General Motors Starts Taking Orders for Electric Bicycles

Last November, the world learned that both General Motors and Ford planned to enter the field of two-wheeled transportation as part of their new identity as “mobility” companies. Ford chose to purchase electric scooter startup Spin, whereas GM wanted to mass produce two e-bikes intended for direct sale. However, not much was known about the actual product, where they would be made available, or what the company intended to call them.

That changed Thursday, when GM announced its electric bicycles will carry the brand name “Ariv” (styled as ARĪV by the company) and commence sales within Europe in the second quarter of 2019. Customers have a choice between a compact e-bike and an even smaller, foldable one for a little more money.

Considering how much the authors on this website like to rag on rental scooters (which are an unholy menace), we’re glad to see General Motors take this route. Love or hate them, bicycles are better solutions for urban transport than standing scooters, and encouraging people to own them means fewer e-vehicles littering the sidewalk.

(What’s in that couple’s ridiculous jar? – Ed.)

Designed and engineered at GM’s facilities in Michigan and Ontario, both bikes offer a claimed 64 kilometers (about 40 miles) of ride time on a single charge. However, the manufacturer didn’t make it clear how much pedal power that entails. Since these are e-bikes and not scooters, owners will have to be willing to exert themselves physically even before the battery is depleted.

That said, GM promises a 3.5-hour recharge time at a normal wall plug and an electric motor delivering “top-of-segment power and torque for its size.” Both bikes possess a top speed of 15 mph, which is roughly on par with your average Bird scooter.

Ariv models can also connect to a proprietary app using your Bluetooth, allowing your phone to display speed, distance, remaining battery level, motor assist level (which there are four), distance traveled, and more. GM says it intends to add features, including a mode that uses an algorithm to “help riders arrive at their destination sweat-free.” There’s a phone mount to make that easier and an integrated USB port to charge it.

If you’re into cycling, it actually sounds halfway decent. If you’re not, then you can brush this off as more mobility nonsense from an automaker that’s made pushing future tech its primary mission. But this isn’t nearly as ominous feeling as GM’s Marketplace or data sharing plans. Ariv is much more in line with GM’s roots of selling transportation directly to the people who need it.

Launching first in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands (due to the popularity of e-bikes in those areas), the compact Ariv Meld will cost 2,800 euros ($3,160) while the collapsable Merge will be 3,400 euros ($3,840). Pre-orders are already being accepted.

[Images: General Motors]