Periodically, major carmakers roll out bicycles to demonstrate their interest in looking beyond the automobile for personal mobility. The list includes Mercedes, Peugeot, Lexus, Ford, and now Volkswagen, with the introduction in Beijing of the folding electric bik.e, featured in the video below.
Designed to fit in the spare tire well of a car, the bik.e has a range of 20km (12 mi) and a top speed of 20 km, believed to be dictated by Germany law which would require a rider to wear a helmet above that speed. It's believe the bik.e can be charged both from regular household AC current, as well as from the car's DC power system.
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According to Dr. Ulrich Hanckenberg, VW's head of R&D, Volkswagen plans to put the bik.e into production with marketing and sales going through an arm of the company that sells VW-branded accessories. No price on the electric bik.e was announced at the unveiling at Auto China 2010, now when it will be available and where.
