The Estonian company Ampler is known for making reliable, direct-to-consumer electric bikes from its home in Tallinn, using decent, mostly off-the-shelf parts that can be repaired at any local bike shop. Adding USB-C charging from a laptop charger you may already have makes a lot of sense, as Europe is standardizing on this port to eliminate redundancy and reduce waste. It also makes it easier to find a compatible bike charger if you’ve left yours at home.
The relatively small 48V 336Wh built-in batteries (removable for service only) on Nova e-bikes can be charged from zero to full in just three hours with a USB-C PD 3.1 charger with up to 140W of power. This is very respectable. Some electric bikes with the same size battery take five hours or more to charge from chargers with proprietary connectors, while others with larger batteries and chargers with more than 300W can cut that time down to about two hours. Fortunately, 240W USB-C chargers are already starting to ship, so USB-C is well positioned to compete with them.
Ampler has also tested its bikes for compatibility with lower-powered Ikea and MacBook chargers that support the outdated USB-C PD 3.0 standard. If you don’t already have one, Ampler will sell you its own 140W USB-C PD 3.1 charger for €80 (about $87). And although the USB-C port in the Nova series is bi-directional, it is only capable of charging your USB-C gadgets with a modest 15W of power.
The €2,990 (about $3,230) Nova and €3,490 (about $3,770) Nova Pro models are available in both a travel and flip-flop frame in three sizes to suit most riders, with 250W motors that meet European standard and reach a top speed of 25 km/h. In essence, they are improved versions of the Stout and Stella models, designed for greater compatibility with accessories such as U-locks, third-party saddles and child seats. The base Nova model is equipped with wide 27.5-inch tires and a nine-speed transmission with oil chain and derailleur.
Both the Nova and Nova Pro are available for pre-order from today in the UK, EU and Switzerland, with delivery starting in June. Ampler has official service centers in Germany and a network of “Ampler Friendly” workshops spread across Europe. Each bike comes with a two-year warranty and a 14-day return policy.
