👀 Aventon Unveils Its First Cargo Bike
Plus, Lime reports profitability, eBikes buoy cycling industry's losses, and Cake launches subscriptions.
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What You Need to Know Today
Vehicle manufacturer Aventon today announced its first ever e-cargo bike, joining a growing list of companies, such as Rad Power and Lectric, that are vying to sell two-wheeled car replacements to families. Like the rest of the brand’s lineup, the Aventon Abound promises solid specs and performance at an attainable price ($2,199), including a 750W motor capable of reaching Class 3 speeds of 28mph, hydraulic disc brakes, and a 440 lbs hauling capacity. We look forward to getting some hands-on time with the bike soon and reporting back!
Lime reports 2022 was its first full year of being profitable, in both adjusted and unadjusted EBITDA terms. The California-based company says it will be free cash flow positive this year or next, and plans to go public once the markets become less turbulent. While Lime is not the first operator to achieve profitability, it is (to our knowledge) the largest in terms of both the scale of its fleet and the amount of capital it has raised - a major milestone for MaaS.
Tier, another scooter-sharing giant, is said to be talking to bankers at Rothschild about raising a capital injection of as much as $1B in debt and possibly equity. The company, which hasn’t raised since 2021, hopes to be profitable this year.
Indian moped manufacturer Ola will invest $920M in battery and EV production in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Sweden-based Cake is launching a B2B subscription offer for its electric mopeds and bikes. The bundle includes service and insurance for a monthly payment with no money down.
Tiny electric cars are all the rage right now in China and Europe, while in the USA, golf carts are more in vogue. How long until the cultural distinction between these types of NEVs starts to fade?
Some U.S. politicians want to restrict the sale of cheap, fire-prone electric bike batteries. But delivery workers, who ride up to 100 miles per shift, say UL-certified cells do not provide the power to carry them through their day (technical breakdown below). Humble suggestion: Subsidize batteries so workers can afford to buy multiple high-quality, low-energy packs and swap them throughout the day.
“But some manufacturers, Abraham explained, ‘use very thin separators, much thinner than what UL recommends, because if very thin separators are used, more electrodes can be fit in the extra space to provide higher capacity.’ With the thinner separators, ‘the cells have a much higher chance of having some safety hazards due to physical touching of electrodes,’ he said. Thicker separators are less likely to develop holes or other defects that could lead to short circuits and thermal runaways. But thicker separators also take up more space, leaving less room in the battery for the electrodes, so the battery stores less energy.”
Related: Chick-fil-A is opening a “Brake Room” for NYC’s delivery workers, featuring bike storage, WiFi, restrooms, and more.
Mocci, a commercial-grade cargo bike from Germany’s CIP Mobility, will be the first vehicle to make use of Schaeffler’s new chainless drive. The system is radical in that it lacks any mechanical connection between the pedals and wheels.
What if the next billion cars… are not cars at all? “[The auto industry] is excited about electrification, they’re excited about self-driving, they’re excited about communicating technologies, they’re excited about sharing and other business models… None of these are disruptive.”
BinBin is coming to Western Europe. The Turkish company announced plans to acquire GO Sharing, a Dutch operator of electric mopeds and bikes that was recently left in the lurch when its sister company, GreenMo, ran out of money.
Frankfurt is abolishing most on-street parking in the city center.
Compared to other developed countries, American road safety has gone from a middling C to an abysmal F- over the last 50 years.
Delhi says it will only permit motorbike taxis to operate if they are electric, angering Uber.
Small EVs are booming in Australia, despite the fact their use is often illegal.
British micromobility provide Beryl has raised $2.4M to support the development of a new factory.
Convenience stores are learning a lesson long known by bikers and scooterers: If you aren’t protected by bollards, cars will crash into you. “Throughout all U.S. commercial businesses, storefront crashes happen about 100 times a day.”
Two German startups, the moped manufacturer Kumpan Electric and the electric cargo bike rental service Avocargo, have filed for insolvency.
A new bill in France would make it mandatory for owners of electric bikes and scooters to register their vehicles.
Indonesia’s energy minister says the government will start introducing an $460+ EV two-wheeler incentive in March 2023. Consumer appetite for this appears to be running high. Data from Google shows that search terms like “electric motorcycle” and “electric bike” have spiked 100% in Indonesia in the last year.
India’s Yulu has joined forces with Bajaj Auto to produce a new electric moped for sharing.
Overall bike sales dropped below pre-pandemic levels in the U.K. last year, save for the electric bike segment, which held steady.
And over in the Netherlands, electric bike sales grew ever so slightly in 2022 and now account for nearly 6 out of every 10 bikes sold.
Studies show a healthier city starts with better infrastructure for active mobility. “Researchers found that neighborhoods equipped with markers of urban development like sidewalks and crosswalks were linked to reductions in obesity and high blood pressure.”
The widespread greenwashing of SUVs is a maddening sight to behold.
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