Does E-bike Bankruptcy Redefine “Fiasco”?

How should we spell “fiasco” in today’s hi-tech mania world when the once hottest, coolest e-bike maker went bankrupt & left its buyers’ in the lurch on inevitable software updates as well as fixes?

As the WSJ piece by Nicole Nguyen recounts, “The VanMoofX3 was [suppose to be] the perfect fit. Both my 6-ft-1 husband & my 5-ft-2 self could ride the e-bike comfortably.” It even had motion-based alarm & location tracking via Apple’s Find My network. Never mind the e-bike cost $2,300 each because “it looked cool & ticked so many boxes.” But, then, last July, the Dutch e-bike maker declared bankruptcy.

Ms. Nguyen rightly worried about all the connected tech’s future reliability. “She wondered, “Would the servers that power VanMoof’s app stay up & running? Would I still be able to unlock my bike with the app or find it if it goes missing?” As Ms. Nguyen relates, “I’ve seen this movie before Shortly after the electric skateboard company Boosted Boards changed ownership in 2020, the mobile app that tuned the board’s speed & power disappeared from Apple’s App Store. It hasn’t reappeared.” While VanMoof’s new owners assure they are “working to keep customers riding & fix the biggest issues,” Nguyen wonders about how cool the $2.3 K times 3 or $6,900 deal turned out to be.

Davd Soul