Electric scooter and moped hire startup Bird Rides Inc. announced today that it’s releasing a fleet of e-bikes, something that has been in the pipeline for some time.

“Shared scooters helped lay a critical foundation for a transportation future that’s both electric and multimodal,” Travis VanderZanden, founder and chief executive of Bird, said in a statement. “Together with our new, comprehensive bikeshare program that pairs our state-of-the-art vehicles with custom local integrations, Bird is uniquely equipped to meet the eco-friendly mobility needs of cities, riders, and small businesses alike, both now and into the future.”

The company said the bikes have a high-powered motor which will mean a top speed of 15.5 miles per hour, with a distance of 56 miles possible on a single charge. Each vehicle will also have a dual braking system and an “aerospace-grade” frame that Bird says will ensure longevity after a lot of use.

Building the bikes for safety was also a top priority, so each vehicle is fitted with an onboard diagnostics system to point out any mechanical problems. The bikes also come with “geospeed technology” that will slow down or stop the bike in areas where such vehicles are not permitted to run. The bikes will first roll out to select cities in the U.S., with France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Spain following.

The company said it doesn’t want to replace existing options for shared mobility vehicles, which is why it will be partnering with various companies around the world and integrating their vehicles into the Bird app. “Cities and riders are best served by efficient, collaborative transportation networks, not walled gardens,” said VanderZanden.

Also today, Ford Motor Co.-owned electric scooter-sharing company Spin announced the arrival of a new flagship electric scooter called the Spin S-100T. The “T” part of the name stands for tough: The company said the vehicles have been designed to withstand a long, hard life on the streets. These will first be available in Sacramento but will appear in various U.S. states in the coming year.

Photo: Bird