Volkswagen and eBike manufacturer n+ will unveil the Volkswagen Smart eBike at IFA Berlin next month, built around a Smart View system whose rear-facing radar monitors traffic up to 230 feet (70 meters) behind the rider. Developed and produced by n+ under license from Volkswagen, the Volkswagen Smart eBike goes on public display with test rides available at the VW Stand Großen Stern SOM-201 and the Mobility Test Track from September 4–8, 2026. n+ describes the machine as the world’s safest eBike, pairing automotive-grade radar and camera hardware with wearable rider equipment. The company says Smart View is the first fully integrated, radar-activated rear-view camera system on a production eBike.
Highlights
- Radar range: Smart View monitors approaching traffic up to 230 feet (70 meters) behind the rider, unaffected by wind noise or ambient sound
- Three display modes: continuous dashboard, continuous rear camera, or Auto Mode, which switches to the camera feed when radar detects an approaching vehicle
- Smart Glasses weight: 47 grams (about 1.7 ounces), with a microOLED heads-up display activated by an intentional eye movement
- Smart Helmet output: more than 500 lumens of front, rear and side LED lighting, with a 1,350mAh battery running three hours in constant use to 30 hours in beacon mode
Smart View: Radar and Camera, Built In
Smart View pairs a high-resolution, full-color display integrated into the handlebar with a radar-camera unit built into the rear fender. The radar continuously monitors traffic behind the rider, detecting vehicles and other road users approaching at greater speed, while the integrated camera streams a live rearward video feed to the display.
The system targets a specific gap in rider awareness: knowing what is approaching from behind without turning away from the road ahead. According to n+, quiet roads, headwinds and the near-silent profile of modern electric vehicles all erode a cyclist’s ability to hear approaching traffic in time to react. The company says radar detection gives riders several seconds of advance warning, often before a vehicle can be seen or heard.
How Does the Display Handle Radar Alerts?
Riders select among three operating modes, with the alert behavior varying by what is on screen when traffic is detected.
| Mode | What the Display Shows | Behavior on Radar Detection |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Speed, pedal assist level, power output, battery status and trip data | Blind-spot warning tell-tale appears on the dashboard view |
| Rear camera | Continuous live rearward video feed | Orange alert bar appears across the camera view |
| Auto Mode | Dashboard view during normal riding | Display switches automatically to the rear-camera view |
Lighting That Responds to Traffic
Smart View is integrated with full-length LED strip lighting built into both sides of the top tube. The strips glow amber as side marker lights during normal riding and automatically increase in brightness when the radar detects an approaching vehicle, giving drivers an additional visual cue during an overtake. The same strips double as turn signals and brake indicators, working in sync with an integrated rear brake and tail lamp and illuminated front and rear Volkswagen emblem lighting.
Peter Jost, CEO of Volkswagen Accessories, said: “The Volkswagen Smart eBike demonstrates how technologies already established in the automotive sector can be intelligently transferred to two wheels. The optional radar-activated rear-view camera is an unprecedented innovation for production eBikes, and reliably detects approaching traffic and helps address the blind spots that can leave riders vulnerable. By combining this technology with intelligent lighting and connected rider equipment, the eBike shows what modern assistance systems can achieve – enhancing awareness, supporting safer decisions and giving riders greater confidence in everyday traffic.”
Smart Glasses Move Alerts Into the Rider’s Field of View
Smart View’s radar alerts extend beyond the handlebar through Smart Glasses, a wearable heads-up display developed with engineers who previously worked on fighter-pilot head-up display technology. Once paired over Bluetooth, the glasses project radar-activated blind-spot alerts, turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation and live ride data — speed, distance and battery status — into the rider’s field of view via a microOLED display. An intentional eye movement to the top right of the lens activates and deactivates the display. At 47 grams (about 1.7 ounces), n+ says the glasses are designed to be worn as everyday sunglasses on and off the bike.
Smart Helmet Adds Crash Detection
The Smart Helmet extends the eBike’s radar, lighting and camera technology onto the rider, automatically mirroring the bike’s brake and turn signals so a braking or turning rider is signaled from both the bike and the helmet.
- Lighting: more than 500 lumens of front, rear and side LED output
- Certification: NTA 8776, the standard covering higher-speed eBike riding
- Impact protection: MIPS system, intended to reduce rotational forces in angled impacts
- Crash detection: built in, with automatic alerts to emergency contacts including the rider’s location following a serious impact
- Sealing and power: IP67 dustproof and waterproof rating; 1,350mAh battery charging over USB-C
What Visitors Can Test at IFA Berlin
Visitors to the Mobility Test Track will be able to ride the Smart eBike with a live demonstration of the radar-activated rear camera, and try both the Smart Glasses and Smart Helmet. n+ frames the combined package — radar detection, live camera feed, behavioral lighting, heads-up alerts and crash-aware helmet — as a single connected safety net spanning the bike, the rider and the road.
The pairing follows n+’s earlier automotive licensing work, including the Bronco and Mustang eBikes it developed with Ford. Volkswagen has separately positioned e-bike charging as a use case for the vehicle-to-load function on its ID. Buzz. The Volkswagen Smart eBike, Smart Glasses and Smart Helmet are available to order now.
