KwikFit NL launches industry first e-bike and EV servicing centres
KwikFit NL has announced the opening of its first E-Service branch, in Amsterdam, setting the benchmark for future e-mobility service and support.
The press release highlights that customers can contact the ‘garage of the future’ for maintenance on both their electric car and e-bike. In addition, the garage functions as a test lab for e-mobility where various new electric vehicles, including e-cargo bikes in all shapes and sizes, e-microcars and LEVs (Light Electric Vehicles), can go for service.
This knowledge and experience will form the basis for the further development of the e-service concept that will eventually be rolled out at all KwikFit garages.
In addition, KwikFit opens several e-bike service points in Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven, where people can go with their e-bike according to the fast-service model: quickly make an appointment online and get help within an hour.
With this, KwikFit supports the transition to electric driving and the company helps to make electric transport accessible to everyone.
E-Bike Service
With a sizable percentage of Dutch e-bike sales taking place online the KwikFit E-Service Branch provides a local service point, independent of the seller or brand, and with the fast service that the company has become known for. For example, customers can make an appointment online and can count on transparent prices and a fast one-hour service. These first service points serve as a springboard for expanding other branches with this (e-bike) service in due course.”
Pieter Bikker, Director E-mobility at KwikFit Netherlands. “We are seeing more and more types of electric vehicles entering the market, from e-bikes to e-microcars. How the Dutch move from A to B is going to change drastically in the coming years and we see a major role for ourselves in this.”
Martin Post, Managing Director at KwikFit NL comments. “For us, this is the first big step towards the e-mobility market and the garage of the future. The energy transition is in full swing and we see our role in e-mobility in this.” “To contribute to the energy transition, we will ensure that maintenance and repairs on all kinds of electric vehicles can be carried out easily and quickly. That is why we are expanding from a garage for cars to an e-mobility service for electric vehicles.”
Zero-emission zones
The announcement concludes by pointing out that, “from 2030, all vehicles in zero-emission zones (in the Netherlands) must drive completely emission-free. This means that there are city districts and therefore also KwikFit garages that can no longer be reached with a fuel car from 2030.”
Of this Bikker states: “Thanks to the e-service concept, people who drive electrically can still contact us for maintenance. In this way we ensure that, even in an emission-free world, we can continue to provide the same quality and service that people are used to. We really see the KwikFit of the future in the e-service concept.”
UK e-mobility developments
In the UK, research commissioned by Bike is Best, carried out by academics at Westminster University, found that boosting use of e-bikes would deliver a slew of benefits.
A reduction in congestion, pollution, and urban noise levels, all make for an environment which is both safer, faster, and economically less costly. On this last point, “the Mayor of London revealed that congestion in the capital is costing the economy £5.1 billion a year, which equates to £1,211 per driver.”
With Active Transport users migrating from vehicles to a blend of micromobility and public transport, it will be extremely interesting to see when E-Service style garages begin to enter the UK marketplace.
