On a typical e-bike, you choose between different levels of electrical assistance. While the temptation is to select the maximum, what if that uses up the battery before you reach your destination? The French-designed iweech e-bike is claimed to automatically select the optimum level, so you do get where you're going, but with minimal effort.
As you regularly ride the iweech to work, school or wherever, it utilizes an artificial intelligence system to learn the different routes that you travel, along with your individual riding style. When you then press a button on its top tube, putting it into i.Ride mode, it puts that knowledge to use.
In a nutshell, the bike predicts where you're going, based on the route that you're following. It then takes several factors into account, such as the battery level, the distance you have to travel, the topography of your route, and the wind speed/direction. Analyzing these, it proceeds to automatically choose how much electrical assistance it'll provide, selecting the highest level that won't result in your having a dead battery before reaching your destination.
Should you be going somewhere that the system hasn't "learned" yet, you can use an accompanying iOS/Android app to tell it your destination (and thus the approximate route you'll be following), before heading out.
The bike itself has a 350-watt mid-mounted Brose motor powered by a removable 36-volt/13.8-Ah/497-Wh lithium battery. One 3.5-hour charge should be good for a range of approximately 160 km (99 mi). Other features include front and rear hydraulic disc brakes, a single-speed belt-drive drivetrain, an auto-illuminating 205-lumen LED headlight, a motion-sensitive anti-theft alarm, and GPS-enabled tracking in case it gets stolen anyway.
The whole thing tips the scales at a claimed 18 kg (39.7 lb).
If the iweech seems like it's up your alley, you can preorder one through its current Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of €1,995 (about US$2,256) is required, which is 43 percent off the planned retail price. If it reaches its goal, it should ship to backers in May.
Sources: Kickstarter, iweech