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Uber Starts Trialing for App-Based e-Bike Service for its London Users

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Image Source: uber.com

The UK is familiar with bicycle hailing services, Lime being the biggest player in the field in the country. After seeing many other bike hailing services run successfully, the UK is now ready to welcome Uber with its new e-bike hiring service. Uber has revealed that it is going to start trialling its electric bike hailing service with 350 of its Jump electric bikes in the London borough of Islington.

Uber also plans to expand into the other part of the London city after successfully completing the trial for a certain period of time. The company will be launching 350 bright red colour Jump bicycles on the streets of London for the trial. The users will be able to find and unlock the bicycle through the Uber app.

The Uber app will show the locations from where the users can get those bikes, charge them with 1 Pound to unlock the bike, guide the users to their destinations through the app’s map, and show them the parking locations after they reach the destination. After the users unlock the bike, they will be charged 12p per minute during the ride, following a five-minute free ride on the e-bike. There are some possibilities that Uber may provide the users with offers and discounts at the beginning, as it has been doing for all its services in the world.

There will be an up 25 pound of penalty for the users who will be parking the bikes away from the provided parking areas, or end the trip at a no parking zone. Though London has already got such bike-hailing services including Mobike and Boris Bikes, it will be interesting to see how Uber emerges midst such a rivalry in the field.

Almost a year ago, the company had almost lost its taxi license to drive on the streets of London, but now the company is all set to revive its services by implanting its Jump e-bikes on the roads of London. The company is already successfully running its Jump e-bike hiring services in the countries, including the US, Canada, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, etc.

General Motors Stepping into E-Bike Business; Unveils the Models of First Two

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Image Source: mashable.com

Every business tends to walk forward and try to achieve new big things. But, as Elon Musk has already expressed his intention to bring new Tesla electric bike, the General Motors, has also released the prototype of their upcoming electric bikes, hence, moving from building big cars to developing smaller and convenient smart e-bikes.

The company has unveiled the prototype of two of their e-bike, one of which is the compact one, and the other is the foldable bike. The bikes are said to be smart e-bikes that are inspired by the company’s subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security and emergency services feature, seen in the OnStar cars. The bikes are designed keeping the security in mind and has the USB device charging points at the front. The bike is also equipped with the LED lights.

On the release, Hannah Parish, the Director of General Motors Urban Mobility Solutions, said, “As an avid cyclist and urban commuter, I know how great it feels to get where I’m going easily and to show up sweat-free. We blended electrification engineering know-how, design talents and automotive-grade testing with great minds from the bike industry to create our e-bikes.”

The GM’s electric vehicle team, including the engineers behind the Chevy Bolt, will be responsible for the development of the bikes. The bikes consist of a mid-drive electric motor and have got its battery mounted above it. The battery is a bit smaller and hence, needs to be re-activated by peddling the bike after the battery drains out.

The company has not revealed much about the e-bikes, and we have to wait to find out the full specifications of the bikes. But, the company has given a chance to the public to have an impression of their creativity on the bikes, as it has organised a campaign, in which people are welcomed to participate with their suggestions, for the name of the bikes, and the selected suggestion will win a prize worth $10000. And, that is not all, the nine runner-ups will also win $1000 as the prize money for their suggestions. The candidates can apply through www.eBikeBrandChallenge.com.