PC maker Acer aspires to get into e-bikes with the 35-pound “ebii”

While you consider Acer you in all probability consider PCs, whether or not they’re low cost beater laptops and tablets, barely nicer however nonetheless budget-focused ultrabooks and gaming laptops, or bizarre swing-and-a-miss experiments. However right now the corporate introduced one thing else completely—the “ebii,” a light-weight e-bike that, apart from an related smartphone app, has nothing to do with PCs or tablets.

We have reviewed e-bikes with trendy designs and interesting curvature, however the ebii seems to be decidedly extra utilitarian. The chunky “ebii Field” within the center homes the management field, battery pack, and headlight, and the seat and handlebars jut upward out of it. In a nod to its historical past as a PC and pill maker, the ebii’s 460 W battery may be eliminated and used as a conveyable charging station for USB-C gadgets.

At simply over 35 kilos (16 kg), the ebii is light-weight—it saves weight partly by utilizing a single-sided fork for the entrance tire. Acer says it will possibly accommodate most riders between 4.75 and 6 toes tall (145 to 185 cm), that means that particularly tall riders in all probability will not discover it snug. The bike additionally will not break any velocity or distance information, with a prime velocity of round 15 mph and a 68-mile vary.

The bike is described as “AI-driven,” which says extra in regards to the present state of “AI” as a buzzy omnipresent advertising time period than it does in regards to the bike’s capabilities—the ebii app claims to “[adapt] to the rider’s pedaling energy, using situations, and most well-liked stage of help, studying over time for a extra customized expertise.” Whereas it isn’t incorrect to refer to those options as “AI-driven,” they technically fall beneath the extra exact umbrella of “machine studying.”

The ebii additionally makes use of the app in your telephone for proximity-based locking and unlocking, and the bike contains GPS positioning so you’ll find it within the occasion that it will get swiped. Acer’s announcement says that the ebii has a “good LED show” for exhibiting the battery stage and remaining vary, however it is not pictured within the firm’s pictures—some present a smartphone mounted between the handlebars. The ebii does not have any form of built-in display to indicate cost stage or every other performance, although some pictures present that you just view that data utilizing the app.

Acer hasn’t introduced what the ebii will value or when will probably be accessible,

Itemizing picture by Acer