There are tons of e-bike news this week and Canyon is getting in on the wave with a couple of new Commuter:On & Precede:On city e-bikes, but it is the Canyon Future Mobility Concept that has our attention. Whether it is really practical or not, where it would make sense or even be truly safe to pedal… is all up for discussion. But a four-wheeled, fully-enclosed recumbent electric-assist pedal car from a major bike brand is certainly worth discussing!
Canyon Future Mobility Concept, electric-assist commuter pedal car
It is hard to decide even what we call this thing, but Canyon’s new Future Mobility Concept is an interesting mash-up of a tiny electric car and the urban e-bikes that we see zipping around densely populated European cities. Canyon has looked at what use cases will get more people out of cars and onto bikes, and has come up with an idea that takes cargo bikes to the next level into an e-bike/car hybrid.
The idea is essentially that it can transition from car traffic and speeds up to 60km/h, then down to conventional e-bike 25km/h max speeds to slip into narrower bike lanes once traffic starts to build up.
And with a fully closable cab or ‘capsule’, riders get protection from the elements as well as some crash protection too.
Inside, the layout is much like a recumbent bike, trike, or in this configuration a quad-bike / pedal car. It isn’t an electric car per se, but a pedal-powered vehicle with the additional support of a regular e-bike powertrain. Canyon claims a target 150km range with 2000Wh of batteries (about 4x a regular e-bike), at a mix of high & slow speeds. Maneuverability is also recumbent-like, with two side sticks for steering to navigate a 7m turning radius.
You can then fit a single rider plus a bunch of groceries, or a pilot rider plus a child as a passenger (as the front seat slides forward to load the rear).
When can you buy a Canyon Future Mobility Concept pedal car?
Canyon Commuter:On & Precede:On city e-bikes you can actually buy

