Rideables

The company just got hit with its fifth round of layoffs since April 2021, TechCrunch reports. It’s not clear how many employees are out of work, or which divisions were affected, but TC’s sources suggest most came from product development. Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes has accepted at least $300 million from investors, which in hindsight may not have been the best move for a company in an industry with tight margins and an extremely complex supply chain.

The new $3,299 Hyperion Solar scooter reaches speeds of up to 65mph and offers a range of up to 70 miles. I know there are other scooters out there that can go even faster than this, but I’m too scared to go over 15mph on my Segway F-SE.

A nice gesture from the new owners who have everything to lose if they don’t earn back trust:

The new VanMoof has launched a global initiative to help riders who ordered a bike before the bankruptcy and never received it. The company offers a €1000 / $1000 / £850 discount code off a VanMoof S5, A5 or future product to riders affected by this issue.

“Future product” presumably applies to the new electric scooter that should be launching soon, or even the dual-motor V superbike that’s still planned. You can apply for the discount here which is valid until the end of 2027.

That’s what the drone company’s official Instagram account seems to be teasing under a new Amflow Bikes brand, built around a DJI Avinox mid-drive motor. A formal announcement is scheduled for Wednesday, July 3rd at 3AM ET — that’s 9AM CET in Germany just as the Eurobike show kicks off tomorrow.

Maybe that’s a hard “I,” but as Electrek notes, naming a $1,699 e-bike built for the US market shouldn’t be this difficult.

Inga from Norway’s Infinite Mobility is fitted with 160W of semi-flexible solar panels, a 594Wh battery, stepless Enviolo shifter, and 250W motor with 25km/h top speed. It can carry up 250kg (about 551 pounds).

Founder and CEO Moez Jomâa to PV Magazine:

A full day in the sun is enough to fill the battery from zero to full charge. An hour is sufficient for at least 8 km of driving... In our target markets of Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria, the battery can go many months throughout Spring and Summer without recharging from the grid.

Prototypes are being tested right now and it’s expected to go into production starting next month.

Many people have experienced the transformative, car-replacing magic of electric cargo bikes. And now delivery companies, like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS, as well as the City of New York, are getting in on the action. Curbed’s John Surico has the latest on the proliferation of e-cargo bikes in the city:

The dream scenario, advocates told me, is this: Trucks or ships drop off your online order at a distribution center at a pier or on the urban outskirts, the package gets moved to a waiting e-cargo bike, and the bike goes the remaining distance to deliver it to your door. 

Is £399 / €399 / $399 too much for a 2.6kg (5.7lbs) gateway bike for your tiny tot? When they tire, you can just load the Gocycle Mini into your new Gocycle Cargo e-bike��to teach your kid all about multi-modal lifestyles and brand cohesiveness. Deliveries are expected to start in October.

Bloomberg reports that Uber-backed scooter-and-bike-share company Lime is planning to put out 30,000 additional electric bikes in North America, Europe, and Australia, as well as replace older ones.

Lime also reportedly saw record revenue last year — as it predicted it would back in September — even as others in its industry, like Bird, have docked their expectations.

Not entirely clear how quickly and securely the accessories and child safety system attach to the new GoCycle CX series, but it’s fun to see a fresh take on a longtail electric cargo bike that’s also lightweight and foldable. You can preorder now for £5,999 / €6,999 / $6,999 with first deliveries starting in September.

According to the German bicycle association (ZIV), 53 percent of all bicycles sold in 2023 were electric, with average prices rising from €2,600 (2020) to €2,950 last year. That’s 2.1 million e-bikes compared to 1.9 million regular bikes sold in one of, if not the most important bicycle markets in Europe.

Today Cowboy’s CEO predicted that by 2030, “e-bike sales will surpass car sales in Europe.”

The version 2.0 rollout of the company now owned by McLaren Applied, is well underway, having resumed production of spare parts and signed 50 repair and service locations across seven countries, with more cities on more continents including North America coming “later this year.”

The company also says it will “soon” make an announcement about the resumption of sales for its re-engineered e-bikes.

I don’t know who these people are but I respect their get-out-of-Dodge attitude, loading up their lives on top of a Bosch Performance Line CX motor, massive 29 x 3-inch tires, and dual-800Wh batteries for 186 mile (300km) of escapism. Pricing starts at $6,499 / €6,799 / £5,900.

New Jersey is set to pass a bill that requires electric bike and scooter owners to acquire a form of liability insurance that doesn’t really even exist. The industry-backed bill would create more obstacles to owning low-speed electric micromobility vehicles that have positively linked to less car usage and fewer carbon emissions. Which is to say this bill sucks and I hope it fails. (It probably won’t.)

Other states are also considering bills that would make it harder to own an e-bike. I guess its cheaper than building protected infrastructure to make things safer for everyone on the road.

The company, which makes extremely unique-looking utility-themed motorbikes and motorcycles, was forced to make the decision after a major investor bailed right before a funding round was set to close, according to Electrek. Certainly this will come as sad news to fans of Cake’s two-wheelers, which are geared toward off-roading and cargo-hauling.

Our own Thomas Ricker was taken with the Ösa’s multifaceted features, but found the price and digital display to be lacking.

The trailblazing Dutch e-bike brand that went vanpoof last year is slowly delivering upon promises made by new owner McLaren Applied. Parts are limited, and right now only eight service center partners have been named for all of the Netherlands and Germany, but it’s a start with more parts and countries to come.

More details in the FAQ and in this email sent to subscribers:  

Good news! This week we delivered the first spare parts to selected VanMoof partners in the Netherlands and Germany. For certain repairs, you can immediately book an appointment with a VanMoof partner near you. Please note that our partners have limited stock and capacity.

We’ll be rolling this out much further in the coming months - adding another 40 locations, delivering more components, and expanding to more countries before mid-February. 

The self-balancing brand once hyped as “more important than the internet” has been so thoroughly milked of its value by Ninebot that it now covers giant batteries, lawn mowers, robots, 4x4s, and scooters that can’t balance themselves at all.

The new Segway Xafari and Segway Xyber electric bikes are pitched as off-roaders with GPS anti-theft, integrated alarms, automatic power adaptation, and integrated hub locks. On sale “late 2024” for a TBD price.

Urtopia, an Indiegogo darling that sells “the world’s smartest e-bikes” direct-to-consumers, spends as much time marketing its bikes as it does saddling them with superfluous tech. Now it’s pushing an Iron Man “Jarvis” feature ahead of CES complete with smart ring activation that’s so absurd I just had to share.