Bikes have always been in, but they are really in lately due to Covid-19 and a focus on fitness and concerns about using public transit.
Even prior to the pandemic, city planners in New York and elsewhere were already adding more bike lanes and retrofitting intersections and signage to make it safer to ride alongside cars and buses in crowded downtowns and to reduce the carbon footprint.
Consumers also want eco-friendly mobility but also want an electric motor assist for long commutes or hill climbs, which has created a boom in micro-electric bikes. Manufacturers are adding plenty of sensors and electronics to boot, boosting the price points to well above your first Schwinn, but drawing in buyers. The e-bike market is projected to climb globally to $23 billion by 2023, according to Deloitte.
“The demand for consumer e-bikes has never been greater,” noted Bird Chief Vehicle Officer Scott Rushforth in a Thursday announcement for the new electric Bird Bike to own priced at $2,299.
“The future of transportation is all-electric,” declared Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird. “Our e-bike is safe, durable and provides a stylish aesthetic and advanced technology that delivers a fun alternative to congestion inducing, gas-powered cars.”
VanderZanden founded the company in 2017 focusing at first on electric scooters that can be shared in cities and accessed from a smartphone. Today, Bird has shared micro electric vehicles in 300 cities. Bird recently announced a smart bikeshare program for cities, including a pilot with Scootaraound for on-demand mobility.
The new Bird Bike includes a hub Bafang electric motor and a removable battery with up to 50 miles of range and 500 watts of electric support with the U.S. model. There’s a manual thumb throttle for an instant boost of power. It can reach a pedal-assist speed of 20 miles an hour. An LCD display is integrated into the handlebars to track speed, distance, battery life and other inputs. It supports Bluetooth, so owners can connect to a Bird app to turn on and off LED lights and view battery range and miles covered.
England-based CrownCruiser Motors unveiled an e-bike in July, putting a heavy emphasis on retro styling and smart technologies. Its half-price introductory offer puts the price tag at $3,150.
CrownCruiser comes with a maximum power output of 1000 watts and 100 mile range. Two motor sizes are available, one with pedal assist for speeds up to 15.5 mph at 250 watts. Or, pedal assist can be combined with a throttle and a 750 watt rear hub motor, allowing speeds of 31 mph.
In terms of smarts, it provides rider recognition for anti-theft, GSM location tracking and Bluetooth to enable an app to track riding stats. An accelerometer can detect an impact or fall to able to pin drop a rider’s location for an emergency contact.
The bike is in production for fall sales following backing by the Innovate UK government fund. CrownCruiser motors plans to install swap-and-go battery stations in cities.
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