Riding a VanMoof is About To Get As Easy As Binge-Watching Netflix
When you buy a VanMoof you’re not just buying a bike.
A few days ago VanMoof, the Amsterdam-based maker of stylish smart bicycles, announced the VanMoof+ subscription service for a handful of global cities. VanMoof Plus is built around a one-time “key fee” and a monthly subscription rate that significantly lower the entry-price for anyone that’s been longing to commute on an electric bicycle but was put off by their high prices.
VanMoof Plus is changing up big-city bike-sharing programs: instead of sharing a fleet of bikes with a city full of people, you subscribe to use a single bicycle, complete with unlimited maintenance and theft protection. In VanMoof’s words, you buy the key, not the bike, which the company continues to own. A one-time key fee lets you unlock a VanMoof bike for a fraction of what it costs to buy. If you want to stop your subscription, simply sell the keys to another rider who wants to start one.
How much are you going to end up paying? Well, VanMoof’s Smart (nonelectric) series of bicycles start at $898 / €898. Under the subscription plan, you pay a one-time key fee of $298 / €298, and then $19 / €19 month for the 3-speed model or $23 / €23 per month for the 8-speed version. Those prices apply to both the Smart S and the brand-new Smart X bicycle.
VanMoof Plus goes live on April 24th with Smart S (straight frame) and Smart X bikes, making this the first time an X-framed bike will be available globally. An updated Electrified bike will be available to subscribers in May. If you join VanMoof Plus and discover that the bike doesn’t live up to your expectations, then you can return it within the first month of your subscription and VanMoof will refund you the key fee. Your only cost will be the first month’s subscription rate.
Interested? You can sign up now on the company’s website or in one of VanMoof’s branded stores located in Amsterdam, New York, Berlin, Taipei, and Tokyo, with London, Paris, and San Francisco locations coming soon.
