General Motors Is Now Taking Orders On Its Electric Bicycles
Chase Stallo

Features

General Motors Is Now Taking Orders On Its Electric Bicycles

Add General Motors to companies getting involved in electric bicycles. The American car manufacturer on Thursday released the name of its bike—Ariv, which came via a crowdsourcing campaign—and said it would start taking orders in select countries in Europe.

There will be two versions: the Meld, a compact e-bike, and the Merge, a folding e-bike. GM said the bikes’ motors will enable speeds up to 25 km/n (15.5 mph) with four levels of pedal-assisted power.

GM is launching the bikes in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and the Ariv Meld starts at under $3,200 (in Belgium and the Netherlands) and the Ariv Merge is around $3,800 (in Belgium and the Netherlands). Prices will be slightly lower in Germany. Preorders are available starting today via www.BikeExchange.com.

General Motors

According to The Verge, “both bikes will connect to an app that provide riding metrics such as speed, distance, and remaining battery level, motor assist level, and distance traveled.”

"I think both GM and Ford are both exploring nontraditional transportation opportunities because their overall vehicle sales have been declining," CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said to CNBC. "We view GM's e-bike and Ford's recent e-scooter investment [in Spin] as an attempt to appeal to a younger and more urban demographic, whose transportation needs are proving to be considerably different than prior generations."

No word on when the bikes will be available in the U.S.