Volkswagen's New E-Bike Watches Your BackVolkswagenWhat if you gave an e-bike some of the same safety equipment you might find on a car? How would that even work?Volkswagen thinks it could work just fine. It's actually equipped a new e-bike with a host of automotive safety tech you might find in a Tiguan, like a rear-facing radar and a camera, along with optional connected glasses and a helmet that can warn riders about surrounding traffic.The VW Smart eBike is developed and manufactured under license by bicycle company n+ and will debut in September at IFA Berlin, a trade show similar to CES. The Smart eBike's most notable feature is Smart View, which combines radar and a rear-facing camera with a display integrated into the handlebar.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe radar can monitor traffic up to 230 feet behind the rider and also detect vehicles approaching at higher speeds. The camera provides a live view of what's happening behind the bike.VolkswagenBicycle-based radar itself isn't new. Garmin, Trek, and other companies already offer rear-facing systems that alert riders to approaching vehicles. The difference with Volkswagen's approach is in how it ties the radar to the camera, dashboard, and lighting system.Riders can use the screen as a conventional IP-like display, monitoring speed, battery charge, and pedal-assist information, or they can leave it showing the rear-camera feed. In an automatic setting, the screen switches to the camera when the radar detects an approaching vehicle and displays an orange warning.VolkswagenLED strips along the bicycle's top tube also respond to the radar. Normally functioning as amber side-marker lights, they become brighter when a vehicle approaches and double as turn signals and brake lights.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe system can be paired with optional Smart Glasses, which put traffic alerts and other information directly in front of the rider. A microOLED display shows blind-spot warnings, Google Maps navigation, speed, distance, and battery status. The glasses weigh less than 2 ounces and allow the display to be turned on or off with a specific eye movement.There's also a Smart Helmet with more than 500 lumens of front, side, and rear lighting. Its brake lights and turn signals operate in sync with those on the bicycle, making the rider's intentions visible at a higher level to surrounding traffic.The helmet meets the NTA 8776 standard for higher-speed e-bikes and incorporates MIPS impact protection. A crash-detection feature can automatically send the rider's location to designated emergency contacts following an impact.VolkswagenThe bike reflects a broader move to adapt automotive driver-assistance technology to cycling. Rear radar, cameras, connected lighting and even vehicle-to-bicycle communication are increasingly being explored as ways to make cyclists more visible and give riders better information about traffic around them.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile the VW system doesn't communicate directly with approaching cars, it does give the cyclist more warning about what's coming from behind—particularly useful as increasingly quiet EVs make relying on sound alone less effective. It also amplifies the e-bike's visibility to traffic around it.If you find yourself in Germany in September, Volkswagen and n+ will offer public test rides of the Smart eBike and demonstrations of the glasses and helmet during IFA Berlin show.