Going on 13 years of e-bike building innovation, Dutch electric bike maker VanMoof has just announced its new VanMoof S4 and X4 e-bikes with “iconic tech” and four vibrant new colors. The new models come in at a lower price thanks to reduced features.
If you remember the previous VanMoof S3 and X3 from 2020, you might notice that the new S4 and X4 look fairly familiar. They share a similar outward design, but receive a slimmed down tech suite compared to the more recent A5 and S5 models launched last year. That slimming down has helped VanMoof shave nearly US $1,000 off of their sticker prices.
As usual, the S4 is the larger diamond frame model and the X4 is the smaller version with a more compact frame and smaller wheels.
According to the company, the two new models have been “entirely rebuilt to offer the very best of the brand’s technological innovation in its most simple, accessible, and reliable models to date.”
In fact, the simpler operation seems to be a hallmark of the new design. As VanMoof cofounder Taco Carlier explained:
One of the hardest things in life is to make things more simple. With the S4 & X4, we’ve mastered the art of simplification to make our e-bikes more accessible and reliable than ever.
VanMoof had developed a reputation for service needs on its more high-tech bikes due to malfunctions and other issues, and the simplified new models may be an attempt to reduce the number of service calls by reducing the possible points of failure.
Instead of a fancier three-speed automatic shifter on VanMoof’s previous e-bike models, the VanMoof S4 and X4 include two-speed automatic gear shifting, offering a lower gear for acceleration or hill-climbing, and a higher gear for flat land cruising at top speed.
The new bikes come with a Gen 4 Kick Lock, allowing riders to lock their rear wheel with a kick of their toe. Other anti-theft features that have become a common theme on VanMoof’s bikes include onboard alarms and location tracking, though the bikes lose the previous Apple Find My integration we saw on the brand’s other models.
They also lose the torque sensor from VanMoof’s nicer A5 and S5 bikes, instead using a combination of a cadence sensor and something that VanMoof calls “New Adaptive Motor Support.”
The bikes do include VanMoof’s Turbo Boost button, which when pushed gives an extra kick of power to complement the existing pedal assist. The bikes also feature a built-in phone mount that allows riders to use the VanMoof app as the bike’s dashboard in lieu of a dedicated handlebar display.
The S4 & X4 now also come in four vivid new colors of Sunbeam Yellow, Purple Fog, Evergreen, and Foam Green.
As Carlier continued:
We spend a lot of time listening to prospective riders. And what we heard clearly was the desire for our key features and iconic VanMoof design – in an e-bike that was even more simple, more accessible, and more reliable. We designed the S4 & X4 specifically to meet their needs.
A top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) will be available in North America, but the e-bikes destined for the European market will be limited to 25 km/h (15.5 mph). Both get range ratings of up to 140 km (87 mi) from the non-removable battery, though that is in the lowest of the four power modes. A second auxiliary battery can be strapped onto the bike to add even more range, which may come in handy in the higher power modes that can more than halve the built-in battery’s range.
The new models will go on sale starting today for US $2,498 in the United States, £2,198 in the UK, or €2,198 in Europe. The Evergreen colorway will be available first, with the remaining colorways becoming available later in the summer.
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