Rivian

Also begins e-bike deliveries with a broader vehicle vision ahead

After months of delays, Rivian's spinoff, Also, is finally set to start delivering e-bikes.

3 min readTechCrunch
Also begins e-bike deliveries with a broader vehicle vision ahead

The delay of Also's TM-B e-bike has been a story of patience tested, but the real headline is what comes after the first deliveries. Also is positioning itself as a "vehicle" company, not a bike maker, and its confirmed plans to build four-wheel pedal-assist cargo vehicles for Amazon signal a much larger ambition. This is not a niche consumer play that happens to be late. It is a deliberate move to embed itself in the logistics infrastructure that already struggles with last-mile efficiency. For our readers who have watched the e-bike space fragment into premium toys and commuter gadgets, Also is betting that the future belongs to practical, fleet-scale platforms.

That bet looks smarter when you consider the broader momentum in electric commercial vehicles. Tesla Semi production ramps up, delivering long-range electric trucking, which shows that the market is finally rewarding companies that solve real operational problems rather than just chasing headlines. Also is taking a similar path, but with a twist: instead of competing on highway range, it is targeting the congested, stop-and-go reality of urban delivery. The Amazon partnership is the clearest signal yet that Also wants to be the workhorse of the gig economy, not a vanity project. For a reader evaluating this space, the practical takeaway is to stop asking whether e-bikes will matter and start asking which companies are building the vehicles that fleets will actually buy in volume.

The delays, of course, are a legitimate concern. But they are also the price of admission for any hardware startup that refuses to cut corners on safety and durability. We would tell a reader who is skeptical about Also's timeline to watch how the first TM-B units perform in real-world conditions, not just how many pre-orders they rack up. The Amazon deal is the real test. If Also can deliver four-wheel cargo vehicles that reduce delivery costs and driver fatigue, it will have created a new category. If it stumbles, the delay will look less like a strategic pause and more like a warning sign. The difference between those outcomes is execution, not vision.

The specific detail to watch is how Also handles the transition from two-wheel to four-wheel platforms. Scaling from a bike to a cargo vehicle is not a simple upgrade; it involves new manufacturing processes, different regulatory hurdles, and a deeper relationship with a logistics giant. That is where the company will either prove its "vehicle" label or reveal it as a marketing term. For our readers, the actionable insight is simple: do not judge Also by its launch date. Judge it by whether it can turn the Amazon contract into a repeatable revenue stream. If it does, the initial delays will be a footnote. If it does not, we will be reading about a different kind of delivery.

From TechCrunch

Also has big plans beyond the TM-B. The startup mostly refers to itself as a "vehicle" company and has plans to make four-wheel pedal-assist cargo vehicles for Amazon.

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