Ulrich Prediger and his start-up Veluto are developing a fully covered robot two-wheeler. He wants to encourage drivers to change. But it is pioneering work with pitfalls.
Autonomous e-bike Veluto: “We have to develop a lot ourselves.” Photo: Veluto
Ulrich Prediger and his start-up Veluto are developing an e-bike that will drive autonomously with sensors, cameras and automatic control. All the driver has to do is pedal.
Veluto is currently testing the technology on private property to collect training data. The bicycle should then be allowed to drive autonomously in some German municipalities with special permission.
Veluto plans to offer the e-bikes, which cost around 20,000 euros, as a subscription model - so that they can be used in bike sharing and by mobility providers with robotaxi offers.
The technical development requires a lot of in-house work, as there are hardly any finished components and no suitable laws for autonomous e-bikes.
The summary was created and editorially checked using AI.
Dusseldorf. At first glance it seems crazy: Ulrich Prediger wants to make e-bikes drive autonomously in the future. Sensors and cameras are intended to ensure that the two-wheeler moves safely and efficiently through traffic, even without a driver.
Extendable support wheels prevent it from tipping over when stationary. If a rider is in the saddle, he could check his email or read a book on the way to the office. However, he still has to pedal himself; the technology takes care of the rest.
By founding the company Jobrad 20 years ago, Prediger has already shown that he can change things that were previously considered impossible. Back then, he invented company bike leasing and turned it into a billion-dollar business. He wants to repeat this success with his new start-up Veluto.
Even now, Prediger is pursuing a clear goal: with his new vehicle category, he wants to attract as many people as possible from cars to two-wheelers. “Many people still drive cars today because they are relatively safe and protected from accidents,” he says. Prediger is convinced that cameras and sensors in conjunction with automatic steering and braking can significantly increase the safety of the bicycle. They recognize a car door that suddenly swings open or a dog that runs into the bike path faster than a person.
The legal framework for autonomous e-bikes is still missing
The problem: Because no one has dared to do this experiment so far, the founder had to practically start from scratch. There is neither special technology nor appropriate laws and permits. There are only individual pilot projects at universities, such as ETH Zurich and the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg.
Tom Assmann, who spent years researching autonomous two-wheelers at the University of Magdeburg and recently set up his own business with the start-up Aurasys, is also familiar with the difficulty. “Since hardly anyone has worked on self-propelled bicycles so far, there are hardly any fully developed components for them, such as electronically controllable brakes or steering,” he explains. There is a lot of catching up to do on the technological side.
In addition, the regulations for these vehicles do not provide a suitable legal framework. You still have to develop it specifically, says Assmann. “But you need it if you want to develop innovations,” he points out.
Assmann and his start-up therefore initially decided on a different product. Aurasys is developing an autonomous cargo tricycle that can follow a person when loaded with packages or materials for tradesmen.
The company's own technology is already being tested
Preacher, on the other hand, takes the big hit. At Veluto he has assembled a highly specialized team of twelve employees, from robotics engineers to vehicle designers. Bob Vroegh, an experienced bike designer from the Netherlands, is on board as co-founder.
Veluto founder Prediger: “We would be the perfect vehicle for Waymo.” Photo: Peter Herrmann
The finished product should be fully covered to reduce the disadvantage of weather dependence compared to the car. Luggage up to a water tank and a child seat should fit. Technically, the vehicle's assistance system should reach level 4. The levels of automated driving functions range from Level 1 to Level 5. From Level 4 onwards, the driver no longer actively intervenes.
Level 2 is already in use in many cars today, but German manufacturers in particular are still having difficulty with Level 4. Even Tesla failed in mass deployment because of this. According to estimates, Waymo – the only large successful provider in the West to date – had to invest a double-digit billion sum.
Veluto is currently testing the technology on cargo bikes on private property. Prediger also admits that they cannot simply adopt the technology developed for autonomous cars one-to-one. “We have to develop a lot ourselves,” he says. “We also have to develop most of the software ourselves that makes cycling on cycling infrastructure possible.”
This is exactly what expert Assmann sees as a challenge. “It’s very difficult for autonomous bikes to recognize lanes properly,” he says. There are no sensible maps with all cycle paths and cycle paths are often difficult to recognize as such.
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That's why Prediger wants to quickly take his vehicles onto public roads in order to collect training data and experience. “We are already talking to three or four municipalities in Germany,” reveals the entrepreneur. With their special permit, he initially wants to let the bikes drive autonomously at six kilometers per hour.
In the second step, operation with one passenger and a speed of up to 25 kilometers per hour should then be possible. “Of course, we still have to overcome a few regulatory hurdles before a person can drive,” he says.
Planned for use as a subscription or in bike sharing
What simplifies the project: So far, Veluto is not dependent on external investors. “At the moment I’m still financing it completely myself, which gives us a lot of flexibility, freedom and speed,” says Prediger.
The founder also has clear ideas for the business model. The unit costs for a Veluto are said to be around 20,000 euros, around a tenth of what a car completely equipped with autonomous technology costs. That's why the vehicles should not be sold directly to private customers, but rather sold as a subscription model.
Germany is predestined to develop such a vehicle. Ulrich PredigerVeluto founder
Prediger calculates that there are 15 to 20 million second and third cars in Germany. “If we could replace between three and five percent of that in the next five years, that would be very, very exciting numbers,” he says.
He also sees good opportunities for using the vehicles in bike sharing. A study by the University of Magdeburg, which was published almost two years ago in the “Journal of Urban Mobility”, has shown that this can be worthwhile despite high acquisition costs. The result of this simulation: Although the bicycle costs were forty times higher than a normal bicycle, the system could be operated profitably with competitive fees.
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Prediger also hopes to do business with the major mobility providers who are already experimenting with self-driving robotaxis. “We would be the perfect vehicle for Waymo because almost three quarters of their trips only have one person in them.”
Aside from the use cases, what particularly appeals to the entrepreneur is the idea that such an innovation might not come from the USA or China. “Germany is predestined to develop such a vehicle,” he says. “We invented the bicycle 200 years ago, the car 140 years ago, and now we are essentially inventing the symbiosis of the two.”
More: Jobrad founder Prediger in an interview – “The biggest crisis in the bicycle industry is not leaving us unscathed”
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