Sustainable commuting appears to be one of the most critical challenges of this age. Urban dwellers are in dire need of an environmentally friendly alternative to cars, but most of the available options have glaring limitations. The BICAR is an innovative, emission-free mobility device that does not compromise the comfort, safety, or relative privacy that comes with individual mobility. Produced from scratch with sustainable materials, BICAR hopes to put an end to wasting many hours in traffic as well as the endless search for parking spots.
Design and features
The BICAR is a sustainably produced, three-wheeled, zero-emissions, electric vehicle that hopes to facilitate urban commuting. The vehicle features a unique design with one rear and two front wheels. This design may not be conventional. However, BICAR can maintain an impressive level of stability, thanks to a newly developed tilt mechanism. The design also incorporates a roof that protects the rider from the elements. The BICAR is a product of daring innovation, seamlessly incorporating the essential features of bikes, scooters, and cars into one easy-to-ride and environmentally friendly tricycle.
Energy autonomy at its best
According to the manufacturers, the BICAR is the first electric vehicle that you can operate with only solar power. This feature guarantees energy autonomy as you can trust that your bike is charging anytime and anywhere. To cater for heavy users, the manufacturers also included a back-up system with swappable batteries and newly developed battery swap stations.
Functional and all-inclusive mobile application
If having a mobile app is the primary qualification for calling any device smart, BICAR is as smart as it gets. The mobile application gives room for several possibilities, including but not limited to:
- Geo-localizing battery swap stations around you
- Making a reservation at the station
- Locking and unlocking your BICAR
- Serving as an information board and navigation tool while driving
The app’s user interface is quite friendly, and you can rest assured you won’t have much trouble navigating your way around it.
Sustainably produced and environmentally friendly
The manufacturers say that they will build the BICAR from scratch with sustainable materials. Moreover, the zero-emissions and electric nature make it even more environmentally friendly. According to the manufacturers, the tricycle would be produced according to the Cradle to Cradle Certified TM product certification standard. This certification assesses five criteria, namely:
- Material health
- Material re-utilization
- Renewable energy and carbon dioxide compensation
- Water and social fairness
Inventions that pass all the assessment criteria are believed to achieve a positive impact on the society and the environment.
Pricing info
The BICAR was presented for the first time at the International Geneva Motor Show in March 2019. The manufacturers plan to start rolling out the vehicle to the general public before the end of 2020. BICAR will be available from 7,000 Swiss Francs (CHF), approx. 7,655 USD – for the basic edition without solar roof, excl. vat and shipping. You may visit the official BICAR website for more information.
Startup
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to become registered, startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo founder. At the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to be successful and influential. Some startups become unicorns; that is privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion.
Actions
Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will begin market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype, to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take a long period of time (by some estimates, three years or longer), and hence sustaining effort is required. Over the long term, sustaining effort is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes. Having a business plan in place outlines what to do and how to plan and achieve an idea in the future. Typically, these plans outline the first 3 to 5 years of your business strategy.
Design principles
Models behind startups presenting as ventures are usually associated with design science. Design science uses design principles considered to be a coherent set of normative ideas and propositions to design and construct the company's backbone. For example, one of the initial design principles is "affordable loss".
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