- Electric cargo bike manufacturer, Vok Bikes, has partnered up with IKEA’s operations in the Netherlands and Sweden, to provide the opportunity for customers to transport their flatpack furniture home through more sustainable means, with its range of electric cargo bikes available to rent at selected IKEA stores.
- The rentals will be free for the first two hours for those who have made a purchase at IKEA, further enticing people to choose an ebike to transport their goods home over a car.
- For those who already own a bicycle or ebike, the stores will also be offering bike trailer rentals.
Ikea introduces ecargo bike rental scheme – room to expand?
While IKEA has already started using fully-electric vans when it comes to its home delivery offers, these electric cargo bikes are designed for the customer to use – and are being offered in both tri-wheel, and weatherproof and covered, four-wheel form. Both have a maximum loading weight of 120kg, which should make even some of the larger IKEA trips feasible on an electric cargo bike.
So far, this trial is limited to just two stores in two countries – IKEA City in Stockholm, Sweden, and IKEA Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Stockholm store, which is located squarely in the centre of the city, makes an even better case for electric bike applications over transportation by car or van.
For now, these are the only two stores where the electric Vok Bikes can be rented from, and there’s no confirmation that the scheme will be expanded just yet. However, with Vok Bikes already operational in a number of other European countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, there’s certainly scope for this rental scheme to be rolled out to more stores and countries.
For those who need that bit of extra space on an IKEA trip, however, EVs can be the next best choice – particularly with IKEA installing significant public charging infrastructure at many of its stores.
