Mobike Launches Motorized E-Bike for Sharing, Refunds $150 Million

Mobike, one of the world’s largest bike-sharing companies, has just launched its new pedal-assisted electric bikes as well as a deposit refund plan at the launch event on July 5.

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“The e-bikes are within an intelligent system that monitors vehicle condition in real time,” said G3, a Mobike Senior Director who was present at the launch event hosted at Mobike Beijing headquarter. Although motorized, the e-bike is surprisingly light with a weight of only 25.5Kg.

The new e-bike is optimized for ease of riding, such that a rider is able to support a whole bike’s weight with one foot when in park, and could easily navigate using only one hand. Tires are also made resistant to tearing and crashing. It will meet the travel needs of the vast majority of residents in the city, according to Mobike.

In addition to the e-bike’s launch, Li Yucen, vice president of Mobike, announced that Mobike will refund customers their deposit of $150 million to establish a nationwide, no-threshhold, zero-burden use of bikes. The refunding will be aided through the acquisition of Meituan-Diaoping.

The refund announcement did not come as a surprise, however. Mobike’s biggest competitor in China, ofo, actually introduced their deposit-free services earlier this year.

Later, Mobike also published a compaign through its social media official account, promoting the idea that using shared bikes can improve one’s life quality. The bike-sharing company also guaranteed 100 percent recycling of the bikes, saying that all bikes are equipped with the three-mode satellite positioning chip and Internet of Things (IoT) communication chip for tracking.

Mobike now has claimed 200 million users and 9 million shared bikes in the world.

Featured Image Source: Mobike weibo.