Service' model," says Swapfiets co-founder Uitentuis. If there is a problem, a local employee will contact you within 24 hours. "The swapfiet will be repaired or exchanged for a working model within 10 minutes."
Similar service is offered by Smafo and the ADAC. At VanMoof, the customer must visit a branch in case of problems, but there are no additional costs. However, VanMoof operates a bicycle shop in Germany only in Berlin. There are eight worldwide, including in addition to the headquarters in Amsterdam in New York and Tokyo.
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According to ADAC spokesman Buric, the benefit of bicycle subscriptions is that you do not have to invest a lot of money. This is a major argument for e-bikes, because they quickly cost several thousand euros: "Capital expenditure or financing is eliminated, so a subscription can be the right combination if you want to use a high-quality model of a lifestyle provider at a reasonable cost ", Buric said.
Nobody wants to commit
Although the customer can not put together an individual model to the last component other than when buying, but believes the company, that does not stop the customers. Smafo is happy, according to own data about an "overwhelming demand". For 2020, two to three additional locations are planned. Swapfiets has more than 30,000 subscribers at its German locations alone and plans to expand in other German cities as well as in Denmark and Belgium. And VanMoof spokeswoman Karlijn Marchildon says: "Germany is our fastest growing market." Meanwhile, more customers drive a VanMoof subscription than a purchased bike.
According to the Berlin mobility researcher Andreas Knie bike rental operate a social trend: "You do not want to commit with an investment good, especially if it is higher quality - but you want to use it." In this sense, according to him, also load e-bikes or typically only short-used children's bicycles could meet on demand as Aboräder. Stephan Rammler from the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment in Berlin sees the biggest market potential in the "student milieu" and among the "neo-nomads", as he says. "These are highly mobile people who live in multiple places and no longer need private property."
However, the experts are also on the brakes. "The market is not that big," says Rammler. Potential venture capitalists who could provide money to other providers would have to look very closely. And Andreas Knie says that, like bike sharing, it could take a few more years for the concept to emerge from the niche: "But can the providers withstand it for so long?" It would also be conceivable that the wheels of the providers become "rolling salesrooms." Following the motto: try it out before you buy it quite old-fashioned - an option that the ADAC already offers after the end of the subscription period for security.
