A bike trailer is a handy way to move things around without the hassle of a car, although a there is still a slight strain—your legs have to haul the extra weight.
Now, thanks to a clever innovation, it will no longer be the rider pulling that weight: there is a bike trailer that pulls its own weight.
Danish bike manufacturer Biomega has launched the Ein, a bike trailer that knows it place, sitting quietly behind you powering itself along.
Like an e-bike, the Ein trailer has a motor and a battery.
What is special is electronic sensors that detect when the rider would appreciate some gentle assistance, and thus trickles a little electricity into the wheel.
When the rider is moving swiftly to get the kids to school in time, the trailer motor knows the story and pushes harder, helping more.
But when you are dawdling, so does the electrical assistant.
There are other electric assist trailers available, however they don’t adapt automatically to the bike.
And that’s not the only smart thing about this trailer: it is narrower (47cm) in order to zip down bike lanes—the kids sit one behind the other.
It has an aluminium frame with a hard plastic shell and a strong latch that can connect to almost any standard bike.
There is a removable battery powering a 250 watt motor and a range of accessories.
They are expecting to to be available to consumers aground the end of this year for a little more than A$1000.