K-Ryole turns ebikes into e-truck bikes for city delivery

Painful last mile deliveries in congested urban traffic

Did you ever happen to stumble on a delivery truck parked on the sidewalk, in front of your gateway, obstructing your way, either by car or even on foot? E-commerce keeps booming, and last mile deliveries increasingly burden city traffic and mobility. Light trucks are wonderful vehicles, but they were conceived and developed to deliver tons of merchandise to a handful of shops per trip. Imagine a shoe manufacturer, monthly delivering hundreds of shoes to three or four shops in the same city. A truck is perfectly suited for such job. In case of e-commerce deliveries, a truck must daily stop to a bunch of different unknown addresses to deliver each time a small, often inexpensive package. Delivery companies and chauffeurs have a hard time. Legal parking is almost impossible, skyrocketing fuel costs thin their profit margins, traffic jams are the new normal, truck purchase and maintenance are too expensive. As a result, both sellers and purchasers complain that delivery prices are too high. Moreover, an appalling 40% of small companies, like plumbers, renounce to do business in Paris because of its congested traffic, and it’s hardly any better in other metropolis.

E-cargo bikes are a good, although  limited solution

Indeed, they can carry no more than 90 kg, provided that the rider is not too heavy, with a limited volume capacity. Three or four wheeled cargo ebikes have a much bigger capacity and can be a very effective solution. We’ll write about them later, at the moment the scope of this post is a new entry, namely bike e-trailers.

K-Ryole, powerful and versatile electric trailer for bike and ebike deliveries

This French company manufactures (85% in France) electric trailers for ebikes and also electric chariots. Perhaps the most interesting feature of both is that they move measuring the effort of the element that hauls them, be it a human being, a bicycle or an ebike.

12 times more horsepower, or Kw, than any ebike, without plates

For such trailers, just like for ebikes, no registration, insurance or plates ar required. The huge difference: ebikes motors are legally limited to 250Wh, whereas K-Ryole trailers can sport a whopping 3,000Wh!

The trailer has got two quite powerful electric motors, 1,500 Wh each for a total of 3 kW, which deliver enough power to be trailed effortlessly, proportionally to the thrust of the rider. That sounds particularly effective if an ebike is hauling it, carrying loads of up to up to 350 kg thanks to a very advanced technology, worldwide patented.

E-trailers with ebikes provide huge advantages

In the end, these trailers enable even the weakest rider to carry more than 300 kg of load without extra effort, at a speed up to 25 km/h, with zero emissions, and an electricity consumption costing about half a cent of dollar per kilometer. K-Ryole trailers enjoy free access to bike lanes and easy parking (hard to fine them even if parked on a sidewalk, since they’ve got no plates). A great way to perform cost-effective, ecological and fast deliveries, as far as the last mile in Europe’s city traffic is concerned. There’s even a refrigerated version.

Another considerable advantage, compared to a three or four wheeled cargo ebike, or a regular truck, is that one can easily park the trailer almost anywhere and take advantage of the swift agility of his bike or e-bike.

Think of possible upcoming applications, like a propelled ebike camper, an ice-cream mini-e-truck…

The company by the numbers

This French startup has got about 60 employees, has sold more than 1,000 trailers in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, with a turnover of 2,367,800 euros in 2021, which was forecast to more than double up to €6 million in 2022. Their trailers cost between €6,000 and €10,000 each, benefiting from state subsidies up to €2,500 following different European countries. Their client portfolio is quite impressive, consisting of Belgian and French postal services, logistics companies (Shenker, a European logistics leader, plans to execute 10% of its deliveries with K-Ryole trailers in 2023), grocery stores and much more.

K-Ryole trailers specifications

An interesting feature is their rackable batteries. They have striken a partnership with Zeway, which provides 41 points to swap carrier batteries in the Paris area, in 50 seconds.

• Warranty: 2 years
• Compatibility
  All bikes: standard, electric (except battery behind the seat), cargo, two-wheeler, tilting bike
• Motors / Power
  2 x 1500 W brushless DC motors
• Dimensions
  222 × 94 × 110 cm
• Weight when empty
  150 kg
• Max payload
  350 kg
• Batteries
  Lithium 1,6 kWh rackable
• Recharging time
  Full charge in 5 hours
• Range
  Approximately 30 – 40 km per battery
• Anti-theft
  Engine lock (RFID system)
• Speed
  Cruise control: Bicycle 25 km/h | Hand 7 km/h
• Headlights
  Position, brake and reverse lights