Xiaomi has just rolled out QiCycle, a foldable electric smart bike, in China in a bid to decongest many of the country's extremely crowded cities with cars dominating the traffic landscape at $460 (Yuan 2, 999).
The Chinese tech giant's QiCycle is equipped with an integrated electric engine used for propulsion and powered by 250W-36V electric motor. To help drivers from getting too exhausted from pedaling, the bicycle uses the Torque Measurement Method (TMM). The smart bike also comes with Shimano Gear Shifters to aid bikers in switching gears when driving over difficult terrain. Moreover, the 21st century bike also sports a computer display giving its users fitness-related data like distance traveled, speed, GPS tracking, calories burned, and so much more, The Verge reported.
While Xiaomi is largely known as a smartphone maker mainly outside the US, the Chinese company takes a lot of lessons from its American Silicon Valley counterparts like Apple in diversifying its product line by venturing into nascent markets for products like the electric-assisted pedal-powered smart bikes.
As reported by BGR, the Chinese-made eBike can lasts for 28 miles (45km) on a single charge with a top speed of 12.4 mph (20kph). Aside from its 250W-36V, it is also powered by twenty 2,900 mAh Panasonic batteries. To make the eBike extremely efficient, it comes with a smart energy management app.
The birth of QiCycle smart bike started out like Xiaomi's Mi Drone which was crowdfunded within the company's Mi Home app. Similar to a number of Kickstarter start-up projects, the product won't be ready for full release until a threshold is met. The project should reach a target number of users who willingly signed up and pledged to buy the product first, Tech Crunch reported.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi also offers a higher end and more expensive bike through a Chinese start-up called iRiding that the tech giant invested in. The QiCycle R1 non-foldable eBike costs around $3, 000. The Xiaomi-backed start-up firm is also behind the cheaper foldable eBike model.
