AVD & Work Bikes
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 09.15.05
Here be yet another pedal-powered cargo hauler. This one has the strange distinction of being hailed by Ford as the future of vehicle design. Work that one out! Originally made by the same company that fabricates that cool looking three-wheeler: the Windcheetah, AVD’s utility vehicles were last year bought by the German firm Work Bikes. And while they sort out the transition, we can admire one of their models — the quad bike, known as the Van (if out of London) or Cargo (if from Berlin). Perched atop the powered coated, steel frame, with its 7 speed hub drive is a commodious glassfibre storage canopy. This will absorb 1,200 litres of stuff, weighing up to 200kg. (Take a peek at a pic in the extended post to see what this all means.)
Add the optional lighting system and you’ll be lit up like a Christmas tree — headlights, taillights and even turning indicators. Not exactly speed demons, but they can have electric motors fitted for an extra 50% grunt, when needed. € 4800 for the basic model. Oh yeh, and we loved the user story of gardener, Michael Waugh, who swapped his Ford Transit for an open topped version. He reckoned it was faster through city traffic, no fuel, or road insurance costs, could be taken right to the worksite and even generated increased business. But we couldn’t pass up the one that became a delivery van for premium homemade food company: NinComSoup. What a delicious business name. ::AVD (English) and ::Work Bikes (Deutsch)
I like it, but it's $5500 USD. It's a bit on the spendy side. Got anything for us poor folk?
-mt
How's about $200-300 for a Xtracyle bike extension or one of the many bike trailers we aggregated into a post back here.
its a powder-coated steel frame, not power-coated
It may be expensive as a one-time purchase, but not compared to a car, and certainly much less so in terms of secondary costs, i.e. fuel etc. However, it would be a great vehicle to rent for those occasions you need that extra hauling space and power...
Interesting comment about Ford from the website. Since they're dumping their trucks for less than USD 13000 now, I'm sure they're seeing where things are going.
Great looking idea.
How about an enclosed cab and I'd be sold.
Jesse, in the FAQ on their site, they explain the many reasons why they don't do this.
Q. Can you make an enclosure for the driver?
A. We have a lot of experience using full body shells on human powered vehicles; in fact we have a string of world records to our credit. Full enclosures on pedal vehicles bring problems with heat generation, condensation, visibility and interior noise. We do offer a partial canopy that will keep off the worst of the weather. When used with our driver fairing this will give good protection with no visibility or condensation problems and is a good compromise for use on pedal or electric versions.
I agree, it's a bike afterall. They shouldn't cost that much to produce. Have you priced bicycles at your local dept. store lately? They aren't very expensive.
What I do like is that you can travel without poluting and not be in as much hazard on the streets.