Nice Ride launches small fleet of 'e-bikes' that assist in pedaling

Updated: 3 p.m. | Posted: 1:37 p.m.

Nice Ride launched a fleet of pedal-assist electric bikes Monday in Minneapolis as part of a pilot project.

The bike-share organization — operated by car-share company Lyft — is putting 50 ebikes on the streets.

Nice Ride executive director Bill Dossett said riders can access the e-bikes in the same way as the traditional bikes and for the rest of this riding season they'll cost the same.

"For a user, it'll be exactly the same experience as using a green docked bike,” he said. “The only additional thing you need to do is hit a button to turn it on after you pull it out of the dock."

Dossett said Nice Ride plans to have 1,800 pedal-assist bikes available next year.

"It gives us the opportunity to get people the experience of using the e-bike and to get the team here in Minneapolis the experience of swapping batteries and maintaining all of them."

Nice Ride had planned to launch the larger fleet of electric bikes this year, but scrapped those plans because of a manufacturer's recall.