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Bicycles

Yakbike cargo e-trike has no need for a chain – or a belt

By Ben Coxworth
August 14, 2023
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The Yakbike hits the road
Yakbike
The Yakbike can be loaded up with different cargo modules
Yakbike
Optional extras include sun/rain protection and a mudguard for the front wheel
Yakbike
The Yakbike hits the road
Yakbike
View gallery - 3 images

While cargo e-trikes definitely are a greener, cheaper-to-maintain alternative to delivery vans, their layout is limited by having to accommodate a chain-drive drivetrain. The Yakbike takes a different approach, as its drivetrain is electronic.

Manufactured by Swiss mobility company Shematic, the Yakbike places its crankset directly in line with its flat-fronted cargo bed. Additionally, in order to boost stability, its front end leans into corners while its rear end remains upright.

Both of these features would be difficult to incorporate into a trike that utilized a traditional drivetrain, in which a chain (or belt) ran from the crankset back to the rear axle. The Yakbike gets around such limitations by using a stepless electronic drivetrain.

Putting it simply, as the rider pedals, they spin up a generator instead of directly driving the rear wheels. That generator in turn charges the battery that powers the two 250-watt rear hub motors – the setup is similar to the existing Free Drive system.

The Yakbike can be loaded up with different cargo modules
Yakbike

The motors each put out 170 Nm (125 lb ft) of torque, taking the rider to a top electric-assisted speed of 25 km/h (16 mph). One charge of the standard single 2.6-kWh lithium-ion battery should be good for a claimed range of about 80 km (50 miles), although that figure can be boosted to 150 km (93 miles) by adding an optional second battery. A regenerative braking system helps extend the trike's range.

Some of its other features include hydraulic disc brakes, a full LED lighting system with turn indicators, an electronic differential, and a throttle mode for help when pushing the trike or starting up from stops. The whole thing reportedly tips the scales at 70 kg (154 lb), and is capable of carrying a maximum rider/cargo payload of 350 kg (772 lb).

Optional extras include sun/rain protection and a mudguard for the front wheel
Yakbike

Pricing for the Yakbike starts at 12,900 Swiss francs (about US$14,689) for the pickup-truck-like base model. Optional rear cargo modules include a large Yakbox delivery box, a trash bin, an organic waste bin, and a pallet carrier.

Source: Yakbike

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Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.
10 comments
paul314
OK, that's as much cargo as many small cars and trucks. I hop they have the traction for it. But the electric transmission is brilliant in terms of simplifying all kinds of things (and no way a human could get that payload going without assist or ridiculous gearing, so makes perfect sense). I wish I had any use for one whatsoever.
CarolynFarstrider
It'd be interesting to hear more about the relative efficiency of the electronic drive system, as opposed to a conventional crank and chain system. If it's good, then surely lots of bikes should use it now?
rbhall52
This is a great innovation, but so many people think that it is more eco-friendly than a gas powered vehicle, which it is not. The components to make it still come from fossil fueled and/or nuclear powered manufacturing, and until wind and solar power are mature enough to power industry, which they could not do right now, fossil fuels and nuclear power plants will still have to power manufacturing. So the only thing eco-friendly about the innovation is that the electrical and electronic systems do not put out CO2. But, in reality, that is not eco-friendly, either, because the more CO2 the atmosphere contains, the better all plants will grow and the greener the planet will be. And when you try to remove CO2 from the air, you are not helping the plants, you are harming them.
PAV
It would be nice to have this equipped with a micro camper and solar panels for cross country travel. Then It would even be worth the $11k!
freddotu
It's amazing. A clean, properly lubricated bicycle chain drive has efficiencies approaching ninety-eight percent. Taking into account the losses of a conventional electric motor (or an unconventional motor) combined with the losses of a generator, the level does not come close. The reason the world is not overrun with generator/motor combinations is this "answer" that does not solve a problem.
CDE
Is there a camera to see behind you? Looks risky to me.
TpPa
rbhall52,
Try breathing in an atmosphere of 60% O2, plants don't thrive by giving them excess CO2.
ljaques
This is an interesting configuration and it might work well. It seems to me that someone is adding techie gizmos to drive the price up, because that could be put together for a grand and sold for two. Without the leaning front end (minimal benefit), and without the differential. The front end could be made much better with actual MTB forks, with a suspension. Can the Yak really take 500# of cargo and a 200# driver? Can those mirrors see past the cargo box? We'll see. My BS radar is going mad here. If the base is $15k, I'm sure that adding the rest of the modules would bump it up over $35k, especially with a power pallet lifter. What was it that Jerry McGuire said for his best pro client? I can hear Yaksmith sales crews screaming SMTM all during work hours. Color me a wee bit skeptical.
nick101
I dunno, mechanical systems are pretty darn efficient. I can't see the average cyclist keeping one of these charged up somehow. "Hey, care to keep peddling my bike while I go to lunch?"
MattII
Others have noted the efficiency of chains, and while a single pedal-wheel chain does take up space, adding another sprocket in between, so one chain goes between the pedals and the intermediary socket, while the second goes between the intermediary socket and the wheels ought to eliminate that issue, while not introducing too much more mechanical loss.
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