Would you trust AI technology to control your bike?

Taiwanese hardware and electronics corporation, Acer, best known for its powerful laptop computers, appears to be diversifying its product offerings with the creation of a (super) smart e-bike.

The pedal-assist e-bike, titled the ebii, is made for city dwellers and features a sleek, lightweight and compact design. More notably, the ebii is filled with innovative features not yet seen in the e-bike market.

For starters, the 35lb (16kg) single-speed bike has built-in AI technology for “effortless riding.” 

The smart-assist is meant to learn the rider’s pedaling power, riding conditions and preferred level of assistance, and adapt to these habits to create a personalized experience. The ebii will continuously sense your riding conditions and pedaling power and predictively control the transmission, delivering the pedal-assist you need intuitively for a smooth ride free of gear changing. 

The ebii is also equipped with collision detection sensors, which will alert the riders of oncoming traffic or other objects to prevent crashes. 

For additional safety, the e-bike features surround light, meaning there’s an integrated front and rear light as well as side lights for additional visibility at night. 

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And then there’s an auto-locking system. The ebii has wireless Bluetooth and LTE connectivity to communicate with the bike’s accompanying ebiiGo mobile app. It will automatically lock the bike when you step away from it and unlock it again when you’re nearby. And GPS technology will not only help you find your bike when you forget where you parked it — hey, it happens to the best of us!— it will also alert you when someone moves the bike when you’re not nearby.

The hyper-sleek and minimalistic bike is noticeably lacking a display of any kind. This is because Acer intends the rider to mount their app-loaded smartphone to the bike’s cockpit to see riding stats, recommended routes, etc.

Other thoughtful features include fenders, airless tires to prevent flats and fast-charging, detachable 460W battery that doubles as a portable charger for your phone and laptop. The battery charges from empty to 100% full in just 25 hours and is said to power the bike for up to 68 miles or 110 kilometers on a single charge.

All of this smart technology sits within the alloy frame’s single center tube, which Acer calls the “ebii box”.

The e-bike is powered by a single-sided 250W rear hub motor, accompanied by a 48V CAN bus control box, with a maximum assist speed of 20mph (25kph).

For a smooth and stable riding experience, the ebii relies on 20” wheels with 2.2” wide tires as well as a single-sided suspension fork. The compact bike’s carrying capacity is 264lbs (120 kg), bike included.

At the time of publication, the bike’s price and delivery date were not yet available, but Acer is among the first computer companies to announce its move into the e-bike market, and with its host of innovative features, this could be a trend to look forward to.