general motors unveils and starts taking orders for ARĪV electric bicycle

last year, general motors unveiled two electric bicycles — ARĪV meld and ARĪV merge — in what seemed to be a return to the company’s beginnings. promoting its plans for an electric future, the company revealed one foldable and one compact bike. with it, GM launched a $10,000 USD contest to crowdsource the name for the bicycle company, which the automaker has announced this week.

‘the crowdsourcing campaign allowed us to bring consumers into the development of our brand,’ said hannah parish, ARĪV director. ‘combine that with our products and our blend of bike and automotive talent, and the result is a unique brand DNA.’

designed and engineered in the GM facilities in michigan and oshawa, ontario, the ARĪV bikes are now on pre-sale in europe for €2,800 — meld, and €3,400 for merge. produced to meet europe’s strict electric bicycle regulations, both bikes have a top speed of 25 km/h and no hand throttle. GM has also stated that they are pedal-assist e-bikes and that they will have four different levels.

both bikes use the same mid-motor arrangement and feature an integrated battery. by connecting the bike via bluetooth to the dedicated app, users can see their speed, distance, battery level, motor assist level and distance traveled. finally, the handle bar is equipped with a mount for the smartphone and an integrated USB port for charging.

project info:

name: ARĪV

produced by: general motors

price: €2,800 – €3,400