As of Monday, VanMoof bikes are back on sale in the UK, with the re-engineered S5 and A5 models on sale from partners across the country.
After going bust last year, the brand was snapped up by the former F1-related applied technology company McLaren Applied through e-mobility company Lavoie. After first launching in the Netherlands, Germany and France in April, the bikes are now available in the UK, mainly through Fully Charged, for just under £3,000.
"After over a year of hard work to bring the best VanMoof has to offer back to its riders, we are very happy to launch our re-engineered S5 and A5 in the UK via our expanding partner network," Elliott Wertheimer, VanMoof's CEO, said. "As a long time Londoner, it has been incredibly exciting to see the progress the country is making in creating the infrastructure that will support the rapid expansion of the e-bike market.
"Riding e-bikes is one of the most freeing and convenient experiences in cities, and our products are some of the greatest tools to maximise this experience and revolutionise what the industry is able to offer to its riders."
VanMoof declared bankruptcy last July. It had sold hundreds of thousands of its e-bikes at around $2,000 (£1,600) each but had been beset by quality issues. Now, Wertheimer and his brand are aiming to regain public trust.
While just the S5 and A5 are on sale now, the company is investing in expanding its service network and supplying partners with parts for the S3 and X3 and newer models, so that they can still be repaired. The S5 and A5 will be available from more stores and online in the near future.
The features that made the bike stand out in the first place, like anti-theft measures, its long-range battery, its sleek design and the 'Boost Button' return.
"We spent a lot of time working with the bike," Wertheimer explained to Cycling Weekly on Tuesday. "Changing mechanical parts, changing firmware systems, changing the battery, a lot of little things that weren't necessarily aesthetics, but mostly like things that made it reliable."
"Effectively, when we acquired VanMoof because we saw an amazing brand people love and wanted to see come back," the CEO said. "We saw a brand that people were talking about even beyond e-bike customers, people that didn't want to buy e-bikes new VanMoof. We also saw an incredible product ecosystem, with a lot of opportunity to further enhance it and keep on developing, and make things more reliable."
"What we've done is we've leveraged the restart to really change the business model so improve margins in a way that is fair and make sense for the industry," Wertheimer continued. "We are working with partners and retailers and after-sales partners, not doing it all ourselves.
"We're doing this by working first exclusively with retail partners and service partners, so you can't buy it on our website now. This is on purpose, because we have little stock.
"We're getting quite good reviews now, pretty good feedback on Trustpilot, it's steadily going up. We're starting from far away, but it's good to see those improvements."
