Car meets bike - Why Volkswagen uses VSC bikes

Since December 2019, up to 40 VSC bikes have been in use at the Volkswagen factory in Zwickau, district Mosel. They are mainly used for passenger transport on the factory premises. A special production based on the model "B01" was delivered, partly with electric drive.

Cargo bikes are flexible as well as environmentally friendly and therefore ideally suitable for use on a factory premises - especially if, as in the case of Volkswagen, the factory covers several square kilometres of total area with halls, office buildings and its own road network. The workplace is in the north of the area, but the employee has to go to the south for meetings. There are several kilometres in between: A lot of valuable working time is wasted on long walks.", says Danny Albert, Key Account Manager at VSC.Bike.  "For these reasons, more and more companies are choosing a factory cargo bike," adds Albert. Another benefit is that tools can be carried directly to the place of use - even indoors or in sensitive areas where cars are not permitted.

The bikes used at Volkswagen each have a transport basket at the front and back. Very thick spokes also guarantee special stability and a load capacity of 210 kilograms. Normally, these VSC bikes adjusting wheels are equipped with a so-called roller stand so that they cannot tip over so easily when parked. However, a special design with normal bipod stands was developed for the Volkswagen factory. As a result, they need less space. But the development is not yet complete.  "We are currently working on a larger basket in the back so that more substantial loads can be transported easily," reveals Denny Albert.

The collaboration between VSC.Bike and Volkswagen began back in 2017. The two companies are separated by only a few kilometres as the crow flies in Saxony. At the beginning, VSC.Bike only supplied a drive, the so-called Pendix eDrive, for already existing bicycles. In 2019, VSC.Bike was then able to deliver the first factory bike in combination with a drive to VW. Meanwhile, models from other suppliers are increasingly being replaced by VSC bikes at the Mosel location. The cooperation with VW is always collegial and on an equal level, Albert compliments.

The decision to use factory bicycles - at the location Zwickau Mosel there are around 1,000 of them from various manufacturers - fits in with Volkswagen's environmental mission statement "goTOzero". Volkswagen is one of the first car manufacturers to make a conscious commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement and aims to be CO2-neutral in its balance sheet by 2050. The project is already being implemented along the entire value chain - from resource procurement and production to risk assessment of business partners. In terms of manufacturing, for example, Volkswagen has set itself the goal for the next five years of producing 45 percent less CO2 per vehicle and consuming the same percentage less energy than 10 years ago.  Several factories, including the location in the Mosel district of Zwickau, are already producing in a balance CO2-neutral manner - and are thus taking on a pioneering role.

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