By Elena Vasquez

ALSO, the Rivian spinoff betting Americans will trade some car trips for e-bikes, has begun delivering $3,500-to-$4,500 TM-B models as the average U.S. vehicle transaction price sits above $51,000.

The delivery gives the standalone company its first product on the road after months of delays, testing whether small, software-led vehicles can find a place in an SUV-heavy market.

Co-founder and president Chris Yu told Business Insider: “The bike is almost like a Trojan horse for what’s coming.”

Can a $4,500 e-bike take on $51,000 cars?

ALSO’s case rests on a mismatch between vehicle prices and routine travel. Cheap new cars keep disappearing from the U.S. market, and record-high prices have led several companies to pursue smaller vehicles as an alternative.

Toyota plans to bring a tiny kei truck to the U.S. market with a maximum speed of 25 mph. Fiat launched its golf-cart-like Topolino this summer. Several Slate Auto early adopters told Business Insider that they plan to use $24,900 trucks as around-town cars.

Also says taking a full-size vehicle to the grocery store is “like we’re using a 747.” The comparison captures Yu’s argument: American drivers use one class of vehicle for DoorDash deliveries, school drop-offs, hourslong trips and shopping, although airlines assign specialized aircraft to different tasks.

Yu does not expect the e-bike to replace the SUV. His vision for the ideal family garage in 10 years includes:

• One SUV for long-haul trips.
• One e-bike for school drop-offs.
• One yet-to-be-announced ALSO product that could complete a family grocery run autonomously.

ALSO’s software emphasis is visible in the TM-B, which combines a touchscreen, a removable battery and a pedal-by-wire drivetrain. Yu describes the $3,500-to-$4,500 bike as a gateway to coming products while stressing that it will not replace SUVs.

ALSO presented the launch edition at a product launch in Oakland, California, on October 22, 2025. The company did not begin customer deliveries until this fall, after missing its original spring target.

The company partnered with DoorDash this year to develop and deploy autonomous delivery vehicles. Yu said a recent $150 million funding round would help ALSO develop several autonomous vehicle types for moving people and goods.

Why did TM-B deliveries slip?

Getting that first proof point on the road proved difficult. ALSO missed its original spring delivery target, and customers began receiving the bike only this fall, the company said.

Yu attributed the delay to surging demand for memory, chips and high-performance circuit boards. All three components are used in AI servers and robotics, linking ALSO’s production schedule to broader demand for advanced hardware.

Yu said customers rightly challenged the company after the missed deadlines. The episode taught ALSO to communicate more regularly with reservation holders, and he now tells employees that customer attention is an incredible privilege because comparatively few companies have a Reddit audience.

ALSO now faces the task of completing deliveries to reservation holders after missing its spring target. The larger test is whether the $150 million round can turn the TM-B launch and DoorDash work into a portfolio of autonomous vehicles for people and goods.

Yu’s 10-year garage plan still has one unannounced piece: an autonomous grocery-run vehicle connecting the consumer bike with ALSO’s delivery work. For a market where average vehicle transactions exceed $51,000, the company is betting that a $4,500 bicycle can become the gateway to a much larger software-led mobility business.