Rivian spinoff Also apologizes for TM-B e-bike delays as high-tech design creates production bottlenecks
The micro-mobility sector's appetite for software-defined hardware is colliding with the physical limits of component supply chains. Also, the micromobility spinoff of electric vehicle maker Rivian, has apologized to customers…
Key takeaways
- Also, the Rivian micromobility spinoff, has apologized to customers after deliveries of its TM-B electric bicycle slipped past the original schedule.
- The TM-B's distinctive features—a USB-C chargeable battery, a removable seat post, and a software-controlled pedal-by-wire system—are the same features now causing production bottlenecks.
- The pedal-by-wire system and other software-controlled components carry engineering and qualification requirements that simpler mechanical designs do not, driving the delays.
- Also's product team has acknowledged it underestimated the manufacturing demands of the TM-B's high-tech design.
- Buyers who placed orders for the TM-B are unhappy about the delivery shortfall.
The micro-mobility sector's appetite for software-defined hardware is colliding with the physical limits of component supply chains. Also, the micromobility spinoff of electric vehicle maker Rivian, has apologized to customers after deliveries of its TM-B electric bicycle slipped past the company's original schedule. Buyers who placed orders are not happy.
The TM-B generated immediate market excitement when Also unveiled it last year. Its architecture had no real peer in the e-bike segment: a USB-C chargeable battery, a removable seat post, and a software-controlled pedal-by-wire system together produced a bicycle with a design philosophy the category had not seen before. The launch drew wide attention precisely because nothing else in the market looked like it.
From product launch to production reality
That reception made the delivery shortfall more visible than it might have been for a less noticed product. Also's product team has since acknowledged that the same features that distinguished the TM-B at launch are now generating unexpected bottlenecks in getting units to buyers.
A pedal-by-wire system is a meaningful departure from mechanical drivetrains, and software-controlled components carry engineering and qualification requirements that simpler designs do not. The feature set that made the TM-B distinctive at launch is now the source of the production delays.
The read-through for the broader e-bike sector runs in both directions. Products that move aggressively upmarket on specification can attract buyers and generate genuine enthusiasm, as the TM-B did at unveiling. Getting those products through a supply chain calibrated to conventional hardware is the harder half of the equation.
On balance, Also's apology reflects a product team that underestimated the manufacturing demands of its own design. That the features drawing the most buyer interest are also the ones creating the bottlenecks is the more pointed fact here.
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