Bike shop brands are finally giving e-bike riders what they want: throttles
To grossly oversimplify the e-bike market in the US, there are two types of electric bikes: those with hand throttles and those without. Traditional higher-end bike shop brands have long eschewed throttle-enable electric bikes, opting instead for pedal assist designs that only provide helping motor power when the rider also pedals. On the other hand, direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-bike companies have long embraced throttle e-bikes. As D2C brands scoop up more of the growing market, traditional bicycle brands are starting to take note.
Direct-to-consumer brands usually don’t have retail shops, and instead these D2C companies mostly sell bikes online that are shipped directly to riders. Brands like these, such as Rad Power Bikes, Lectric Ebikes, Ride1Up, Aventon, and others primarily target riders who weren’t traditionally cyclists but rather have taken to two-wheels thanks to the advent of easier-to-ride electric bikes.
Without the dealership markup, these D2C electric bikes are usually significantly cheaper than bike shop prices. And because they target riders who don’t come from the traditional bike shop culture, they also have one key difference: throttles.
Throttles e-bikes outsell pedal-assist-only e-bikes by a handy margin in the US. Many riders use their throttles to climb hills without the effort of pedaling, or to get rolling more easily from a stop, especially when there’s heavy cargo or a child on the bike’s rear rack. Other riders use throttles 100% of the time, treating their pedals like footrests and riding the bike like a mini-moped to cruise effortlessly to school or work. Still others find a happy balance, throttling when tired and using pedal assist when they want to get exercise or feel like a more involved part of the ride.
Traditional bicycle brands (think big names like Giant, Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, etc.) have long avoided throttles for several reasons, though key among them has been a prevailing perception among old-school cyclists that “throttles are cheating”. But now many of these very companies have finally come to a realization that riders aren’t competing; they’re commuting. And the addition of a hand throttle on an e-bike helps accomplish the very goal of that bike: getting more people out of cars and onto efficient two-wheeled vehicles.
Of course, the fact that throttle-less electric bikes have hit those companies in their pocketbooks has likely helped drive that case home even more clearly. There are simply more e-bike customers in North America looking for lower to mid-priced electric bikes with throttles than looking at $5,000 throttle-less electric bikes, no matter how sophisticated their engineering may be.
So now many of these same brands that have avoided throttles and more moderately-priced electric bikes in general are suddenly rushing to create more affordable throttle-enabled bikes. However, to avoid alienating their traditional cyclist communities or muddying their higher-end brand names, they’re often doing so under new sub-brands.
Take Giant Group, for example. Giant has long been a quality name brand in North American bike shops, but last year the company’s parent Giant Group created a new brand known as Momentum to offer more affordable e-bikes. This week the company launched its first throttle-enabled electric bike and is doing so under the Momentum brand. The new Momentum Cito E+ doesn’t only include a throttle but also features many of the hallmarks of today’s leading budget-priced electric bikes such as moto-inspired saddles and smaller-diameter fat tires.
The utility-oriented electric bike looks like nothing we’ve seen from Giant Group before, and that’s for a reason. The company appears to be jumping with both feet into current utility e-bikes trends.
As Giant Group’s Chief Branding Officer Phoebe Liu explained:
“The Cito E+’s impressive range and grip throttle gives riders the ability to go further than ever before—which is both energy saving and fun. Our design team purpose-built the bike to be a total utility solution that integrates motorcycle design and best-in-class technologies. Whether heading to work, getting groceries or exploring the outdoors, the Cito E+ offers a natural riding experience.”
Note the chunkier frame, lower saddle position, powerful 750W motor with 80Nm of torque, and fully upright riding stance – all features we rarely see from leading bike store brands. In fact, it looks like Giant Group took a page out of Rad Power Bikes’ playbook, notably the page with the RadRunner 3 Plus on it.
But unlike most budget brands, Momentum also brought higher quality components to the design, such as four-piston hydraulic disc brakes, a microSHIFT Acolyte 8-speed drivetrain, and combined torque and cadence sensors for smoother pedal assist. The company also included much higher performance than we normally see from bike shop brands, such as a large 780Wh battery and the ability to user-select between 20 mph and 28 mph speed limits (32 and 45 km/h).
At the same time though, Momentum tried to play it safe with the throttle, which is still new territory for the brand. Not only did they color it Poison Dart Frog red to presumably remind riders that that’s the dangerous end of the handlebars, but the throttle also only engages once the rider has reached at least 3.5 mph (5 km/h). I’d argue that removes a key benefit of the throttle – being able to get started from a stop – but at least the included torque sensor helps riders get smoother and quicker pedal assist from a stop.
This utility design is proving to be a common strategy for bike shop brands seeking to expand into the more popular and higher sales volume budget category.
Specialized made a similar move when it launched its more affordable Globe brand, starting with the Globe Haul ST as a similarly-styled short-tail cargo bike with utility properties.
In a now familiar strategy, Globe’s utility e-bike uses higher spec components than most budget brands, and most critically – it comes with a throttle.
And Specialized isn’t alone. Trek Bicycle Company also launched its first throttle-enabled electric bike, this time under its more budget-focused Electra brand. The new Electra Ponto Go! also uses the liberty granted to it when freed from its parent company’s conservative engineers to play with a moto-inspired design that generously grants riders a throttle for peak fun.
As more bike shop brands awaken to the massive money raked in by leading throttle-enabled budget electric bikes, an increasing number of similarly-styled e-bikes is all but a foregone conclusion.
That doesn’t mean Giant, Specialized, Trek, and others will stop selling $10,000 e-bikes. But their catalogs of $2,000-$3,500 e-bikes is likely to grow thicker each year.
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The all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ was an Electrek favorite when it first made its debut two years ago. Now, LYRIQ buyers who have been waiting for a deal can score more than $10,500 in discounts on the Ultium-based Caddy.
Our own Seth Weintraub said that GM had come in, “a year early and dollar long at $60K” when he first drove the Ultium-based Cadillac LYRIQ back in 2022. He called the SUV “a stunner,” too, heaping praise on the LYRIQ’s styling inside and out before adding that the EV’s ride quality really impressed on long journeys.
Well, if the first mainstream electric Cadillac was a winner at its original, $57,195 starting price (rounded up to $60K for easy math), what could we call it at $10,500 less?
That’s a question that’s suddenly worth asking, thanks to huge GM discounts on the LYRIQ that prompted the automotive pricing analysts at CarsDirect to name the 2024 LYRIQ one of the industry’s “Best New Car Deals” this month:
A slew of incentives can enable you to save big on a 2024 Cadillac LYRIQ. First, EVs eligible for the federal tax credit qualify for $7,500 in Ultium Promise Bonus Cash from GM. Additionally, competing EV owners can score $3,000 in conquest cash.
Meghan Carbary | CarsDirect
With more than 100 kWh of battery capacity and 300-plus miles of real-world driving range (plus available 190 kW charging capability) the Cadillac LYRIQ ticks all the boxes – but you don’t have to take just my word for that.
You can check out Electrek‘s original First Drive video, below, and click here to find Cadillac LYRIQ deals near you.
First Drive: Cadillac LYRIQ | Luxury E-CUV
SOURCE | IMAGES: CarsDirect.
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![Volvo CE rolls out autonomous equipment at Volvo Days 2024 [part 2]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/ta15_MAIN.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Volvo Days 2024 packed a lot of innovative new products into a few short days, but the company’s autonomous construction robots still managed to stand out.
A global shortage of qualified operators is impacting job sites everywhere, precisely at a time when demand for housing, mineral mining, and renewable energy construction is going from peak to peak. That’s why companies from Caterpillar to Tesla to Einride are pushing to advance autonomy the way they are.
And, like they’ve done with semi truck electrification, Volvo Group’s vision for the future has them firmly in a leadership role as the construction industry automates.
CX01 autonomous hybrid compactor
First revealed as a concept in 2021, Volvo CE’s CX01 autonomous “single drum” asphalt roller concept has seen continuous development in the years since. Making its Volvo Days debut, the CX01 has shed the original single drum design for a “split drum,” with each half being controlled by an internalized, independent electric motor.
The CX01’s electric motors not only help to propel and steer the roller, they also vibrate the drums individually, using some trick software calibration to effectively “cancel each other out,” delivering all the benefits of vibrating drum rollers without the noise.
It’s so smart, you guys
It’s also worth noting that the CX01 is something of an “extended range” EV, instead of a “pure” BEV. That’s because it uses a small, 1.4L diesel engine to spin a generator that powers not batteries, but capacitors (those blue things, above right). Those capacitors can be charged on grid power (or from an accompanying TC13 trench compactor), but they’re much better than batteries at releasing energy really quickly, enabling the diesel to operate at its maximum efficiency while maintaining extremely precise, high-torque movement from the motors.
Volvo CE engineers envision a team CX01 rollers units deployed on larger job sites that could work together and communicate with other pieces of equipment on the site. The connected equipment could help survey the job site, report on the conditions of the mat (density, temperature, and passes), and leverage AI to determine when and where to compact without the need for human operators.
All of which is great, sure – but they had me at “giant OneWheel.”
Volvo TA15 autonomous electric haul truck
Part of Volvo CE’ “TARA” line of autonomous products, the “production ready” TA15 autonomous electric haul trucks are already part of a number of pilot programs on Volvo customer job sites. Being autonomous, they’re ideally suited to performing repetitive routes, dozens of times per day, without exposing human operators to fatigue or injury.
Big robot dumper
The Volvo TA15 is a fully automated electric dumper designed to operate on busy job sites with tight tolerances. With the TA15, Volvo says customers will be able to replace larger, diesel-powered vehicles with a fleet of smaller, “right sized” Volvo TA15s. The electric haul bots offer cleaner, quieter operation and increase efficiency.
“TARA enables you to downsize and replace larger diesel-powered vehicles with a fleet of autonomous electric Volvo TA15s capable of running 24/7,” reads the official TARA release. “This not only helps you cut emissions and increase productivity, it will also help you rightsize your machinery and optimize your hauling routes.”
And that brings us to the real topic at hand: sustainability.
Electrek’s Take
As we’ve often discussed on The Heavy Equipment Podcast, there are two types of sustainability, and both are important. The first is the “classic” version of sustainability, in that our choices need to sustain the planet and environment we live in. The second is sustainability of the business – the ability to keep doing business in a way that ensures the survival of the business, itself.
Looking at the conventional Volvo SD110 conventional roller, above, you can see the incredible amount of materials – of steel, rubber, plastic, glass, etc. – that simply isn’t needed to produce the CX01 roller we started this article with.
All that added mass has a massive hidden carbon cost. The cost of getting those materials out of the ground, the need for bigger, heavier roads to support the weight of the machine, and the bigger, burlier trucks and trailers needed to transport it. Heck, even the operator’s commute to and from the job site adds to the carbon cost of the SD110, over and above the harmful emissions from its diesel engine’s exhaust stack.
The CX01? It’s objectively more sustainable than the SD110 roller in every way, and does pretty much the same job.
The Volvo TA15, too, is lighter and more compact than a conventional rigid haul truck. That reduced mass enables job sites and mining operations to maintain narrower haul routs that are less expensive to build and easier/cheaper to maintain, all while contributing to carbon reductions all across even the broadest scope of job site operations.
That’s both sustainable, and sustainable – and just another reason why forward-thinking fleet buyers will be watching this space closely.
ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM ELECTREK.
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Following successful inbound implementations in the Pacific Northwest, North Carolina, and Mexico, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) is expanding the reach of its electric semi fleet into Arizona with long-time associate JB Hunt.
JB Hunt will add the new Freightliner eCascadia electric semi to its Arizona fleet immediately, and put it to work delivering aftermarket truck parts from DTNA’s parts distribution center (PDC) in Phoenix to multiple DTNA dealers along a dedicated route.
The electric Freightliner truck is expected to cover approximately 100 miles in a given day before heading “home” to a Detroit eFill charger installed at Daimler’s Phoenix facility.
This milestone marks the first all-electric route in the DTNA aftermarket parts distribution network, significantly reducing carbon emissions and setting a precedent for future sustainable outbound logistics operations.
“This solution with DTNA is a great example of our commitment to supporting customers’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and work towards energy transition,” explains Greer Woodruff, executive vice president of safety, sustainability and maintenance at JB Hunt. “JB Hunt owns and operates several eCascadias on behalf of customers, and our drivers have really enjoyed their in-cab experience. As customer interest continues to grow, we are here to enable their pursuit for a more sustainable supply chain in the most economic means possible.”
Daimler is analyzing future expansion opportunities throughout its internal parts distribution and logistics with an eye on electrifing additional routes and further reducing the carbon footprint of its logistics operations.
JB Hunt will evaluate its utilization of the charging station for other customers in the area, eventually enabling fully integrated zero-emission vehicle solutions into its 3PL fleets.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Daimler Trucks North America.
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