- CityQ produces 4-wheel e-bikes with car-like features, including windows, doors, wipers, seating for up to 3 people, and cargo capacity.
- The vehicles are 90% more sustainable than traditional cars and 80% more sustainable than EVs, and could replace almost 70% of cargo and services currently delivered by vans in inner cities
- They require no license, insurance, or registration, can charge at home, travel 110km per charge, and start at €11,900.
Website: https://cityq.com
Who Are CityQ?
CityQ is a European urban mobility technology startup that has created something entirely new: a vehicle that looks and feels like a tiny car, but is officially classified as an e-bike. Think of it as sitting somewhere between a regular electric bicycle and a small electric car, you get the weather protection and comfort of a car, but you can ride it in bike lanes and don’t need a driving license.
The company manufactures what it describes as the ‘world’s smallest and most efficient urban electric vehicles’. Because they’re registered as e-bikes rather than cars, they avoid many of the problems and costs associated with car ownership. The first CityQ vehicles have now been delivered to customers across 8 different European markets, including to the logistics company DHL in London, who are using them for deliveries.
These four-wheeled e-bikes provide the kind of comfort and safety you’d expect from a car. Proper seating, protection from rain and wind, combined with the environmental benefits and ease of use you get with a traditional bicycle.
“Cities don’t need to wait for autonomous vehicles, flying drones or new infrastructure to get less car traffic and pollution. This will come naturally by welcoming the innovation within downsized electric vehicles such as micro cars, micro mobility and CityQ. We will be the first company to successfully bridge the gap between cars and e-bikes – for all types of transport in inner cities.”
– Morten Rynning, CEO at CityQ
What Makes CityQ Unique?
CityQ’s vehicles are the first to successfully deliver genuine car-like features while still being classified as bicycles in the eyes of the law. At just 120kg – roughly the weight of two adult men – these are the lightest car-like vehicles you can buy. Despite being so light, they come with everything you’d expect from a proper vehicle: full weather protection with closing doors, windows you can see through, windscreen wipers for rainy days, indicator lights for turning, and even a reverse gear for tight parking spots.
The powertrain is completely digital, meaning it’s controlled by sophisticated software rather than old-fashioned mechanical chains and gears.
Unlike a normal e-bike that leaves you exposed to the elements and offers minimal storage, CityQ provides a stable four-wheel platform with real car-style seats where you sit comfortably rather than perching on a bicycle saddle. But unlike a conventional electric car, CityQ vehicles enjoy some significant real-world advantages: you’re legally allowed to use bike lanes (avoiding traffic jams), you can park for free in bicycle parking areas (saving money), and you simply plug them into a regular wall socket at home to charge – no need to hunt for public charging stations or install expensive charging equipment.
This unique sweet spot means CityQ has the convenience and weather protection of a car while keeping all the practical benefits that come with being classified as a bicycle.
Want to be featured as TechRound’s Startup of the Week? Find out more about this weekly feature, and how to get involved, here.
Is There A Market For Car-Like e-Bikes?
The market potential for vehicles like CityQ is big and growing. The company calculates that almost 70% of cargo and service deliveries currently made by traditional vans in city centres could be handled by their smaller, more efficient vehicles instead. This would mean fewer large vehicles clogging up narrow city streets. The global consulting firm McKinsey supports, forecasting that super-light electric vehicles of this type will create a market worth $100 billion worldwide by 2030.
The need for alternatives to traditional cars in cities is becoming more important. Right now, approximately 40% of people living in EU cities are breathing air that’s polluted to harmful levels, with most of that pollution coming from road traffic. At the same time, traffic congestion costs European economies €100 billion every single year in lost productivity and wasted time, that’s about 1% of the entire EU’s economic output. If nothing changes, experts predict these congestion costs will double to €200 billion by 2050.
CityQ’s vehicles offer a practical solution to both problems: they produce a fraction of the pollution and take up far less road space than cars.
The market is already responding well. Demand for CityQ’s vehicles has consistently exceeded what the company can produce, with long waiting lists for their initial models. Meanwhile, cities across Europe are introducing more and more restrictions on car traffic in urban centres, creating perfect conditions for alternative transport options that can still get people and goods from door to door conveniently, just without the pollution and congestion.
What Products Does CityQ Have?
CityQ offers different versions of their vehicle to suit different needs.
There’s a pickup model for carrying bigger items, dedicated cargo versions for businesses making deliveries, a pedicab model for passenger transport, and family passenger models for everyday commuting and school runs. All of these models will be available to order in the UK from early 2026. The cargo versions aimed at businesses launched last year, with the family passenger models becoming available shortly afterwards.
Regardless of which model you choose, the core capabilities are the same. Every CityQ can travel 110 kilometres on a single battery charge – that’s roughly the distance from London to Cambridge, enough for most people’s daily needs. They can handle fairly steep hills (up to 20% gradients, which is steeper than most city streets), even when fully loaded with up to 250 kilograms of cargo or passengers – that’s roughly the weight of three average adults.
The top speed is 25 kilometres per hour (about 15.5 mph), which is the legal limit for vehicles classified as e-bikes across Europe.
You can order CityQ vehicles through the company’s website for delivery across the UK, Germany, Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), and Scandinavia.
Prices start at €11,900 (around £10,000). As the company increases its production, they plan to introduce more affordable entry-level models, as well as attractive leasing arrangements for businesses that want to offer these vehicles as part of employee benefit programmes.
