How Did VanMoof The Tesla of e-Bike Go Bankrupt | Story of VanMoof

VanMoof, the leading Dutch e-bike maker, has recently declared its bankruptcy. This event has triggered significant conflict, conversation, and discussion due to VanMoof's prominent position in the industry for almost 14 years. That’s why in this video, we’ve discussed the reasons Why VanMoof Went bankrupt!
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** Information Sources:
discerningcyclist, cyclingelectric, theverge, TechCrunch, electrek
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Disclaimer: This video follows the YouTube Community Guidelines. The footage in this video is for educational purposes only, and all the information covered in this video was collected from unofficial sources and assumptions.
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#vanmoof #ebike #electricbike

[bolttracks]

They should’ve really just used existing components for stuff like shifters, brakes, hubs, etc. by some of the many 50-100+ year old component makers with a proven reliability track record.

[monowheeling]

This is what easily happens when one invests more in building and marketing a brand name than in construction reliable and maintainable bicycles at competitive costs.

[xanderrevels-velez]

I have a VanMoof and I love it. I hope the company stay in business.

[bengt_axle]

In urban areas, riders prefer bike sharing. No responsibility for theft, can leave and go, no large cash outlay, no repairs, no storage, no transportation into apartment, no garage. So many advantages over owning a bike. In suburban areas, you have a garage and don't need the anti-theft features as much. You can moreover choose an e-bike based on how well it fits, how easy it is to repair, weight, price and availability. VM had some novel engineering ideas, but they also created a lot of problems by adding complexity to the bike and manufacturing process.

[rafaeldegiacomoaraujo]

Very low quality defective bikes with proprietary parts, and poor supply of replacements and no customer service. Very poor strategy.

[drill_fiend]

We need standard eBike battery sizes. No joke.

[OtesOtesOtes]

They should've made it a priority to make their bikes serviceable and get them into established retailers.

[JD-hhqb]

Doesn’t make sense why they don’t have vans with engineers who earn a wage placed in each country that can help customers rather then letting bike garages completely mug them off.
The garage I went to quoted £800 for a repair a day into me owning the bike, then it broke down again and they wanted me to take it to a garage again instead of just sending me a new one because it was clearly a problem with that specific bike.
Great product, bad management

[Nonkel_Jef]

Proprietary parts should only be used when there’s a good reason to do so. No need to literally reinvent the wheel.

[muntasirmahmood]

Excellently well made and very informative video.

[tinop]

They developed new bikes rather than evolving a line to its max before building a new bike from the ground up. Giving customers upgrade paths from older models would have made them money twice; one for details & another for installation.

[okaygoogle]

17th subscriber
Bro you deserve millions
Just keep it up <3

[raywest]

Expanding rapidly with stores worldwide is a recipe for disaster.

[gepardtilly]

Too specialised parts, poor manufacturing quality, very difficult to repair. Typical enthusiastic bike startup issues. Successful bikes have standardised parts, robust supply chains, quality manufacturing, and are easy to repair. Only very strong brands like Cannondale, Specialised, Brompton can afford special parts and expensive proprietary repairs.

[xmanual]

I would say that sitting up retail brands stores was an expensive and bad idea.

[papalegba]

Too expensive for what you get & poor on hills, that's why I dismissed them when I got an ebike for commuting.

[jonasmeier]

- Too many complaints means that the product is bad
- Are service and warranty bad too = the end
- Selling for € 2'000.- and producing for 4'000, - the biggest joke
Himiway, RAD Power Bikes and so on produce for +/- $ 600, -.

[simonhubbs]

Insightful, thanks for the knowledge sharing.

[janatobias]

Is there any source to the claim that the bike costs 4.000€ to produce?

[vantijgeren]

VanMoof
Consider: all the properties of a (innovative) product are linked to each other like a chain. Having been active as a product designer and a quality engineer in the past, my main concern has always been that all the chain links were strong and in balance with each other. That meant, whatever solution or concept I had to evaluate, it had to be subject to what a competitor could come up with, if “the product” were already in the market. It is much easier to see weaknesses of, and to react on, something real than to imagine these reactions! But that last thing is what an innovative company has to carry out meticulously before the major investments go on. At VanMoof, instead, they didnt want to loose time with playing their worst competitor in advance. Instead, they acted rather narcistic and opportunistic. In simple words, they wanted to prove that if you believe in yourself, you will win. That proved to be too much away from reality.