Rivian's ALSO E-Bike Slips Again — Pre-Orders Now Open August 18

If you put down a reservation for the TM-B, the electric bike from Rivian spin-off ALSO, you finally have a date to circle: August 18. That's when reservation holders will be able to place actual pre-orders, according to an email ALSO sent out this week and reported by Electrek.

The catch is that August 18 is itself a delay. ALSO had originally planned to open its Gear Shop on August 11, then pushed the date back a week so that accessory purchases and bike ordering would line up — the company says it's aiming for "the best and most seamless experience."

A Timeline That Keeps Sliding

A one-week slip isn't much on its own. The bigger picture is harder to wave off. When ALSO unveiled the TM-B last year, the company was targeting Spring 2026 deliveries. Spring came and went, summer is well underway, and reservation holders are only now being told that ordering is close.

No customer TM-B bikes have been reported as delivered yet. The first shipments are still ahead, which means the gap between "place your pre-order" and "ride your bike" remains an open question.

The First-Come Question

There's a second point of friction bubbling up in the reservation community: ALSO appears to be opening ordering to all reservation holders at once, rather than giving priority to people who put money down earliest.

That's rubbed some early reservation holders the wrong way, particularly because ALSO's reservation page still carries language suggesting the opposite:

"The sooner you reserve, the sooner you ride." … "Reservations will be fulfilled on a first-come basis."

If you reserved back in 2025 expecting to be near the front of the line, it's worth watching how ALSO handles allocation once orders actually open.

What the TM-B Actually Is

Technically, this is one of the more ambitious e-bikes to come along in years. It's a lightweight urban bike with Rivian-inspired industrial design and a feature list that reads more like a connected vehicle than a commuter bike:

  • Carbon belt drive (no chain, no chain lube)
  • Integrated lighting
  • Removable battery
  • Connected features and GPS tracking
  • Automatic electronic shifting
  • Pedal-by-wire
  • A sensor suite aimed at security and ride quality

ALSO positioned it as a premium mobility platform rather than just another e-bike — and priced it accordingly.

The Price Problem

The TM-B runs $4,500 for the Performance version, or $3,500 for the lower-range model with the smaller battery. That's a lot of bike, but it lands in a market where buyers have gotten sharply price-conscious. The e-bike industry is still working through a rough downturn, and value-oriented bikes that deliver most — though not all — of the performance for a fraction of the cost are pulling a lot of the demand.

As Electrek's Micah Toll put it, the bike is undeniably cool and the engineering is genuinely clever, but ALSO may have misread where the e-bike market currently sits. Heavy investment in branding, marketing, and a large team is an expensive way to enter a segment that increasingly rewards value over novelty.

What This Means If You're on the List

Practically speaking: watch your inbox around August 18, and read the ordering terms carefully before you convert a reservation into a pre-order. Since Gear Shop accessories are opening alongside bike ordering, expect to be asked about add-ons at the same time you're committing to the bike itself — decide in advance what you actually need versus what's easy to click.

And if you're still on the fence, there's no penalty in waiting for the first real-world deliveries and reviews. A pre-order date is not a delivery date, and this program has moved before.

The Bigger Picture for EV Owners

Plenty of EV drivers end up with a bike on the back of the car or in the garage, and the same things that make a good EV accessory apply here: reliable charging, sensible cable and adapter storage, and gear that holds up to being hauled around. Whether you're waiting on a TM-B or already riding something else, having your charging and roadside kit sorted is the part you control.

Source: Electrek, August 13, 2026.

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