Electric vehicles @2025: Is AI a solid foundation or just a gimmick?

"We hope that through the combination of AI intelligent technology and cutting - edge material science and technology, electric vehicles will no longer be bulky, and there will be no more anxiety about battery life, so that the achievements of high - end intelligent manufacturing can truly enter the daily travel life of the general public." Yang Xiao, the president of Shouqu Technology, which focuses on intelligent short - distance vehicles, once frankly expressed his long - cherished wish for two - wheeled electric vehicles. It also reveals the true meaning of AI two - wheeled electric vehicles, that is, the perfect integration of intelligent technology and traditional vehicle bodies.

Shouqu Technology is not the only enterprise that wants to tell the story of intelligentization on the most common two - wheeled electric vehicles. Niu, Aima, Yadea... all have their layouts.

With the progress of general artificial intelligence technology, in 2025, the wave of AI finally reached the two - wheeled electric vehicle industry. From intelligent unlocking, automatic locking when leaving, automatic recognition of the owner, and vehicle - battery recognition to prevent vehicle theft... When AI meets two - wheeled electric vehicles, the cycling world begins to become interesting and useful.

For example, on a busy street, a rider touches the electric vehicle with his mobile phone to unlock his new electric vehicle that he just bought for 4,000 yuan. While the vehicle is automatically started by induction, the dashboard pops up a real - time traffic reminder. It can be said that this is a daily scenario after AI technology reshapes two - wheeled electric vehicles. "It seems okay. Now the reminders of time and traffic conditions during food delivery are much more convenient than those of traditional electric bicycles. However, it seems to consume more power, and I don't use many functions."

At the same time, in the Niu experience store in Zhongguancun, Beijing, engineers are debugging a new product equipped with the "True Intelligence 3.0" system, which can automatically identify obstacles within 20 meters through three AI chips.

These seemingly scattered fragments can be regarded as an upgrade of the travel technology industry. That is to say, when AI technology moves from the laboratory to the streets and alleys, two - wheeled electric vehicles are leaping from the "feature - phone era" to the "smart - phone era".

From the perspective of industry development, the transformation of two - wheeled electric vehicles from being powered by electricity to being equipped with AI, the focus of this revolution does not seem to be the stacking of technologies, but an accurate response to the pain points in ordinary people's lives.

However, will consumers really pay for this "response"?

01 The AI Wave Hits Two - Wheeled Electric Vehicles

When Tesla redefined cars with Autopilot, the two - wheeled electric vehicle industry is also experiencing a similar intelligent revolution. According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, in the first half of 2025, the domestic sales of electric two - wheeled vehicles increased by 29.5% year - on - year, among which the brands of intelligent two - wheeled electric vehicles increased significantly.

Among several leading brands, Niu's two - wheeled vehicles ranked first in sales growth. The financial report shows that in the first half of this year, the sales volume of Niu's intelligent two - wheeled electric vehicles in the Chinese market reached 2.39 million units, a year - on - year increase of 99.5%.

Functions such as intelligent unlocking, automatic following, and health monitoring are changing from high - end configurations to standard configurations.

Objectively speaking, the underlying driving force of this revolution is the resonance between mature technology and user needs. To put it more simply, it is the penetration of artificial intelligence technology in all aspects of two - wheeled electric vehicles.

As technology becomes more accessible, AI is changing from a "luxury" to a "daily necessity". Taking Niu as an example again, the "True Intelligence 3.0" system it launched in 2025, through its self - developed Ninebot OS operating system, has brought AI functions that originally only appeared in high - end models, such as 2K driving records and forward collision warnings, to models priced between 2,000 and 4,000 yuan.

Moreover, its self - developed "Ridey GO" intelligent vehicle system, "Ridey LONG" long - range system, and "Ridey FUN" intelligent driving system also bring users a safer and more intelligent riding experience.

Frankly speaking, behind this "technology popularization" is a significant decrease in computing power costs. The application of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 series chips in two - wheeled vehicles has increased the AI computing power of a single device by 5 times, while the cost has only increased by 12%.

Meanwhile, the intelligent battery - swapping system jointly developed by CATL and Hello, which realizes the full - life - cycle management of batteries through blockchain technology, has shortened the battery - swapping time from 5 minutes to 30 seconds, greatly alleviating the battery - life anxiety of two - wheeled electric vehicle enthusiasts.

However, from the perspective of industrial competition, under the wave of the integration of AI and two - wheeled electric vehicles, the competition among enterprises is intensifying. A prominent characteristic and rule is that players in this field seem to be moving from "hardware manufacturing" to "ecosystem building".

Traditional giants are not willing to lag behind. Yadea, with a market share of 26.3%, ranks first. In the first half of 2025, its revenue reached 19.186 billion yuan. Relying on its long - term in - depth exploration in this field and in - depth cooperation with technology companies such as Huawei and AutoNavi, it has developed an intelligent central control system that supports voice interaction, OTA upgrades, and anti - theft tracking, which can realize real - time monitoring of vehicle status, analysis of riding data, and fault warning functions.

In addition, the new national standard implemented in 2025 has listed intelligent anti - theft as a mandatory requirement, directly increasing the penetration rate of Beidou positioning modules from 18% in 2024 to 65%.

02 What Has AI Changed?

To explain clearly what these official and professional descriptions of AI functions are useful for, let's illustrate with real - life examples.

Below a certain office building, Lisa checks the location of her vehicle remotely through the Niu Mobility App, avoiding the trouble of finding the vehicle caused by the property moving it.

At the senior activity center, 68 - year - old Grandpa Wang unlocks his electric vehicle with his fingerprint. The large - font interface in the "Elderly Mode" allows him to operate it easily.

Digging deeper, when the industry is busy installing an "AI brain" in two - wheeled vehicles, the real revolution lies in the daily complaints of users. In particular, commuters can't find their moved vehicles, the elderly can't remember complex operations, food delivery riders are always worried about insufficient battery life, and parents are afraid that their children will cause trouble while cycling...

In a sense, these scenarios reveal an essence: the value of AI has never been about whose functions are more fancy, but about solving these "survival - level pain points".

Taking safety, which everyone values most, to disassemble AI two - wheeled electric vehicles in more detail, it is gradually changing from "passive defense" to "active risk avoidance".

Considering that the safety logic of two - wheeled vehicles is completely different from that of cars, in an open environment, 80% of accidents are caused by sudden situations such as pedestrians suddenly crossing the road and potholes on the road.

For example, the "AI anti - collision system" of a certain intelligent two - wheeled vehicle brand provides a solution: it can identify obstacles within 20 meters through a front - facing camera, automatically reduce the speed, and vibrate the handlebars to remind the rider. The actual test shows that it shortens the emergency braking distance by 30%.

This "active risk - avoidance" technology has reduced the accident rate of models equipped with this system by 42% year - on - year in Q2 of 2025, far exceeding the industry average.

Even for the elderly group, there is a certain degree of equal rights. Aowei Cloud data shows that elderly users account for 23% of the two - wheeled vehicle market, but the operation complexity of traditional smart vehicles is comparable to that of smartphones.

Some two - wheeled electric vehicle brands in the industry have specially developed an "Elderly Mode", which can realize functions such as unlocking and navigation through voice commands, and at the same time limits the maximum speed to 20 km/h to avoid the risk of speeding.

In other words, in the future, it is not uncommon to see more and more nearly 70 - year - old grandpas riding smart electric vehicles on the street. Obviously, technology is no longer an obstacle, but a key to giving them freedom in their later - life travel.

03 Who Will Still Pay When the AI Hype Fades?

Although it seems that AI two - wheeled electric vehicles are developing vigorously and new technologies have made products excellent, it doesn't mean that AI two - wheeled electric vehicles are free from the hype and false demands like smart home appliances.

At an electric vehicle exhibition in Hangzhou, the "telling jokes by voice" function displayed by a certain brand attracted a lot of attention. However, a market survey at the same time showed that only 12% of users were willing to pay for such functions.

Don't underestimate the contrast between this "technological carnival" and "user indifference". In essence, it can still reveal the deep - seated problems in the industry.

On the one hand, the industry needs to prevent the over - stacking of functions from covering up real needs. According to Deloitte's data prediction, in 2024, 62.1% of the consumption demand in the two - wheeled electric vehicle industry came from replacement demand. In addition, according to the Tidal Business Review, students and office workers account for about 60% of two - wheeled vehicle consumers, and their budgets are mostly concentrated between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan. However, models with "full - scenario AI" generally have a price premium of 500 - 800 yuan, and 70% of the new functions are just for show, such as "automatic following" and "gesture control".

What's more, some manufacturers, in pursuit of good - looking parameters, have implanted AI algorithms in the battery management system to filter abnormal temperature data, resulting in a 30% increase in the risk of battery overheating in actual use. This kind of "data fraud" is eroding user trust.

Back to the enterprise level, the most feared thing is still involution - style competition. A spot - check by the State Administration for Market Regulation in 2025 showed that among models with AI functions, 30% had a risk of battery overheating, 15% higher than traditional models. A food delivery rider's complaint reveals the crux of the industry: "I'd rather have a less - smart vehicle than have the battery catch fire on the way. No matter how powerful AI is, can it compensate me for the late - delivery fees to customers?"

In fact, the root cause of abnormal competition is that enterprises have overly used the "number of AI functions" as a marketing selling point while neglecting the improvement of underlying technologies. For example, a certain brand claims to be able to control the vehicle remotely within 200 meters, but the actual effective distance is only 50 meters, and it completely fails in an electromagnetic interference environment.

Therefore, what AI should bring to two - wheeled vehicles is the confidence to "not be bullied". After all, good AI technology never shows off, but should be a helping hand.

Looking back, the intelligent wave of two - wheeled electric vehicles is essentially a revolution about "dignity": when food delivery riders are no longer anxious about battery theft, when the elderly no longer give up traveling due to complex technology, and when ordinary office workers get absolutely reliable safety guarantees with a budget of two or three thousand yuan, AI technology has completed its transformation from a "luxury" to a "necessity".

"It only takes me ten minutes to ride to our company from my home. The battery doesn't need to be very large, but it must be durable, and it must be safe and secure. Oh, it'd be best to have some anti - theft functions. As for other functions, I don't really care about them for now." Jason from the Tidal editorial department said so.

Let AI break through the hype and make a key leap from "usable" to "user-friendly" in the deep - water area of value in terms of safety, convenience, and experience. Perhaps this is the key to winning over consumers.

You see, this is how business works.

This article is from the WeChat official account "florayang01" (ID: daily - case), author: Donald, published by 36Kr with authorization.