Rivian Automotive has attracted die-hard fans by building a battery-powered truck with enough power for off-roading, as well as the acceleration and suspension to comfortably glide through city streets. Its little brother, a company called Also, is trying to do the same with electric bikes.
The Palo Alto company wants to reinvent the battery-powered bicycle by using a powerful generator and software to change the look, feel and capabilities of two-wheeled vehicles. It also announced its flagship bike last October and is gearing up to begin deliveries later this year.
E-bike enthusiasts often need stand-alone bikes for different uses. Some bikes are good for transporting kids and cargo, others for daily commutes around town. Another type is good for cycling on rugged mountain trails.
It also claims that its electric bikes can do it all by swapping out a few key components and pushing a button, so the bike behaves differently depending on the needs of the day.
“Let's take the same approach as Rivian, the latest, most modern EV architecture approach, but re-optimize it for modes smaller than a car,” said Chris Yu, president and co-founder of Also. “The best electric vehicles have new features and capabilities that come with a software update every few weeks.”
Also's electric bike, called the TM-B, starts at $3,500 and can travel up to 28 miles per hour. Many electric bikes are available for around $1,000, although some high-end options cost more than $5,000.
President Chris Yu also poses with an Also electric bicycle at the company's headquarters on April 13 in Palo Alto.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
The company is betting that the $57 billion global e-bike market and the $3 billion U.S. market have room for a new player with a unique offering. It is also making a four-wheeled electric vehicle with pedals designed to carry cargo.
Yu, a Stanford-educated aerodynamics engineer and former bicycle racer, had spent an internship at NASA and ten years at bicycle maker Specialized before meeting Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in 2021. The two hit it off, and Yu joined Rivian in 2022 to work on a secret new project to develop smaller electric vehicles.
It was also spun off from Rivian in 2025. Irvine-based Rivian owns a minority stake in it.
In addition, which employs about 300 people, it did not want to share whether it is profitable or how many bicycles it plans to produce per year. In a promotional video earlier this year, an Also employee said the company hopes to eventually produce hundreds of thousands of units per year.
Like Rivian, it also makes all the major parts of its products, from the handlebars to the circuit boards. It also wants to offer e-bike users the same ease and software customization that has become standard in high-end electric cars from Rivian and Tesla.
“We can really create an experience that reflects the modern car experience,” Yu said. “We're taking that recipe and applying it to this rapidly advancing electrification of smaller things.”
Your TM-B electric bike is equipped with features including Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, a built-in touch screen, and software that supports wireless updates. Cyclists can change the seat and wheels of their bike depending on whether they are heading to work, dropping off the kids, or tackling a mountain trail.
A rack of motor and transmission components for electric bicycles and other vehicles at Also's headquarters in Palo Alto.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
The company comes to market during a difficult period for the e-bike industry. After a pandemic-era boom in demand that led to a proliferation of options, many e-bike companies have struggled with slowing interest and rising costs.
Rad Power Bikes, once a leading brand in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2025 and was sold to Life Electric Vehicle Holdings in January for $13.2 million, a 99% drop from its peak valuation. Its competitor, Juiced Bikes, collapsed in 2024. Late last year, Porsche scrapped plans to launch its own electric bikes, citing a cooling market in its statement.
David Zipper, a micromobility expert and senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, said he's not convinced there's a huge demand for a product like TM-B.
“I've never met anyone who said, 'I really wish my bike could receive wireless updates,'” he said. “Part of the beauty of the bicycle is its simplicity.”
Yu hopes Also's bikes will accelerate the electrification of micromobility, but Zipper said the complexity and price of the bikes could hinder that mission.
“A lot of people won't feel like they can afford it, and for that reason, I don't necessarily see it as transformative,” Zipper said. “They have a lot of cool technology, but if we're really trying to change American transportation, I'm not sure a luxury electric bike with software is the first place I'd look.”
Yu said electric micromobility will increase as more cities ban combustion engines in certain areas. Hanoi banned gasoline-powered two-wheelers in the city center and Paris closed a central part of the city to cars last year.
It is also partnering with Amazon to use its four-wheeled electric vehicle, called TM-Q, to expand Amazon's micromobility delivery fleet in Europe and the U.S. It also did not share when its delivery vehicles would be deployed.
“We can really create an experience that reflects the modern car experience,” said President Chris Yu, photographed at the company's headquarters earlier this month. “We're taking that recipe and applying it to this rapidly advancing electrification of smaller things.”
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
“Today there are hundreds of millions of vehicles smaller than a car that, almost without debate, will be electrified over the next decade,” Yu said.
TM-B and TM-Q are based on the same underlying technology, but are designed for different use cases, Yu said. They differ from other products on the market due to the operation of the pedaling mechanism: electric bicycles do not have chains.
“There is no physical connection between your information and the result of the bicycle's movement,” Yu said. “It's all software. We convert the power of your legs into electrical energy, we send that electrical energy to the battery, and then the battery sends it to the steering wheel.”
Also's engineers have worked to mimic the feeling of riding a real bicycle and shifting gears even without a chain connecting the pedals to the wheels. Riders can choose a level of power assistance that makes pedaling easier or more difficult.
The bike charges to full battery in a couple of hours and has a range of 40 to 100 miles, depending on the level of power assist used.
Its battery is a removable block that can be charged separately from the bike and even used as a power bank on the beach or on camping trips.
A close-up look at the motor and drivetrain of an Also electric bike, which charges to full battery in a couple of hours.
(Jess Lynn Goss / For The Times)
Using more software and fewer moving parts makes Also's e-bikes more efficient, durable and easier to ride, the company says. It also allows the bikes to function differently depending on needs.
Ed Benjamin, president of the Light Electric Vehicle Association, said Also's approach reflects the direction the small electric vehicle industry is headed.
“The future of electric two-wheelers will be software-driven,” he said. “In new cars, the software provides safety, comfort and efficiency functions. The same will happen with bicycles.”
