A Convenient Way to Get Your Ebike onto the Roof of the Car

If you want to take your ebike on a journey, the options are limited. On trains of the German Deutsche Bahn, for example, the additional battery has to stay at home and S-pedelecs are generally excluded. On long-distance buses such as Flixbus, taking an ebike is usually completely prohibited. As is well known, air travel is ruled out because the battery is considered dangerous goods and is not allowed on board. Most of the time, it all comes down to the car. And for this case, a company from Bochum has come up with a clever solution.

Those who transport their ebike by car usually tend to use a bicycle carrier that can be attached to the trailer coupling or the tailgate. This is the best solution from an aerodynamic point of view, saves fuel and is usually the easiest to manage. But life is not a bowl of cherries and sometimes the bike actually has to go on the roof.

New mechanical best buddy?

With a weight of 25 kilograms or more per ebike, this quickly becomes quite a tour de force. Who can effortlessly lift such a weight up and down several times? Especially as it is rather awkward to grasp in the case of the bicycle. It would be great if someone else could do it for you, wouldn’t it? That someone exists now. He is not a person, but an object.

Pender Ebikelifter bike rack

The company Pender has developed the Ebikelifter for precisely this situation. According to the start-up, it is a world first. We cannot verify with certainty whether this is true. What is certain, however, is that with the help of this device you can lift your ebike onto the roof of a car seemingly effortlessly. A telescopic arm under tension lifts it up and down again within a few seconds.

The telescopic arm consists of two parts that have to be pushed into each other.

The size must be right

This should work without any problems for bicycles weighing a maximum of 30 kilograms. The wheelbase may be between 90 centimetres and 130 centimetres. Pender classifies “all common adult bicycles between 26 inches and 29 inches” as suitable. Even on an ebike for children like the KTM Macina Mini Me 441 with 24-inch wheels, the wheelbase measures over 100 centimetres.

The frame size is probably more decisive for the question of which bike is suitable for the Ebikelifter. To attach the bike to the carrier, a strap is stretched from the seat post to the stem or the head tube. The end of the strap should run horizontally to the rail of the bike carrier. On small frames, the seatpost may not protrude far enough from the seat tube to achieve this.

Position of a correctly mounted bike on the Ebikelifter

With regard to the cars, Pender only gives general guidelines. According to these, the system fits most cars, SUVs and minibuses. The important thing here is that the base rack of the roof rack has a distance of 60 centimetres to a maximum of 80 centimetres.

Skilful solution

In the video shown on Pender’s website, transferring the ebike to the car looks very simple. Two things are necessary before starting the journey. First, you insert the telescopic arm into the Ebikelifter. Secondly, you tighten the aforementioned strap between the seat post and the stem or head tube. A special tube about 30 centimetres long is threaded onto the strap. The bicycle is attached to this tube in a mounting shell. Then you turn the safety lever. Now you can feel the tension in the system, which allows the bicycle to lift by itself. Give the lift the necessary guidance by grasping both wheels and following the movement. The telescopic arm is always far enough away from the car so that both the bike and the car make it through the process without a scratch.

As soon as the bicycle is in position on the roof, a transport lock engages. The telescope then gently presses the bike into the wheel mounts of the carrier. Finally, secure the wheels to the roof rack as usual using the appropriate buckles. The actual hold is provided by the tensioning strap still attached to the telescopic arm.

With both hands on the wheels, the ebike can be guided and pulled down onto the rails of the carrier.

To remove it from the roof, simply reverse the procedure. Undo the buckles for the wheels. Release the transport lock on the Ebikelifter. Take hold of the bike and gently pull it towards you.

When lowering, a slight pressure is again sufficient to place the ebike on the ground.

If this sounds promising to you, you should make a note of 1 September 2023. The Ebikelifter should be available from that day. At the start of sales, the price will be 748 euros.

Technical specifications of the Ebikelifter

• Width: 50 cm
• Height: 40 cm
• Length: 138 cm
• Total weight: 11.8 kg
• Material: aluminium and stainless steel

Pictures: Wegner/Ortloff GbR