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Podbike - electric assisted velomobile

Project description

A novel electric-assisted ‘bicycle-car’ could transform urban transport

Velomobiles, human-powered ‘bicycle-cars,’ have been around for more than 80 years. Similar to recumbent bikes, they either have pedals only or both pedals and a motor. They also have a car-like aerodynamic outer shell. Podbike is an innovative Norwegian SME established in 2016 that has developed a game-changing electric-assisted velomobile to transform personal transport in urban areas. It is much less expensive than cars and other electric vehicles, and much safer and more comfortable than e-bikes. The EU-funded Podbike project will assess both the technical and commercial viability of the solution and recommend a plan for market introduction.

Objective

Podbike is an innovative Norwegian SME established in 2016 that has developed a game changing electric assisted velomobile that will transform personal transport in urban areas. The company’s mission is to accelerate the uptake of sustainable transport by bringing the Podbike to mass market as soon as possible.

The velomobile targets the markets for private transport in urban areas in Europe with over 100 000 inhabitants, with beachhead markets in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The total addressable market for these sales territories are 365 million Euro per year. Sales numbers in bigger markets, such as Netherland and Germany, opens the opportunity to scale the production and sales further. The Podbike is unique in three ways. Firstly, Podbike as a product is unique since it is specially designed to meet the high demands today's consumers has to a personal vehicle's design, comfort, functionality and safety. Secondly, Podbike approach to the entire value chain and corresponding business model is new and innovative. Thirdly, Podbike is disruptive since it takes a niche market product of electric assisted velomobiles and turn it into a cool, fun and comfortable product attractive for the mass market. Based on end users’ prioritized characteristics for acquiring a personal transport vehicle, Podbike outperforms the state of the art solutions in the existing markets segments in the following way:
• Cars and electric vehicles (EVs): on price, environmental profile and transport effectiveness.
• E-bikes: on safety, design, comfort and bad weather protection.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

PODBIKE AS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
FLORLIBAKKEN 13
4307 SANDNES
Norway

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Norge Vestlandet Rogaland
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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