RCA (yes, the VCR brand) just unveiled a 34 mph electric bike

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2023

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RCA, the century-old electronics brand that may be most famous for its consumer products like the VCR, has launched a series of electric bicycles with the unveiling of three new models. Two of the e-bikes are fairly ordinary models, but the third is a more aggressive and higher-power e-bike with a striking design.

The shift to e-bikes might sound strange for a brand known for radios, VCRs and other home entertainment products. However, the RCA brand was purchased by a parent company that brings new products to market using licensing deals with the brands under its umbrella.

In this case, the brand’s new e-bikes are designed “to accommodate a range of rider preferences from outdoor fitness enthusiasts to two-wheeled commuters.”

Based on the diverse types of e-bikes in the lineup, I’d say that looks accurate. The three models include the GoGo (a folding fat-tire e-bike), the Explorer (a step-through urban e-bike), and the Dirt-E (an off-road e-bike that looks like it got dressed in the dark).

The GoGo follows a typical fat-tire folding e-bike design like we’ve seen plenty of times before.

It includes front suspension, a pair of baskets for cargo duty, a rear 750W hub motor, fenders, LED lighting, and a multi-speed drivetrain. The bike’s 691 Wh battery is mounted behind the seat tube.

The bike folds in the middle of the frame and at the handlebars to create a compact pile of aluminum and rubber that should fit in most cars or closets.

The fat tires should help the RCA GoGo travel over rougher terrain, though the smaller 20″ diameter wheels won’t create quite as nice of an all-terrain ride as larger 26″ wheels could.

For riders that don’t need a bike that can origami itself into tight spaces, the RCA Explorer might be a better option. This city-styled e-bike has urban tires and uses a step-through frame that should make it easier to mount and dismount.

The bike includes front suspension, a fender and LED light package, a rear 750W hub motor, and hydraulic disc brakes. The 691 Wh battery in the Explorer is integrated into the frame yet is still removable for charging off of the bike.

The Explorer does not appear to come standard with racks or baskets for utility use, but mounting points in the front and rear would imply that those accessories could easily be added.

The Dirt-E is perhaps the most unique of the three new e-bike models. It features functional pedals and thus is still an electric bicycle in the eyes of the law despite its more dirt bike appearance. The full-suspension ride includes cast wheels with fat tires and a rear hub motor. The motor is rated for a continuous power rating of 1,000W and a peak power rating of 1,250W.

A typical bicycle saddle is replaced by something that would look more at home on a dirt bike or trials bike.

Despite the off-road look of the bike, it features tires that might be considered dual-purpose yet skew more toward on-road traction.

A 60V and 20Ah battery is mounted in between the frame rails above the downtube and offers a capacity of 1.2 kWh.

The RCA Dirt-E comes with a software-limited top speed to keep it legal in various jurisdictions but can be unlocked to a maximum of 55 km/h (34 mph). Such speeds would likely only be legal when used off of public streets.

We don’t have prices yet, but RCA says that the bikes should become available by late Q2 or early Q3 of this year.

What do you think of the new RCA e-bikes? Does the brand name inspire credibility? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

Published

3 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!

Today’s episode is the first with our new title sponsor, BLUETTI – a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems.

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Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonusLucid proves than an EV company can keep its promises while Xiaomi teams up with Chevrolet and Honda to prove – at least conceptually – that records are made to be broken. audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

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This ‘supercharger on wheels’ brings fast charging to you [update]

Published

5 hours ago

November 4, 2024

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This 'supercharger on wheels' brings fast charging to you [update]

Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”

November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).

It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.

Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”

May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.

“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.

The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)

Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)

Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.

The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.

To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.

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Marqeta shares plunge more than 30% on big forecast miss

Published

5 hours ago

November 4, 2024

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Marqeta shares plunge more than 30% on big forecast miss

Marqeta celebrates its initial public offering at the Nasdaq on June 9, 2021.

Source: The Nasdaq

Marqeta shares tumbled more than 30% in extended trading on Monday after the company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the fourth quarter.

Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Loss per share: 6 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 5 cents expected
Revenue: $128 million vs. $128.1 million expected

While third-quarter results showed a slight disappointment on the top and bottom lines, Marqeta’s forecast for the current period was more concerning.

The payment processing firm said revenue in the fourth quarter will increase 10% to 12% from a year earlier. Analysts were looking for growth of more than 17%, according to LSEG.

Marqeta, which primarily functions as a card-issuing platform, attributed the guidance miss to “heightened scrutiny of the banking environment and specific customer program changes.” The company has been struggling for a while, and its stock is now down more than 80% from its peak in 2021, the year it went public. The stock was down 15% for the year prior to the report.

Total processing volume of $74 billion was up more than 30% from a year earlier. Net revenue and gross profit were up 18% and 24%, respectively.

Marqeta’s digital commerce business sells payment technology designed to detect potential fraud and ensure that money is properly routed. It also issues customized physical cards that look like a credit or debit card that can be used for point-of-sale purchases.

The company has been trying to break into the buy now, pay later business with a recently launched product called Marqeta Flex. The service brings BNPL from lenders such as Affirm or Klarna to any credit card wherever Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

“It’s an orchestration layer, but it’s tied to issuing and processing and disputes and chargebacks,” CEO Simon Khalaf told CNBC at Money2020 in Las Vegas last week. “So it is not actually a Wild West in BNPL. It is actually very well established. And there is a reason why a lot of people are jumping to it.”