Lime says it will spend $ 50 million on a major e-bike expansion

The lemon is returning to its roots. The scooter company formerly known as LimeBike says it will invest $ 50 million to expand its shared network of electric bikes, including adding a new bike model and doubling the number of cities in which it operates.

Lime started with shared bikes, only to spin quickly after Bird introduced the concept of electric scooters without a dock in 2017. The company abandoned its name “bike” and started discontinuing its bikes in 2019. But the following year, Lime acquired Uber’s bike sharing company Jump and suddenly the bikes were back on the menu.

The company is now doubling the number of shared electric bicycles, with plans to launch in “a dozen” new cities in North America by the end of the year, as well as in dozens more in Europe and other markets. In total, the company plans to have its bicycles in 50 new cities by the beginning of 2022, almost quadrupling the size of its fleet.

The $ 50 million investment will go largely to design, manufacture and assemble its next generation bicycle, which will start rolling out this summer. The new model will come with a more powerful 350-watt engine and a replaceable battery with a capacity of up to 25 miles.

The battery is also interchangeable with those that power Lime’s Gen4 electric scooters, allowing for a standardized battery charging operation. A two-speed gearshift will help with these climbs and an integrated and electronically controlled hub lock will help keep the bike safe from theft and vandalism.

There are other new features on the bike: the handlebars are being replaced by others similar to Lime scooters, there is a phone holder in the front basket and the bike will be able to reach speeds of up to 20 mph (depending on local regulations). It weighs 27 kilograms, which is heavier than the 65 kilogram Citi electric bikes.

Lime will keep its cherry-red Jump bicycles in operation, with no plans to eliminate them in favor of new Lime-branded e-bikes. The company said it wants to be a multimodal supplier of many different types of low-speed electric vehicles. Last year, Lime added Wheels-less e-bikes to its app in several cities as part of a new effort to integrate third-party micromobility providers. And recently, it announced plans to launch electric mopeds in Paris and Washington, DC.

The new investment in e-bikes comes at a time when cycling is growing worldwide, with bicycle sales – and especially e-bike sales – reaching record numbers. Legislation was introduced in the USA to make e-bikes more accessible. And bicycle sharing systems are adding more electric models to their fleets in the hope of attracting more members. Lime says its customers made more than 2.5 million trips on their e-bikes last year, with the company expecting that number to grow significantly in 2021.