New Lime Gen4 rental electric bike arrives in London

Ride-sharing firm Lime has begun to roll out its latest Gen4 e-bikes, featuring upgraded motor power and new two-speed automatic gearing, in London – and Move Electric has already had a first ride.

The new rental bike will replace the machines that have been available in the capital city since the end of 2018. The e-bikes were initially run by Uber’s mobility firm Jump, which Lime bought in 2020.

Move Electric Awards 2022 Breakthrough Award: Lime

Lime says that since launch, the scheme’s e-bikes have been used for near five million trips, covering eight million miles. That included a record 2.4 million trips last year, as the popularity of active transport increased in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new Gen4 bike has been trialled for around a year, and has so far been launched in Washington DC, Charleston and Atlanta in the USA.

Lime says that the new bike features improved acceleration and increased motor power – although it has not made precise figures available – along with a new two-speed automatic transmission that is designed to make the ride smoother.

The bike also features what Lime calls significant technology upgrades, with a revamped modular design intended to make it both more reliable and easier to repair. Lime claims the new bike will have a useable life of around five years.

The Gen4 bike also features a new swappable battery system, which is shared with the firm’s latest Gen4.1 e-scooter. Lime says this will allow it to improve the speed with which it can replace empty batteries in both machines, which means more vehicles can be available at any time.

The design of the bike has also been revamped, with a new smartphone holder to allow riders to use navigation apps without stopping, and a revamped information display on the handlebars, which also mirror the one uses on Lime’s latest scooters.

What’s the Lime Gen4 e-bike like to ride?