How To Pack An E-Bike Into A Station Wagon (a tutorial)

[Prairie Dog]

@Prairie Dog
XC90?
Where in AB?

No can do do in my XC70 wagon (nor Golf Sportswagen).
Hatch opening is only 28.5" for both, not enough height for front fork and handlebars.

I have to do the angled approach, but that's not a big deal other than the upright approach is more aesthetically pleasing to me.

Hi Randall. I'm north of you up the QE2 in Red Deer.

This configuration might not work for bikes mounted in the upright position but angling the forks could be doable depending on the bike(s). I got the initial idea from a MTBer who posted his project on a Honda Fit forum. BTW, I miss my '06 XC70. In terms of cargo hauling, it was hard to beat.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Well done!

View attachment 67722

Thanks FS911! Glad that you approve of it. I went a step further by adding a second track and also cut a shallow dado in the middle of the panel using my table saw to accommodate a load strap that wraps around the cargo floor underneath and virtually cinches the panel in place. The other track behind the front seats is held down with straps using the headrest posts and child tether anchors located on the backs of the folded seats. A cheap utility mat with rubber backing along with the cargo liner are used to protect any exposed upholstery inside the vehicle. This rack was built originally for our analogue bikes but I had no reason to doubt that it could also accommodate the e-versions.

 

[RandallS]

Hi Randall. I'm north of you up the QE2 in Red Deer.

This configuration might not work for bikes mounted in the upright position but angling the forks could be doable depending on the bike(s). I got the initial idea from a MTBer who posted his project on a Honda Fit forum. BTW, I miss my '06 XC70. In terms of cargo hauling, it was hard to beat.

I loved our '06, but the wife "bumped" a Toyota last year (it was destroyed) and although the damage to our car was relatively minimal, it was over the value of the car so they wrote it off.

Replaced it with a '10 and we're kind of ambivalent towards it. The '06 was a superior car in our view, but they are super cars either way.
Love Red Deer and area - was a member at the Innisfail Golf course for a number of years as I live in the north part of Calgary.

One of these days we're going to have to organize an EBR regional ride. There's also some interest from some of the PNW folks too.

Cheers!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I loved our '06, but the wife "bumped" a Toyota last year (it was destroyed) and although the damage to our car was relatively minimal, it was over the value of the car so they wrote it off.

Replaced it with a '10 and we're kind of ambivalent towards it. The '06 was a superior car in our view, but they are super cars either way.
Love Red Deer and area - was a member at the Innisfail Golf course for a number of years as I live in the north part of Calgary.

One of these days we're going to have to organize an EBR regional ride. There's also some interest from some of the PNW folks too.

Cheers!

I hear ya. The current Volvo fleet based on the SPA platform are quite striking but prohibitively expensive. We purchased our 2017 XC60 used from a dealer in Vancouver and privately sold our ’06 XC70 higher than our asking price.

An EBR meet sounds cool.

 

[TForan]

If you expand the photo you will see the glass roof line. This was not actually intended as anything but a spoof, accuracy was not the intent. Obviously whoever shot this photo was trying to do a 442 theme. Nice job actually, looks like hood and stripes were the max done. Very economical.

Don't see it.

 

[Kayakguy]

Renault pulled out of the US market after severe quality problems in the 70s. "French car" became the word for faulty cars that wouldn't start and hang out in the garage frequently for repair. 1978 Renault bought AMC to reenter the US market and that was a total flop, Renault lost 750 Mio. USD and finally handed AMC to Chrysler in 1987.

After rumours of reentering plans to the US market for 2010 Renaults president was asked if he thought that US customers would remember Renault. His answer was: "I hope not".

Now there is a Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi conglomerate.
There are rumours that Nissan is intending to pull out of the European market and concentrate on other markets such as the US, China, Japan.
Renault is to serve the European market in this conglomerate and I can't see them reentering the US market in the near future.

FIAT-Chrysler offered Renault a 50-50 joint last year but withdrew that offer due to French Government resistance.

The worst car I ever owned was a 1958 Renault 4CV. This is the one that looked like Charles DeGaule in profile. It had 28,000 miles on it, and was worn out. It burned oil like mad--I carried a 1 gallon can of bulk oil with me at all times--and it had the scariest front end shimmy at 50-55 mph I'v ever experienced. Only had 3 speeds, and the engine had just enough oomph to shift from one gear to the next. You had to quickly accelerate through the low fifties (speeds) or the shimmy would shake the whole front end. Had it happen one time as I was crossing the ship canal in Seattle on the freeway; it continued to shake until I came to a dead stop on the shoulder. After that it was okay (until the next time). I could write a whole blog on the horrors of that car, but can't bring any more self-torture on myself right now.