Virtually bankrupt, VanMoof could soon lose access to its servers, causing many remote bikes to be disabled. With the Bikey app, competitor Cowboy has come up with a way to control VanMoof bikes via Bluetooth. In case.
A nice publicity stunt, solidarity between competitors, a tease, or all of this at the same time?
VanMoof, the Dutch e-bike brand, is on the verge of collapse. In default, VanMoof is looking for a solution to maintain its activities. The next few days should prove crucial for the company, which risks bankruptcy and immediate closure. Part of its management has left, its stores are closed for the duration of the procedure and the thousands of owners of a bike of the brand hold their breath.
For good reason, the whole concept of VanMoof bikes is based on its link with technology. The Dutchman’s bikes are piloted in an application, which allows them to be unlocked, to change the settings or to access their statistics. Problem: in the event of bankruptcy, justice could seize the servers of VanMoof. Thousands of connected bicycles would then become normal bicycles, which we could no longer even unlock.
Cowboy to the rescue of VanMoof
This is where Cowboy, the other player in connected bikes, comes in. The Belgian, who almost seems to have anticipated the situation, has posted an application called Bikey (for Bike and Key). Its concept is as follows: log in to your VanMoof account, and the app will extract your bike’s digital key. Thanks to Bikey, it is therefore possible to unlock and change the settings of your VanMoof using Bluetooth, without going through the brand’s servers.
Normally, it would seem unlikely to us that VanMoof would appreciate this initiative. Given his situation, we imagine that the buzz created by Cowboy is the least of his problems. The story does not say if VanMoof was planning its own application to export its keys locally in the event of a problem, or if the brand’s bikes were really going to be blocked.
Important clarification: not all VanMoof bikes are compatible with Bikey yet. Cowboy says it can only unlock S3 and X3 bikes today, but plans to support S5 and A5 soon. On the other hand, the S2 and X2 models should not be entitled to it.
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