Neuron Mobility announce e-bike trial launching across CBD, North Adelaide, Norwood, St Peters and Payneham

E-bikes will return to the streets of Adelaide as e-scooter brand Neuron Mobility rolls out a fleet of 150 across the CBD and four other suburbs on Friday.

A fleet of 150 Neuron e-bikes will be rolled out and available to hire from Friday. Picture: Sam Wundke

Neuron Mobility has announced its first e-bike trial in Adelaide, with a fleet of 150 bikes becoming available to hire from Friday morning.

The pedal-assisted e-bikes will be rolled out across the CBD, North Adelaide, Norwood, St Peters and Payneham, expanding on Neuron’s existing e-scooter network.

Riders will be able to book e-bikes through the Neuron smartphone app, with single trips costing $1 to unlock the bike and 38 cents per minute thereafter.

Neuron chief executive Zachary Wang hoped the e-bikes would make sustainable travel more accessible to people in the city.

“They will provide another sustainable mode of transport, making them a great alternative to short car trips,” he said.

The bikes are expected to be distributed to the streets overnight on Thursday, so they are available to hire early on Friday morning.

Bryan Ruhle from Neuron Mobility, Australia and New Zealand taking one of the e-bikes for a spin at Victoria Square. Picture: Sam Wundke

With more than 30 parking stations across the operating area, the bikes are “geofenced” to control where they can be ridden and how fast they can travel in certain areas – similar to the e-scooters.

The bikes also have several safety features, including a triple-zero emergency button, voice guidance and a “Follow My Ride” function that allows users to share trips with friends and family in real time.

City of Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said the bikes would be ideal for people going on longer journeys through the city.

“The launch of Neuron’s new e-bikes in Adelaide will be a great complement to the existing e-scooter program, which has been so well-received by users within the City of Adelaide,” she said.

“This latest initiative will help further unlock underserved areas in the city, providing a boost to local businesses.”

The bikes were first launched in Darwin earlier this month.

In March, Uber launched 300 JUMP e-bikes in the Adelaide, Norwood, Payneham and St Peters areas, but then promptly pulled the fleet to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 and have not returned.

Founded in Singapore in 2016, Neuron operates in nine locations across Australia and New Zealand.

They launched an 800-strong orange fleet across Adelaide and North Adelaide in January, becoming the fourth scooter company to enter the market here after Lime, Beam and RIDE.

Beam remains the only other e-scooter company with a permit to operate in the city.

In September, Neuron restarted a six-month e-scooter coastal path trial between Outer Harbor and West Beach.

Neuron scooters were pulled off the streets of Adelaide during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but were reintroduced in June.

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