Uber wants to know if people will subscribe to its e-bike service, but it could end up costing just as much as buying your own wheels
- Uber-owned Jump Bikes sent an email to users announcing the launch of a subscription service called Jump+, according to the Financial Times.
- At $11.99 a week, the subscription would work out at more than $600 a year, making it as expensive as buying an e-bike.
- Uber says Jump+ is not actually live yet and the email was designed to gauge customer interest.
Jump Bikes, the dockless electric bicycle sharing firm bought by Uber in April, appears to be toying with an e-bike rental service.
Jump users received an email on Monday inviting them to take part in a new service called Jump+, an e-bike subscription service. The email was spotted by Financial Times tech reporter Tim Bradshaw:
While some received an offer of $11.99 (£9) per week, others appear to have been offered $49.99 per month. This puts the yearly cost of the service between $599.88 and $623.48 a year, which according to Amazon's best sellers page for electric bicycles, would be enough to buy your own e-bike.
But Jump+ is not yet a done deal. An Uber spokesperson told the Financial Times that the service is not yet live and Monday's email was designed to gauge customer interest.
The Jump+ announcement came on the same day that Uber's biggest rival Lyft bought bike-sharing company Motivate.
Business Insider has contacted Uber for comment.