What’s black and yellow and has five smiling faces? A new Decathlon B’Twin F900E electric bike with four child-sized passengers riding up front. The new cargo e-bike has just launched, offering the minivan equivalent in the cargo e-bike world.
The B’Twin F900E uses a front-loading setup instead of the more common long tail design, featuring a bathtub-sized and shaped kid carrier up front. That big front bucket can fit up to three children strapped into its harnesses, and a fourth child can sit in a carrier on the rear rack of the bike.
The bike’s operator (at this point hopefully a responsible adult) gets control of the Brose S Mag motor, featuring 90 Nm of torque. That torque is extra important on cargo bikes, which tend to be loaded down more frequently. The Decathlon F900E can support up to 184 kg (405 lb) in cargo and passengers, so a bit of extra torque to get things rolling is always appreciated. And to keep all that weight stable, the bike features an extra wide double kickstand.
While front-loader cargo bikes are certainly larger than most standard e-bikes, the F900E still has a fairly small footprint and, of course it takes up considerably less road space than an SUV or van that would otherwise be used to transport four children.
Powering the motor is a 36V 17.5Ah battery with 630 Wh of capacity. The battery is removable, allowing it to be charged on or off the bike. A full charge takes around four hours.
According to the company, the battery is sufficient for between 40-80 km of range (25-50 miles). Designed for the European market, the F900E lacks a throttle and thus only operates on pedal assist, helping it achieve higher efficiency and thus more range on a modest-sized battery pack.
The top speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph) also helps with the efficiency, since higher speeds found in North American e-bikes usually result in lower ranges due to lower efficiency.
The family-sized cargo e-bike is available for £4,999 in the UK and €4,999 in the rest of Europe (roughly US $6,400 and $5,400, respectively). A rarity in the e-bike world, that price includes the bike coming fully equipped, meaning riders also get the rain cover and side access door for the passenger section, instead of those being held back as optional upgrades.
A free GPS-tracking service using the bike’s built-in GPS chip is included for one year. After that, the service costs an additional ~$2 per month.
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