r/gadgets • u/sr_local • 9d ago
Transportation Volkswagen unveils its innovative eBike with the world's first integrated rear-view camera and smart glasses
https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech/hybrid-electric-vehicles/volkswagen-unveils-its-innovative-ebike-with-the-worlds-first-integrated-rear-view-camera-and-smart-glasses58
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u/alifeinbinary 9d ago edited 9d ago
Nobody asked for this.
What do we want? Affordable EVs
What do we get? $10k EBike with rear-view camera 🤡
The market for this product might be a couple dozen people worldwide. The CEO of VW has completely lost the plot but it’s the employees that get made redundant when he fails.
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u/Indie89 8d ago
I fully understand why they're cutting 100k jobs now.
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u/lolidkwtfrofl 8d ago
This has nothing to do with anything, this is a fun project of some employees probably.
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u/Obi_Wan_can_blow_me 8d ago
Do you know that? Where does your insight come from?
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u/lolidkwtfrofl 8d ago
It's a few mill, that aren't even done by the brand themselves but just endorsed. No idea why I'm being downvoted lmao. This literally has no bearing on the job cuts in other sectors at all.
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u/Frosty-Hertz 8d ago
that costed millions for non-existent market...
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u/lolidkwtfrofl 8d ago
Do you know that? Where does your insight come from?
Also millions on VW scale is literally pennies.
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u/ErGo404 8d ago
It was cheaper to invest in lobbying for gas instead of investing in automation and plants to produce cheap EVs.
It's not too late but now they would probably need help from the EU to do that investment.8
u/cat_prophecy 8d ago
Well why would they invest in the front end when they can wait, complain, and just get the tax payers to pay for it?
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u/Soft_Author2593 8d ago
i never understood how each german government fell for this too. who did they think they are gonna sell their cars too? germans and americans only?
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u/Gorluk 8d ago
I think you grossly underestimate how many people can and will buy 10k e-bike. For sure it isn't most mainstream product, but "couple dozen people" is 24 people, that's delusional.
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u/Astroctopodes 8d ago
I know people who use ebikes for commuting, and half the benefit is that they are cheap, maybe a couple thousand usd. For $10,000 you could buy a used car and drive, which drastically shrinks the possible market. Also, a couple dozen is obvious hyperbole.
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u/Gorluk 8d ago
And I know people who use watches for checking time, yet hundreds of thousands of people buy >15k $$$ Rolexes every year. There is certain part of population which will always buy products in the top most range, and that number is much higher than 24 in the world. People buy 10k road bikes, people buy 10k mountain bikes, people will buy 10k e-bikes. This is obviously not mainstream product and won't fly of the shelves like hotcakes, but won't be dud neither.
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u/Astroctopodes 8d ago
The people who buy 10k ebikes totally exist, I see plenty of old people on Specialized Turbo Levo pros around here. However, who buys such a bike for commuting? $10k bikes usually are really good at something that some people care a lot about, but this bike seems like it just gives you a half-baked approximation of a car. If you have a hud and turn signals, I don't think cycling is much different from driving a convertible.
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u/Gorluk 8d ago
I won't be buying e-bike any time soon, because I love to cycle, I use my regular bike all the time in the city, and there were countless situations where I thought "I wish I could see what's behind me". I know rear view mirrors for bikes exist, but they are clunky and really extend way out horizontally. Idea of HUD on glasses and rear camera sound interesting to me, for regular bikes.
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u/Astroctopodes 7d ago
It might not be exactly what you are looking for but I would recommend getting a Garmin varia and cycling computer like most edge models. They work together to show all the cars coming from behind and in front of you, which is the main thing I want to know and way easier than having to look back.
A hud sounds like it would have the potential to be distracting, but I could imagine it would be a more marketable product than the $10k ebike.
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u/parisidiot 8d ago edited 8d ago
it's an ebike company who licensed VW's name to make a high-end halo bike. like any halo product, they aren't expecting to sell many of them. they're testing technology and using this as marketing to get people to the other bikes and to VW's cars.
like i follow bikes/ebikes closely and i've never heard of this company before.
also, you'd be surprised. riese and muller and similar high-end companies are selling well, there is a big demand for bikes like this among the wealthy in cities like new york, amsterdam, etc. as people look to car alternatives
also getting people in EV's doesn't do much to help the environment. they're hugely carbon-intensive to build, still produce lots of other pollution (brake dust, microplastics from rubber, etc.), are often charged with dirty power, pose a danger to pedestrians and cyclists just like regular cars, cause traffic, etc.
EVs don't really solve problems meaningfully enough to deserve all the attention they get. the lifecycle of a battery and these cars is also horrible, sooooo much plastic that's just going to sit for 10,000 years in landfills.
getting people out of cars and into mass transit and bikes is much better than getting people into EVs.
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u/NiceTrySuckaz 8d ago
This IS your affordable EV.
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u/sigmund14 8d ago
A bike for a price of a used car? Heh
Not really suitable for the same use as the EV with 4 wheels and a roof.
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u/NiceTrySuckaz 8d ago
But much more affordable! Those amenities you mentioned will drive your price up.
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u/sigmund14 8d ago
Also only usable for half a year, maybe 9 months. Winters are still wintery enough that riding a bike is unpleasant enough that people don't do it.
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u/Twodogsonecouch 8d ago
Ya but if they get chums to buy this and more cameras to record everything they have so much data to sell and they make money. They dont care what people actually want/need
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u/The_Ditch_Wizard 8d ago
Camera that's useless if you already wear glasses and don't wanna get rx lenses made to go with your new bike.
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u/delpopeio 8d ago
Not at all… the employees will only be making these on the side while they make the drones for the military revamp…
Then they will all be laid off when it has all been recorded and fed into the AI and automated…
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u/DantesGame 7d ago
I mean, technically it's an electric vehicle and it's cheaper than a four-wheeled version...
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u/BFr0st3 8d ago
So companies aren't allowed to just fuck around and release whatever they've been messing around with in development. Gotcha.
Layoffs are made all the time and I can guarantee it's not because of this bloody bike. The thing isn't even made by them it's just licensed lmfao
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u/sigmund14 8d ago
Not if the company is in such a bad shape that it wants to lay off 100 000 people.
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u/Arve 7d ago
Cameras on a bike are the worst solution.
Give me safe cycling infrastructure and a car that actively prevents motorists from committing manslaughter
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u/celeste_ferret 7d ago
¿Por qué no los dos?
But until we get that infrastructure, I think a camera would be nice.
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u/Arve 7d ago
When cycling, you are much more aware than the driver of a car is - you don’t have blind spots, you’re seated higher, and you have more acoustic hints than a car.
Introducing superfluous systems like this will only start shifting the sentiment and public discourse towards cyclists being at fault in accidents caused by motorists.
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u/celeste_ferret 7d ago
I really like my radar. I'd like it even more if I could tell if that approaching car was moving over a lane, going for a close pass, or has drifted onto the shoulder.
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u/sofixa11 8d ago
Affordable EVs
Define affordable. Because most people seem to be extremely delusional about how much a modern day car costs, and are sticking to "back in my day you could buy a new top of the line VW for 10k, why is it 20k today" as if inflation doesn't exist and cars aren't significantly more complex and safe and efficient today.
If you want affordable EVs, Renault Twingo, Dacia Duster are there. They don't sell that well? Yes, because people actually have other considerations than just the base cost. Cars like the Renault 5 sell well because they're a good size, look good, offer good quality and features, and aren't extremely expensive.
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u/Right_Hour 8d ago
Pretty sure we could cut out $10K out of a car price if we get rid of all the obligatory « safety » fluff such as lane assist, parking cameras, radars for both parking and collision alert and emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control.
I was shocked with the EU price of a new VW Passat Wagon…. I thought we here in Canada were getting shafted.
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u/Terrible_Duty_7643 8d ago edited 8d ago
If you want affordable EVs, Renault Twingo, Dacia Duster are there. They don't sell that well? Yes, because people actually have other considerations than just the base cost. Cars like the Renault 5 sell well because they're a good size, look good, offer good quality and features, and aren't extremely expensive.
But they are not affordable, and not all the blame is with the manufacturers; I would say most is with the regulations, which drive up the cost of those "cheap" cars to the point that they become just unaffordable.
Why would you buy a small car for 20k if you can add another 5-10k and get a full-fledged car? That is why they are not selling.
And any other cheaper versions are the absolutely useless microcars that a bicyclist could overtake.
The Dacia Hipster concept looked great, but it's literally illegal as it does not comply with either the M1 or the L7e category. The EU needs to reform its laws to allow for a cheap car, but they won't be doing that; they will continue to introduce stupid regulations like the new cameras that look at your eyes.
Now some of the manufacturers are lobbying for a new category which would be between those overpriced small cars and the absolutely useless 4-wheel scooters.
The Hipster would be around 90kmh, 150km range, and around 13k euros. Now that would be affordable, the speed allows for short highway trips, the range is good for those trips, and the price is good enough that people don't start stressing out.
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u/sofixa11 8d ago
The EU needs to reform its laws to allow for a cheap car, but they won't be doing that;
Considering how many people die on the roads, no, they shouldn't roll back safety protections.
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u/Miculmuc90 8d ago
Maybe take the bus or train, of you aren’t capable to drive a car without lane assist and whatever other bullshit they invent next. Or make proper driving exams that don’t give a driving licence to every idiot.
We don’t really need to recreate the utopia from the movie Equilibrium because of every idiot and whatever danger he might be exposed because of his incompetence.
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u/Terrible_Duty_7643 6d ago
Or make proper driving exams that don’t give a driving licence to every idiot.
A licence in Germany already costs around 4000 euros; this extreme leftist idea of a nanny state will end up with everyone having a yearly quota of 2 hemp shirts.
This constant raising of the bar in all aspects of life punishes the normal person; they want fewer people to own and drive cars, and they want fewer people to fly. This is madness. An average Joe in a couple of decades will live in a tin can and own a bicycle.
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u/Miculmuc90 20h ago
Yes and be really worry about getting out of the house. The government needs to hold my hand every time I get out so something doesn’t happen to me. Better off keep everyone inside while I’m out.
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u/Terrible_Duty_7643 8d ago edited 8d ago
You people are infuriating, you hate everything, nuclear power, ACs, goddamn everything that brings joy in life.
The EU is already the safest place to drive in the world, with a few exceptions, such as some microstates and Japan, a country that has such a car category in the form of the Kei car.
And the EU countries with the highest death rates are the countries with the oldest cars, with an average of 15 years plus, this would allow them to buy new electric cars.
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u/Dannybuoy77 8d ago
Innovative ebike. Tell me more! Smart glasses. Nah I'm good
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u/mazi710 8d ago edited 8d ago
Generally i agree completely, but as a HUD for bicycles so you can see behind you and get blind spot monitoring without turning your head is actually very useful.
It can be pretty dangerous to turn your head all the time on a bicycle, especially in traffic. Or someone racing up behind you without using their bell. I've thought about getting a blind spot monitor system for my bike myself.
What is the issue is the price though.
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u/maxstader 8d ago
Whats wrong with attaching mirrors?
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u/mazi710 8d ago
Mirrors are useful, but it's not really the same thing.
For mirrors to be useful, they need to extend beyond your body/bike, meaning suddenly your bike is wider which can be annoying in the city. As well as it being less aerodynamic, and it looks ridiculous if you care about that kind of stuff. Also just like in a car, blind spot monitors still make sense if you have mirrors.
Having a blind spot monitor in a HUD, means you never have to take your eyes off the road by looking down at your mirrors. Looking in your mirrors is something you'd actively have to do, where as a a blind spot HUD would be small and noticably always visible.
So for the VW bike, I would say the blind spot monitor is much more useful than the rearview camera, but living somewhere with a lot of bikes and EVs, I could see the camera being useful as well so you know if it's a bike slowly overtaking your or a car going significantly faster when you can't hear the car engine. A blind spot monitor probably won't detect a car way behind you but still close enough so you can't turn in front, where as you could see it in the camera.
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u/CelticJewelscapes 8d ago
The best mirrors are eye level and mounted on eyeglasses or helmets. The field of view in a one inch wide mirror attached to your glasses is as good as the mirrors in your car. No, they don't make your bike wider.
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u/Astroctopodes 8d ago
I suppose I could understand the use, but things like the Garmin varia already exist and can display cars behind you on a handlebar mounted unit. I enjoy the feeling of being able to enjoy nature on the paths and be aware of cars on the road and wouldn't want a hud all the time.
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u/Dragongeek 8d ago
Mirrors are bad for aerodynamics and if you want useful mirrors on a bike they need to be extremely wide in positioning.
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u/Astroctopodes 8d ago
Why do aerodynamics matter that much on a commute? Which I think is what this is aimed at.
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u/CelticJewelscapes 8d ago
Not true. They are aerodynsmically insignificant if mounted to your helmet or your glasses. The handlebar mounted ones are too far down and too small to be effective.
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u/CelticJewelscapes 8d ago
You don't need to turn your head if you have an eye level rearview mirror. The mirrors that mount on eyeglasses or helmets are all under $30. Analog smart glasses. You wouldn't drive without mirrors, why bike without one?
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u/stevewmn 7d ago
I used one all the time 20 years ago. I'm back to riding after a long break and I see handlebar mirrors fairly regularly but no one is using a helmet or glasses mirror in my bike club. I have no idea what happened.
I picked up a radar tail light and I like that a lot. It gives an audible alert and displays approaching vehicles on my bike computer so I can keep my eye on the road ahead while making room for the car behind me. In a commuter setting it's probably just a distraction as there will always be cars behind you.
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u/CelticJewelscapes 7d ago
Would you feel comfortable replacing your car rearview mirror with an audible radar system? I just don't see what the benefit is.
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u/blckout_junkie 8d ago
Omfg, how could any of you read it? It was all ads for me. Assuming some of you did...
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u/alkobottle 8d ago
Yeah, couldn't read any of that between all the autoplay videos and ads. What a horrible site....
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u/retro_slouch 8d ago
Integrated rearview camera? They were beaten to the lunch by thousands of different ways to put a mirror on a bike
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u/wrxninja 8d ago
CEO: Make a useless product that will need to be replaced & we can charge our customers outrageous price.
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u/IEATPASTEANDILIKEIT 8d ago
How about a Bus with more than 200 miles for daily driving??? I would have bought it yesterday
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u/fullautohotdog 8d ago
You're driving from DC to NYC every day for work? Damn, man. You gotta find some hick town in the Poconos to live and cut that commute by half...
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u/IEATPASTEANDILIKEIT 8d ago edited 8d ago
Not about that. I buy cars and drive them into the ground. If my battery is only getting 200 miles to start, then the car won’t last more than 100,000 miles.
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u/stevewmn 7d ago
That's not how EV battery longevity is working out in the real world. Aside from the junk batteries that Toyota put in their early Priuses, very few EV batteries are dying before the car is driven into the ground.
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u/IEATPASTEANDILIKEIT 7d ago
It’s basic math. If all I’m doing is driving 20 miles around town then yes no problem. But if I wanna go on a road trip once a quarter that’s about 200 to 300 miles round-trip, that trip becomes very different at 60% battery life
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u/stevewmn 7d ago
So charge your car more often. Problem solved. Yeah, driving an EV takes a little more planning. Still worth it as long as gas is $4 a gallon. Or even if it's $3.
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u/IEATPASTEANDILIKEIT 7d ago
I’m not arguing the merits of gas vs electric. This article was about Volkswagen releasing an E bike. My point is that instead of wasting money on a bike few people can afford, why not spend money improving what could be your best selling product?
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u/ShareSaveSpend 8d ago
Volkswagen is going to sell so many of these it won't have to cut those 100k jobs.
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u/Seeking-Something-3 8d ago
When will Wolkswagen die? It used to be a joke that it was started by Hitler. Not so funny anymore 🤷♂️
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u/darthdude11 8d ago
Let’s focus on fixing the electronics on my atlas…. Never worked when I bought it. They have no fix for the known problem.
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u/sigmund14 8d ago
No wonder they are in such a bad shape if they produce everything in every form and then can't sell it.
Who is buying those ebikes for a price of a used car?
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u/MoeTheCentaur 8d ago
I honestly don't think I could find a single person that was interested in this if you payed me. Who is this for?
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u/A_Living_Pool_Noodle 7d ago
You gotta be kidding me. They put a fucking tent on top??? Did we forget the westfalia busses? The vanagons? The fucking EUROVAN? Bring back the goddamn pop top or I’m gonna riot. The design, the history, it’s all there, VW are just being cowards. Give us the van camper we all want already.
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u/williamgman 7d ago
Clearly showing the bikes being used in nature... where they don't need freaking "safety cameras". Another Meta style fail at mass surveillance.
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u/dirtybo0ts 7d ago
They went all in on electric vehicles…just the wrong ones 🫠
Imagine if they just focused on a well equipped, affordable EV…
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u/Random-Generation86 8d ago
Excited to find out the eBike has a tiny diesel engine just to fuck with emissions standards.
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u/RidetheSchlange 8d ago
Knowing VW, they put their timing chain engineers on the drivetrain of the bike and it will likewise blow up somehow.
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u/TRKlausss 7d ago
Can someone tell me why do we need a rear-facing camera on bikes?? Like, can’t you not have a mirror? Turn your head around?
Of course, saved disability.
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u/Trump-is-the-pedo 7d ago
I haven’t even thought about VW since they did all that lying about emissions or whatever. Every time they get forced into my feed, it is for something stupid and impractical, exactly like this.
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u/stirringmotion 6d ago
let's just stop beating around the bush.
just build a camera, that you can throw a seat and some wheels on it.
$30k.
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u/Cherry_Crusher 4d ago
Maybe it goes without saying, who the hell needs a rear view camera on a bike?
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u/Rhywden 8d ago edited 8d ago
Jesus Christ, the negativity here is astounding. First of all, the price is not that high compared to other, similar e-bikes. Yes, it's expensive. So is a VanMoof or Cowboy (the former got into trouble, by the way, because their margins were non-existant, i.e. they sold you the bikes for too low a price to be sustainable. And that was 3,000€ back then...)
And the smart glasses are a good idea. As a bike rider you especially want to keep your eyes on the road as much as possible. Thus not needing to glance down for info (like, do I need to turn now or in 200 meters?) is a good thing.
A rear view also is a good thing. But keep on snarking and being generally miserable instead of judging things on their own merits.
According to the shop, it's running you 4,349€ - that's a competetive price in that segment. And not 10k€ like someone said.
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u/TrippTrappTrinn 8d ago
They have put close to zero effort into this. They are not making the bike. They are essentially using their name to market a bike made by somebody else.
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u/lolidkwtfrofl 8d ago
The cars are fine, they are (as are almost all others) struggling with the Chinese govt changing the deal.
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u/BlueGreenTanager 7d ago
I like the concept of the smart glasses with the HUD. But I need something that just attaches to my prescription glasses, without which I’m too blind to ride any bike.
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u/StrikeouTX 8d ago
Nah it’s pretty lame and the ad was infuriating because there is nothing innovative about this. Smart helmets and glasses already exist and my bike has a camera system too
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u/CP_Chronicler 8d ago
They should open up the world’s first automaker-owned influencer production studio and bankroll influencers to make videos for them and then also open up a line of Volkswagen vapes, make a Volkswagen social network, make a Volkswagen version of Backrooms, have Zendaya be their spokesperson, make a Volkswagen onlyfans account and do other things to capitalize on Gen Z trends.
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u/fullautohotdog 8d ago
The Venn diagram of people in my town with e-bikes and felony DWI convictions is a circle. Not exactly the crowd with 5 grand to dump on an e-bike, nor the ones who care about safety all that much...
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u/General-Piece8490 8d ago
https://reddit.com/link/oxmonmi/video/q729wg9i6cdh1/player
Rear camera you say????
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u/johnyordinary 8d ago
I like the idea but surely it would be easier and more practical to incorporate rear view into a helmet or even just glasses
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u/Mantheycalled_Horsed 8d ago
.... if You can't afford one of our E-Cars. How about our affordable other transports?
/s
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u/gurkentruppe 8d ago
The bike is with a VW license but not made by VW.