Also, the micromobility brand spun off from electric vehicle maker Rivian, has begun shipping its TM-B modular e-bike after delayed deliveries, president Chris Yu told The Verge, with Standard and Performance trims to follow. Yu said the company survived a component crunch driven by AI server demand and worked with certification body UL to develop a clarification standard for its battery.
Also is an independent business led by Yu, a former chief technology officer of Specialized, with Rivian as a minority shareholder. Its TM-B is an e-bike with a swappable top frame, a USB-C chargeable battery, a built-in screen and a series hybrid pedal-by-wire system; the company also has the TM-Q, an electric four-wheeler aimed at commercial deliveries.
Yu said production is now ramping, with a substantial number of early Launch Edition bikes in customers' hands and volumes increasing along a classic manufacturing curve. Reservation conversions for the Standard and Performance trims have opened, he said, with the Performance line to follow shortly.
The path to shipping ran through a year of supply chain problems, as Also competed with AI server demands for integrated circuits, compute, memory and raw printed circuit board assembly materials. The bike's inverter board, designed entirely in-house, requires a sophisticated board material whose thermal properties AI server farms also demand, triggering a global shortage and forcing the company to requalify and source alternatives. “Certainly I didn’t foresee the intense urgency around AI server hardware,” he said.
Yu described a three-way overlap between Also, Rivian and broader AI hardware such as robotics and servers, and said he and Rivian chief executive RJ Scaringe talk regularly about specific parts and supply constraints. The remedies range from pressing suppliers or finding identical alternates to completely redesigning and requalifying a system around a replacement part. High-performance capacitors and raw board material were among the components that had to be revalidated, a process that puts parts through weeks in thermal chambers and on shock and vibration rigs.
Yu said the battery's design exposed undefined areas in certification rules. The pack combines high power density, an automotive-style software-defined battery management system with two-way flow for regenerative braking, USB-C 3.1 charging at up to 240 watts and a removable unit, attributes that do not exist in standard e-bike battery guidelines. Rather than self-certifying, the company partnered with UL to develop a clarification standard for the architecture and is now fully UL certified. Yu said any lithium-ion battery carries some risk, but the pack draws on passive and active propagation defenses from generations of automotive EV battery design.
The company had planned a spring launch, and Yu said that was realistic given what was known at the time, but a lot of unknown unknowns intervened. Customers have voiced frustration on Reddit over the delayed deliveries, and some people who received bikes have experienced minor software problems. Yu acknowledged the team's heads-down engineering focus meant it did not keep early backers posted, a mistake he said the company had addressed by establishing regular updates. Very few orders were cancelled, he said, with the overwhelming sentiment among supporters being “I want it. When is it coming?” He also said FedEx did not handle the initial deliveries well, prompting a pause and a switch of carriers.
As US cities and states crack down on overpowered bikes, Yu said the backlash is driven by sellers marketing mini-motorcycles as e-bikes, or by bikes whose speeds can be uncapped, and has produced blanket bans such as New Jersey's. Also stays within the legitimate Class 1, 2 and 3 e-bike categories, he said, and because the bike is software-defined, the same hardware can be configured to local speed limits, with over-the-air parental controls coming for families.
The bike is the flagship of a broader plan. Also's mission is purpose-built small vehicles, and DoorDash joined earlier this year as a strategic partner to develop autonomous delivery platforms. Yu said the opportunity is a vehicle that costs far less than an average-priced $50,000 car while offering a premium, potentially L4 autonomous experience. He described sidewalk robots as a different product class, saying they work in localized, high-density environments such as university campuses.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Also's delivery delays show how the global AI server buildout is spilling into consumer hardware, with shared demand for chips, memory and circuit-board materials stretching small manufacturers.
- The UL collaboration gives regulators and rivals a possible template for certifying e-bike batteries with two-way power flow, high-rate USB-C charging and removable packs.
- The DoorDash partnership and autonomy-first vehicle roadmap point to where micromobility may go next after the post-pandemic shakeout.
Background
Also is a micromobility brand that Rivian spun off as an independent company, led by former Specialized chief technology officer Chris Yu, with Rivian as a minority shareholder. The e-bike sector expanded rapidly during the pandemic and then saw several high-profile company collapses, while US cities and states have tightened rules on overpowered bikes and mopeds. Also planned a spring launch for its TM-B e-bike but was forced to delay it through a year of component shortages and certification work.
Key Perspectives
Chris Yu, president of Also: says the company has come through the supply chain crunch, is fully UL certified and is shipping bikes, with the communication failures during the delays a mistake the company has corrected.
Early reservation holders: voiced frustration on Reddit over delayed deliveries and gaps in communication, and some of the first bikes arrived with minor software problems, though Yu says very few orders were cancelled and supporters' overwhelming sentiment was “I want it. When is it coming?”
What to Watch
- When deliveries of the Standard and Performance trims begin, which Yu says will follow soon after reservation conversions opened.
- How US cities and states close the regulatory gap between certified e-bikes and unregulated vehicles, including the blanket bans Also says are hitting the category.
- What emerges from the DoorDash partnership, with Yu framing autonomous delivery as a core part of Also's roadmap.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 10 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedAlso has started shipping e-bikes after an AI-server-driven component crunch.The Verge: “We’ve been in the trenches competing with AI server demands for components like ICs, compute, memory, and raw PCBA [printed circuit board assembly] materials. Our inverter board is designed entirely in-house for high performance, and the thermals require a sophisticated board material. It turns out AI server farms have similar thermal requirements, triggering a global shortage”
- SupportedYu said he had not foreseen the intense urgency around AI server hardware.The Verge: ““Certainly I didn’t foresee the intense urgency around AI server hardware.” — Chris Yu, president of Also”
- SupportedYu said the company had survived the component crunch.The Verge: “But all that is behind us, and we are really starting to flow to customers and ramp up.”
- SupportedAlso partnered with UL to develop a clarification standard for its battery architecture.The Verge: “we partnered directly with UL to develop a clarification standard tailored to this type of battery architecture.”
- SupportedAlso is now fully UL certified.The Verge: “We went back and forth, completed unit testing on both sides, agreed on the protocol, and we are now fully UL certified.”
- SupportedAlso is ramping up deliveries.The Verge: “But all that is behind us, and we are really starting to flow to customers and ramp up.”
- SupportedAlso has begun shipping its TM-B after delayed deliveries, Yu told The Verge.The Verge: “After dealing with supply chain headaches, confusing regulations, and some communication stumbles, Also is finally shipping its early Launch Edition bikes to customers”
- SupportedThe Standard and Performance versions are due to follow the early Launch Edition bikes.The Verge: “Also is finally shipping its early Launch Edition bikes to customers while also getting ready to roll out the standard and performance versions.”
- Partly supportedReservation conversions have opened for both the Standard and Performance trims.The Verge: “We have started opening reservation conversions, and anticipation for the Performance trim has been huge.”
- Partly supportedThe battery’s listed features do not exist in standard e-bike battery guidelines.The Verge: “Those things combined don’t exist in standard e-bike battery guidelines.”
- SupportedCustomers have voiced frustration on Reddit about delayed deliveries.The Verge: “Meanwhile, customers have been letting the company have it on Reddit over the delayed deliveries”
- SupportedSome customers who received bikes experienced minor software problems.The Verge: “the few people who have received their bikes have already experienced some minor software problems.”
