GM wants your help naming its new e-bike brand
You could win $10,000 by helping name the two new bikes.
GM is launching an e-bike. Now it needs you to pick its name.
General Motors is one of many companies launching e-bikes -- bicycles with electrical assistance to make your commute a little easier. But there's one missing piece in the e-bikes' roll-out plan: GM doesn't yet have a name or brand for the product, it announced Friday. Instead, it's asking for help from the general public to name the new bikes.
The winning submission gets more than just bragging rights: GM will award $10,000 to the person who submits the brand name that the company ends up using for the bikes. Nine runner-up submissions will each receive a $1,000 award.
GM's two e-bikes are both said to be "innovative, integrated and connected," though few other details have been confirmed so far. One is a folding type, which might make it ideal for people with limited storage space or those who need to complete part of their commute on public transport, while the other will be a more traditional compact e-bike design.
While we won't have more details until next year, we do know that one of the e-bikes will be a folding design.
The e-bikes were "designed and engineered from the ground up at General Motors," and use a "proprietary" motor system, GM's e-bike marketing and innovation manager, Jennifer Cathcart, told Roadshow. However, further details like power, range and a sales strategy won't be announced until the e-bikes are fully revealed in 2019.
GM and other companies see e-bikes as an urban commuting solution that allow people to travel farther with less effort than simply walking or by regular bicycle. "As an avid cyclist and urban commuter, I know how great it feels to get where I'm going easily and to show up sweat-free," Hannah Parish, GM's director of urban mobility solutions, said in a statement.
You have from today through 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 26 to submit your ideas at eBikeBrandChallenge.com. To help inspire you, GM says it's looking for, "Simple, smart and bold concepts capable of bringing the e-bike brand to life," plus ideas that can be "understood around the world." The winning names will be announced early in 2019.
