Acer, a tech company best known for its PCs and laptops, is branching out into new territory with an e-bike called the ebii.
What's unusual about this bicycle is it uses an AI called ebiiAssist, which, according to Acer, adds the ability to “learn” a person's riding style in order to offer “a more personalized experience”.
By learning, the feature can tweak the “motor output to provide effortless riding based on” your pedaling power and current road conditions. All that information is collected as user insights that can be viewed through the ebiiGo companion app. In it, riders will be able to “check recommended routes, [ebii’s] battery life, [their] riding speed,” among other things. There’s also the ebiiRide app housing three different ride modes. You have the energy-efficient Eco Mode, Boost Mode for adjusting the motor to go faster, and My ebii Mode for a “smart balance” between the two.
As for the hardware, it has a sturdy, lightweight aluminum frame with an “intelligent vehicle control box”. In total, the ebii weighs around 35 lbs (16 kg exactly) making it one of the lighter e-bikes around. It sports a single “250/350 W motor with 48 V CANbus [battery]” and 40 Nm of torque allowing the bicycle to hit speeds of about 15 mph (25 km/h). Acer claims you can ride on the ebii up to 68 miles (110 km) on a single charge give or take, and the bike can fully recharge in about 2.5 hours. Interestingly enough, the battery pack can also be removed to serve as a portable charger for other devices.
Safety first
Acer will also include numerous bike safety features. You have your standard headlight and taillight which “automatically illuminate” at night. Another set of LED lights is present underneath the control box to improve visibility in the dark. A Rear Collision Warning radar is “mounted under the seat to alert the rider” of cars or objects getting a little too close from behind. Additionally, ebiiGo allows users to enable an eLock to prevent theft, but in the unfortunate case it does get stolen, the app has theft alerts and Find My Bike to help you locate the e-bike.
The launch date, price point, and region availability are all currently unknown. You can, however, sign up for email alerts from Acer on the ebii webpage. Considering everything coming with the ebii, namely the AI, we don’t expect this e-bike to be cheap.
If you're looking for an affordable way to get around town, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best cheap e-bikes for 2023.
