A Rivian spin-off is betting $305 million on e-bikes. I rode it around New York City, and it felt natural - and powerful.

"My steel Fuji road bike is like another limb. I use it to get to work, grab groceries, and pedal to see my friends. I can haul it onto the subway if I get tired, or if the weather takes a surprise turn for the worse. It's cheap to maintain, and I can use it in place of a gym membership."

"In New York City, where I live, e-bikes - the road bike's zoomier cousin - are everywhere. They're not just popular with the 135,000 members of Citibike, our city's bike-share program; businesses have also embraced them. Many delivery workers use e-bikes to avoid our city's awful traffic snarls, and giants like Amazon use them to drop off packages and reduce emissions."

"So when one of my colleagues told me they'd been getting emails from Also, a new e-bike company, I couldn't resist hopping in the saddle. I've been thinking about buying an e-bike, and the emails said Also's bike, the TM-B, had some unique features. The fact that it had been spun out of Rivian, a $21 billion electric vehicle company, intrigued me."

My steel Fuji road bike serves daily transportation needs including commuting, shopping, and social visits, and is inexpensive to maintain compared with a gym membership. In New York City, e-bikes are widespread among bike-share users and businesses, aiding delivery workers and companies like Amazon to navigate traffic and cut emissions. Also, an e-bike company spun out of Rivian, uses the automaker's battery cells and design philosophy, has raised $305 million, and offers the $4,500 TM-B. The TM-B proved flexible during a test ride around Manhattan and could serve as a primary or supplemental household vehicle.

Read at Business Insider