Spin is adding an electric bike to its fleet of station-less bicycles for bike sharing. The Spin bike can travel up to 50 miles with a full charge and has batteries that the company says can be easily swapped by Spin’s operations teams.
The e-bikes are pedal-assist bikes, which can spin up to 15 miles-per-hour with the engine assisting pedal-power. Based on a proprietary design from Spin the bikes were manufactured through a partnership with an undisclosed bicycle manufacturer, which chief executive officer Derrick Ko said was one of the largest in the world. The bikes are unlocked through the Spin app just like the company’s regular bicycles. The first markets to receive the ebikes will be the company’s earliest exclusive partners, which include markets like Miami, University of California San Diego and Rochester Institute of Technology. “We see e-bikes as a key enabler of our mission to bring accessible and affordable transport to cities and campuses,” said Ko, in a statement.
The company has already rolled out stationless bikeshare programs in 24 loctions in the U.S. including Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington. It’s latest contract was an exclusive agreement with the University of California, San Diego. In all, Spin has provided roughly 500,000 rides since its debut in Seattle in 2017. “Electric bicycles, or e-bikes, have been shown to break down barriers to biking including hills, disabilities, age, and distance,” Spin’s chief technology officer, Zaizhuang Cheng, said in a satement.
Taking a Spin on one of Spin’s bikes cost $1.50 per 15 minute and represent one of the new ways cities are trying to tackle the congestion and mobility problem.
