Changing life by swapping out the car with an e-cargo bike

An introspective from 2017 .. when I considered a Packster 80

I've recently started looking into habits, especially the habits surrounding my car. I have a 2010 model Ford Focus station wagon which lets me and my dog get around Tromsø. However, my car trips are rather short and most of the time the car basically is just stored in the garage. I still have a loan on the car, there's also insurance, running costs and not to mention service. In other words, I have something I seldom use, I pay a lot for having it and it just gets worth less each passing day (unless it is a priceless car .. which it isn't).

For nearly two years now, I have had an electric bike with Nuvinci 360 gear hub and automatic shifter. It's an amazing bike since it doesn't require maintenance in the same way a sprocket does and it is fairly reliable. The only problem I've had, was that the electric shifter stopped working and the bike had to be sent to Germany to get fixed. Since then I've never experienced any fuss with the shifter, I've almost passed 3000 km with the bike so far.

Here's a review of the bike (https://electricbikereview.com/cube/suv-hybrid-sl-27-5/)

The bike is my way of getting to work, in any sort of condition. Biking in Tromsø, besides walking, is the most reliable way of getting where you want to go, since there's lots of congestions (busses and cars occupies the same roads) when I'm going home. Pluss often there are road accidents, which can halt the traffic on the entire Tromsø island.

The thing is with my bike, is that is just meant for commute. I got a carrier for the bike so I could carry stuff with me. However the bags doesn't have a lot of capacity for groceries or other stuff. I could of course buy a bike trolley or something, but knowing myself I know that I wouldn't be happy with that solution. So therefore I'm looking at electric cargo bikes.

There are a lot of different cargo bikes out on the marked and they've existed for might seems like ages. The reason why we don't see more transportation bikes, is because the car solves most of our transportation needs. However, in this green wave age, alternatives becomes more and more important. The transport bikes are, in my opinion, getting a renaissance due to both big and small bikes are being outfitted with electric engines and batteries that can haul you for a long distance.

The electric cargo bike I've looked at the most, is from Riese & Müller
It's called the Packster 80 (https://www.r-m.de/en-en/e-cargo/packster/packster-nuvinci-80-2017/#17P13_01031705).

The Packster 80, is a fairly long e-cargo bike which has a lot of capacity. The bike takes up to 200 kilos (max allowed) and is stable at the same time. I got to test the Packster 80 as well as the Load 60 at a local dealership (http://www.bjornskajakk.no/) and I have to say it was interesting to ride the bikes. Since I used my 'old' bike to get to the dealership, it was easier to compare how the different bikes performed.

Of all the bikes, including mine, I have to say the Load is the most comfortable and fun to ride. The Load is sleek and you really feel you have control despite it is a big bike. The steering feels also very natural. The only problem from my point of view, is the space. Despite its size, the Load is a very small cargo bike, though a very cool one.