Vodafone Germany will bring 40,000 e-cargo bikes from the Berlin start-up Avocargo by 2026 to the Internet of Things, making it possible for anyone, anywhere, to spontaneously switch to e-cargo bikes.
In addition, Avocargo was included in the UPLIFT program recorded by Vodafone. Avocargo is Germany's first sharing provider for free-floating e-cargo bikes.
Whether after shopping in the supermarket, hardware store or flea market - or to pick up your own children from daycare: the so-called cargo bikes are not only a sustainable alternative to the car, but also offer enough space for transporting shopping bags, small pieces of furniture, plants - or people. But not everyone can or wants to afford such a cargo bike.
And it no longer has to. With the Avocargo sharing offer, everyone can use the e-cargo bikes flexibly and freely to run small and large errands with the electric cargo bike - from door to door. Because in addition to the saved acquisition costs, sharing offers like these, with the so-called free-floating system, are particularly convincing due to their flexibility and availability. This is exactly what the built-in IoT SIM cards from Vodafone Germany ensure.
The e-cargo bikes are currently ready for use in Berlin - and soon in other European cities as well. The start-up has concrete expansion plans for 2022 and 2023 - which is one of the reasons why it is delighted to be included in Vodafone's UPLIFT program.
Avocargo founder Matti Schurr
Finding, unlocking and paying is easy via the app. The ride starts where the nearest bike is and ends when the destination has been reached. The only requirement: the vehicle must be chained to a fixed object, e.g. a lantern or a bicycle stand. This is how we make sure that the cargo bikes don't block the way. And it has been very successful: so far there have been no negative incidents. And the providers themselves also benefit from the smart networking of their bikes in fleet management. With Vodafone's IoT SIM cards, we can view and check the location and battery status of our e-cargo bikes in real time via a dashboard.
Therese Seiringer, Head of Sustainability at Vodafone Germany
Digitization can help to protect our environment. If e-cargo bikes transmit in the Internet of Things, they can be used flexibly and inexpensively by anyone, anywhere. This gradually reduces the number of car journeys and thus CO2 emissions.
