Bird Expands Its eBike Fleet, Launches Smart Vehicle

Electric transportation startup Bird has added shared eBikes to its fleet of vehicles along with the launch of Bird Bike, a shared smart vehicle, the company announced in a Wednesday (June 23) press release.

The Silicon Valley company already operates electric scooters in more than 250 cities around the world and says it is set to introduce the Smart Bikeshare platform to select cities in North America, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and Italy this year.

Bird says shared eScooters like the ones in its fleet have provided 150 million zero emission trips worldwide, and the company is aiming to expand its serviceable, addressable market by 5 billion trips per year.

“The shared Bird Bike delivers on Bird’s commitment to broadening access to eco-friendly transportation around the world at a time when global demand for bikes and scooters has never been higher,” Bird said in the news release.

“With shared e-bikes, Bird will partner with cities that do not have, or are looking to supplement, an existing bike or scooter-sharing network to offer the highest quality vehicles and operations designed to meet the mobility needs of all riders.”

The shared Bird Bike is a connected vehicle designed to complement a city’s existing transportation network, and comes equipped with a high-powered electric motor that can take riders up hills with as much as a 20 percent grade. It comes with a basket for storage, large pneumatic tires and IoT features like onboard diagnostics and geolocation.

Bird, which launched in 2017 with the goal of providing eco-friendly transit, said last month that it was planning to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a $2.3 billion valuation. Founder and CEO Travis VanderZanden said at the time that the micromobility market is set to reach $800 billion.

The company is one of three transit startups picked to run the New York City Department of Transportation’s electric scooter pilot program. Each company — Bird, Like and VeoRide — will get permits from the city allowing them to employ around 1,000 dockless scooters.