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 solely—the “ebii,” a light-weight e-bike that, other than an related smartphone app, has nothing to do with PCs or tablets.

We have reviewed e-bikes with fashionable designs and interesting curvature, however the ebii appears 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 could be eliminated and used as a transportable charging station for USB-C units.

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 may accommodate most riders between 4.75 and 6 toes tall (145 to 185 cm), which means that particularly tall riders in all probability will not discover it snug. The bike additionally will not break any pace or distance information, with a prime pace 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 and marketing time period than it does in regards to the bike’s capabilities—the ebii app claims to “[adapt] to the rider’s pedaling energy, driving situations, and most well-liked degree of help, studying over time for a extra customized expertise.” Whereas it is not incorrect to refer to those options as “AI-driven,” they technically fall below the extra exact umbrella of “machine studying.”

The ebii additionally makes use of the app in your cellphone for proximity-based locking and unlocking, and the bike contains GPS positioning so you will discover 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 degree and remaining vary, but it surely is not pictured within the firm’s images—some present a smartphone mounted between the handlebars. The ebii would not have any sort of built-in display screen to point out cost degree or some other performance, although some images present that you simply view that info utilizing the app.

Acer hasn’t introduced what the ebii will price or when will probably be obtainable,

Itemizing picture by Acer