Also apologizes for TM-B e-bike delays as high-tech feature set creates production bottlenecks
The e-bike market has been absorbing a wave of high-specification product launches, and the gap between ambitious engineering and actual volume production is now visible at one of its more closely watched entrants. Also, Rivian's…
Key takeaways
- Also, Rivian's micromobility spinoff, has apologized to customers for delays in delivering its TM-B electric bicycle.
- The TM-B combines a USB-C chargeable battery, a removable seat post, and a software-controlled pedal-by-wire system, a combination unlike anything else in the e-bike market.
- Also attributes the delays to the product's high-tech feature set, which has created unexpected production bottlenecks.
- The company points to its novel pedal-by-wire architecture and USB-C battery charging as the specific sources of the bottlenecks.
- Also chose to directly acknowledge the delays and apologize rather than quietly extend expectations, and customers are waiting for a concrete revised timeline.
The e-bike market has been absorbing a wave of high-specification product launches, and the gap between ambitious engineering and actual volume production is now visible at one of its more closely watched entrants. Also, Rivian's micromobility spinoff, has apologized to customers for delays in delivering its TM-B electric bicycle, a machine that had no technical peer in the category when the company announced it last year.
The TM-B drew sector-wide attention immediately after Also unveiled it. The bike combines a USB-C chargeable battery, a removable seat post, and a software-controlled pedal-by-wire system, and the combination was unlike anything else in the e-bike market. No comparable production e-bike routes pedal input through software rather than a mechanical drivetrain, and the TM-B's overall design approach departed from the category's conventions at nearly every level. Customer enthusiasm was broad and fast. Also had communicated that deliveries would begin, but the product team has since acknowledged that the high-tech feature list is creating unexpected bottlenecks, and the original timeline has not held.
Supply chain friction at the component level
Also attributes the production delays to the product's feature set. The pedal-by-wire architecture is genuinely new to the production e-bike category, and USB-C battery charging is similarly novel at the bicycle level. Both choices set the TM-B apart at launch, and both appear, in Also's own framing, to be the source of the current bottlenecks. The company has described those bottlenecks as unexpected. Customers who were anticipating delivery are not happy, and Also has responded with an apology.
The sector read-through is modest but present. Departing from a category's standard component architecture also means departing from its established supply relationships, and that friction compounds regardless of how strong the initial product reception was. On balance, Also has chosen direct acknowledgment of the delays over quiet extension of expectations. What it can offer as a concrete revised timeline is what the waiting customer base will be watching for next.
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