Following on the heel’s of last month’s major leak of the design of Rivian’s secretive ALSO e-bike, now we’ve just gotten a much better look at the upcoming entry to the US micromobility market. And it’s a doozy.

Our previously best look came in the form of blurrier images that were mistakenly left in a marketing video prepared by the company’s social media team.

But thanks to an eagle-eyed reader who spotted the yet-to-be-released e-bike on the Caltrain yesterday morning (hat tip to Adem Rudin), now we’ve got a great view from the expensive seats, barely two days ahead of the anticipated official reveal.

The bike looks to be a test mule based on the extra engineering hardware and the missing shroud covering the wiring run on the front of the battery case. There appear to be several sensors mounted to the bike, including an expensive triaxial accelerometer on the side of the battery and some piece of diagnostic hardware strapped to the downtube.

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But otherwise, it looks like the real deal and matches the several different angles we saw in blurrier form in my previous leak.

Now we have a great view of the front fork, which is confirmed to be an inverted fork. Fascinatingly, it has structural bosses for mounting a front rack, and we can see the orange cargo box employed on that rack for gear hauling duty. That’s likely a custom-designed fork, as I’m not aware of any other cargo forks of this style currently on the market. It’s also a bit of a strange choice. It certainly adds to the utility of the bike, but most e-bike manufacturers have moved to headtube-mounted racks for better stability. A fork-mounted rack swings with the handlebars, meaning heavier loads will change the dynamics of the ride, reduce the front-end handling, and can even lead to dangerous oscillations under the right (or wrong) conditions.

Moving further down, we can clearly see a tone ring built into the front disc brake rotor, which is a giveaway that the bike will feature anti-lock braking (ABS), or at least front wheel ABS. Front-wheel ABS would be a major safety upgrade and is rarely found on bicycles. Between the inverted front fork and the ABS tone ring, the front end of the bike looks more like light motorcycle gear.

The front and rear racks point towards fairly obvious utility intentions for the bike, though the full-suspension and Kenda El Capo tires seem like they belong more on the dirt trails than the bike lanes. It’s a strange mix, but perhaps the tires were just temporary replacements on the test mule. Full-suspension, while more common on off-road bikes, can still be a major upgrade for an urban commuter. We’ve seen it on premium models from companies like Riese & Müller, though also with incredibly premium price tags.

We’re also getting our best look yet at the battery, which seems to be a removable unit that slides in from the side of the bike. It takes up a big portion of the central frame area, whose panels also likely cover a mid-drive motor and the bike’s speed controller, among other critical electronics. We can also see now that the belt drive is a Gates center-drive system, one of the most premium belt drives out there for bicycles (not to mention that Gates is the belt drive maker of choice for high-power electric motorcycles like those from LiveWire and Zero).

The rear suspension is still shrouded and we don’t get a great look at it. However, we can see some linkage and it may be a four-bar setup – again pointing to the sophisticated engineering that went into designing this frame.

The handlebars appear to support button clusters on each side, though we can’t see what functions they might offer. It’s not clear if there are any shifters or if the bike is a single-speed, and we also don’t see a throttle, though it could be a thumb throttle that is obscured from view. The grips appear to be single lock-ons, so I don’t think we’re looking at a full-width twist throttle like you’d find on a motorcycle.

The mirror and the sumo wrestler bike horn are presumably the test engineer’s add-ons, though we can’t rule out for certain that ALSO riders will get their own mostly naked audio warning device.

What else can you see on the bike that I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

Electrek’s Take

I guess the unveiling was only two days away when this photo was snapped yesterday, and I had already spoiled a blurrier look at the bike last month, but I’m surprised they’re just parading around the yet-to-be-officially-unveiled bike in public like this. Back when Mike Radenbaugh was running the show at Rad Power Bikes, he used to personally ride upcoming bikes and camouflage them with cardboard or other concealers to make them look like any other beater city bike. So I’m surprised more effort wasn’t put into obscuring what is obviously a very unique-looking bike.

I’m glad to see more details here and it’s interesting how much investment was put into the bike’s hardware. Other than a few catalog parts like the tires, wheels, brake levers, etc, nearly the entirety of the bike appears to be custom-designed and produced for ALSO. Even for off-the-shelf parts, they went with a lot of high-end stuff. The tires and the water bottle holder are the only cheaper things I can see (mirror and sumo horn excluded). Features like ABS aren’t cheap. And it’s not clear if there is a gearbox in the mid-drive motor, but I would assume so since a single-speed would be unmarketable at this premium level. All of these features point to a bike that probably has very high performance – perhaps almost as high as its invetiable price tag.

And therein lies the rub. It’s shaping up to be a great bike, but also one that very few people will be able to afford. Or even for those who could afford it, it may be difficult to justify all the extra features and tech when, at the end of the day, it still goes just as fast and as far as all the $999 e-bikes out there. I’m not saying that’s the right way to compare it, but I am saying that’s how it WILL be compared. The simple fact of the matter is that there are few e-bike markets that are more price sensitive than in the US. Americans have become used to getting more affordable Chinese manufacturing for years, and lately they’ve seen how good that cheap manufacturing has become on pretty darn decent budget-priced electric bikes.

So will Americans pony up what will probably be 3-4x the price of a budget e-bike for one that has full-suspension, ABS, and very likely some cool connectivity-based features? Time will reveal the answer.

But let’s just say, I’m not yet convinced.

Spiro, the fast-growing electric mobility company based in Africa, has just secured a historic US $100 million funding round – marking the continent’s largest-ever investment in two-wheel electric transport. And if you haven’t been paying attention to the battery-swapping boom across Africa, now might be a good time to start.

We’ve seen battery-swapping take off around the world, with leaders like Gogoro in Asia, Swobbee in Europe, and Vammo in South America, all demonstrating the effectiveness of swappable battery networks for major two-wheeler markets. But don’t count Africa out, either. Spiro has spent the last few years building up its own homegrown battery swapping network for its locally-built electric motorcycles, and is now set to jump-start that impressive growth with a mega funding round.

The impressive fundraising round was led by The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the impact investment arm of Afreximbank, which contributed US $75 million. The funding will allow Spiro to dramatically scale its fleet of electric motorcycles and expand its already impressive network of battery-swapping stations across the continent.

Swapping gas for watts

Spiro’s model is simple but powerful: affordable electric motorcycles backed by a vast battery-swapping network that eliminates the wait time and charging infrastructure hurdles that typically slow down EV adoption. With over 60,000 electric motorcycles already on the road, more than 1,200 battery swap stations, and 800 million kilometers of low-carbon travel already under its belt, Spiro is building what it claims is Africa’s largest clean two-wheeler ecosystem – and it’s growing fast.

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In fact, the company expects to deploy over 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2025, representing a 400% increase year over year. It’s a lofty goal, but Spiro’s rapid growth over the last few years demonstrates that it’s still attainable.

“Africa is at an inflection point in personal mobility. Riders are rapidly shifting from internal combustion motorcycles to Spiro’s more affordable and accessible battery-swapping ecosystem and motorcycles. For the first time, riders are embracing sustainable transportation because it performs better, costs less to operate, and offers greater profitability than traditional gas-powered vehicles,” said Kaushik Burman, Spiro’s CEO. “This is just the beginning – we’re just getting started.”

I had the chance to speak with Kaushik last month, where he explained to me how a big part of Spiro’s success is helping motorcycle taxi riders – the majority of its customers – achieve a higher standard of living by becoming more profitable with electric motorcycles over gasoline-powered motorcycles. The bikes aren’t just cheaper to purchase, but significantly cheaper to operate, meaning riders can as much as double their daily take-home pay. With that kind of economics, it makes sense why Spiro is seeing such high demand for its motorcycles and battery-swapping network.

More than motorcycles

While Spiro’s bikes are the vehicle – literally – for this transition, the real secret sauce is the swapping network. Riders don’t need to charge at home or wait around for a plug. They just pull into a station, swap out a depleted battery for a fresh one, and get back on the road. It’s a system that’s already proven effective in other regions around the world, and Spiro is now proving it can work at scale in Africa too.

The investment here is also about more than just clean transportation. According to Professor Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank, it’s part of a broader push to boost intra-African trade, create local manufacturing jobs, and reduce dependence on imported, second-hand gas-powered vehicles.

“We are delighted to partner with Spiro on this transformative initiative,” said Oramah. “Together, we are laying the groundwork for a new era of intra-African trade and industrialization by stimulating local vehicle manufacturing, strengthening regional integration, and enhancing trade flows.”

Made in Africa, for Africa

Founded in 2022, Spiro is leaning into local production as part of its growth strategy. The company has assembly facilities operating in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda, with new pilot programs now underway in Tanzania and Cameroon.

This latest funding builds on more than $180 million already raised from backers like Equitane and Société Générale, further underscoring investors’ confidence in Spiro’s model.

“Spiro’s rapid expansion into new markets demonstrates the immense appetite for clean, affordable, and efficient transport across the continent,” said Gagan Gupta, Chairman of Equitane. “With FEDA’s support, Spiro is exceptionally well positioned to scale even faster.”

Electrek’s Take

While most electric motorcycle battery swapping headlines are dominated by Europe, the US, or China, this is a powerful reminder that Africa is carving out its own lane – and it’s doing it with a smarter, scalable approach that solves local problems in local ways. Battery swapping may not be the answer everywhere, but it’s proving to be a perfect solution in dense urban areas where fuel is expensive and charging access is limited.

And if Spiro hits that 100,000-vehicle goal next year? Well, don’t be surprised if Africa ends up leading the world in practical, everyday e-mobility adoption. After all, doesn’t a 100 kg electric vehicle make a lot more sense for a quick taxi trip than a 2,500 kg one?

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