Many of us already knew that Rivian was considering making its own electric bikes.
Rivian will face a challenge that many other manufacturers have faced, which is how to build a successful electric mountain bike.
Rivian is capable of building a really cool looking e-bike. The company has made a mark by designing beautiful and fun products. It is questionable if people would want an e-bike with a brand name and a lineup of SUVs and trucks. Rivian won't be successful if they do.
Rivian is a company that specializes in larger vehicles that are electric. There are reasons to be skeptical. When you hear about electric bikes, it is usually just a brand licensing deal. Think Jeep's e-bike or those Hummer bikes from a decade ago. It is often a project that ends up falling victim to corporate cost cutting.
Rivian is a company that specializes in larger vehicles that are electric.
Harley- Davidson has a better reason for getting into the e-bike business. Even though it is beginning to chart a different course for itself, it is still a company that built its brand and reputation on internal combustion engines.
Rivian could argue for itself here. The company doesn't have to think about its past. The project doesn't need to be treated as a science experiment. It has a firm footing in that world, making any sort of translation into a smaller form factor less of a challenge.
It is hard to deny that the potential for growth in e-bikes is hard to deny. The third-largest cycling category in terms of sales revenue was made up of e-bike sales, which grew by a whopping 25% compared to two years ago.
Rivian is not the only car company that sees potential in e- bikes. The Sport and the Cross are high-priced, full-suspension electric mountain bikes that are being made with long-standing partner Rotwild. The Croatian e-bike company Greyp has been acquired by the German automotive company. A pair of rad-looking e-bike concepts have been released by BMW.
Musk has mused about making aTesla- branded bike.
Don't hold your breath waiting for aTesla- branded e-bike, even though Musk mused about it.
The auto industry and the world of e-bikes have more in common than you might think. One of the leading manufacturers of e-bike powertrains is Bosch. Most of the legacy bike makers have been locked into lucrative deals by the company, which has become synonymous with well-crafted, powerful, and premium-priced e-bike motor. The German company just announced plans to make e-bike motor in the US at a $260 million factory in South Carolina.
It is not clear if Rivian would build its own e-bike or Bosch would make the motor and batteries for it. Many people think that the future of e-bikes rests in the hands of the direct-to-consumer brands. The legacy bike manufacturers are adapting, exemplified by their spinoffs.
If the e-bike market remains fractured or if an incumbent emerges to take up the majority of the market share, there will be a lot to unpack. I wouldn't count on it, but it could be Rivian.
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