Going Electric - TFI Bikes introduces e-Bikes in Cork

It’s springtime, the weather is getting warm, the trees are in full bloom, and I haven’t written anything about TFI Bikes for far too long. Well not on this blog anyway. It’s high time I changed that, especially since TFI Bikes is just going through the biggest paradigm shift since the system was introduced here in Cork in late 2014. After a very welcome, if somewhat tepid refresh in the wake of the 2020 lockdowns, the last year has seen a veritable flood of new features rolled out across the network. Let’s take a look then, shall we?

Everything started in February 2025, at least from my perspective. Engineers Ireland hosted a presentation by Telclic, the operating company behind TFI Bikes, in the Rochestown Park Hotel, one which was thankfully also streamed online. A lot of this presentation dealt with the mechanics behind the scenes of TFI Bikes, how the docking stations actually work, what the software backend looks like and what it’s hosted on, etc.. More importantly though, the presentation also touched on ongoing improvements to TFI Bikes and its operations, before looking ahead and giving a sneak peek at what was at that time still in the future for TFI Bikes. 

First was the introduction of e-Bikes and cargo bikes to replace vans for small-scale bike redistribution between stations or everyday maintenance work at the stations. This has since become pretty commonplace in Cork. On a similar note, at the time of the presentation, a trial was ongoing in Limerick to determine the suitability of electric vehicles in place of the current fleet of diesel vans for larger-scale maintenance or redistribution.

e-Bikes with cargo trailers, such as this one at the Cork St. Patrick's Day parade in 2025, have become a common sight for small-scale bike repositioning here in Cork.

More interestingly though were the next two points, which dealt with new features planned to come to TFI Bikes in the near future. The first of these was something called Bike Station Lite. This is a concept for a new, modular TFI Bikes Station with its own integrated power supply that’s designed to be easily transportable and installed. Given that the current stations all require a mains power connection and are thus at the mercy of ESB Networks, the advantages of such a modular, self-contained station are obvious. They can be rolled out easily and quickly to cater fo events or to gauge demand at potential future sites. Having said that, the station is “headless”, meaning that it doesn’t have a kiosk or terminal. To check out a bike, you need to use the TFI Bikes app.

The first "Bike Station Lite" in place near Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The wood flooring is part of the light construction. These modules can be easily moved and installed without much in the way of site preparation.

The big news however came next, the introduction of E-Bikes. When compiling the notes for this blog post, the first bullet point under the E-Bikes header in my Notion workbook was This. Is. Major! Cork is, shall we say, geographically challenging. Whilst the city centre might be generally flat owing to its origin as a swamp, Cork’s North and South sides have some considerable elevation changes that are a pain in the neck to deal with, both on foot and on a bike. I know. I’ve tried. Even the little “hump” of Lower Glanmire Road where it crosses the Cork-Dublin mainline outside Kent Station can be quite the challenge to deal with if you’re not in shape. E-Bikes go a long way towards making these parts of the network easier to handle.

So how do these changes play out in real life. Starting with the new E-Bikes, these are basically just modified versions of the regular TFI Bikes that have been in use since 2014. They have the same heavily built frame, comfortable saddle and, most importantly stepless gear shift. The only differences come in the shape of a control unit on the handlebar and a boxy cover for the battery pack over the rear wheel. Oh yeah, and a new and utterly ineffective bell, but that’s a whole different debate. Beyond that, these bikes are just as TFI Bikes have always been. More importantly, the same goes for the rental process. Using the bikes requires no special membership tier although, as I'll touch on later, special charges do apply.

With the exception of the battery pack over the rear wheel and the control panel on the handlebar, the new e-Bikes are very familiar indeed.

The control panel on the left handlebar shows the battery charge (green), the pedal assist level (blue) as well as the power button and the pedal assist selector.

I like bike butts and I cannot lie... umm, err, anyway, the battery pack appears to be modular and seems to be charged via a simple plug.

The ribbing on top of the battery pack is prone to breakage, and most e-Bikes have lost some, if not most of it.

Having said that, E-Bikes need to be turned on to function properly, otherwise they’re just a heavier version of the existing bikes. This is easy enough, and info panels in the handlebar basket outline this pretty clearly. Unfortunately, this is where the experience has turned just a bit sour for me. You see, the TFI Bikes stations have not been changed to account for E-Bikes, and neither have the bikes. The battery packs are located over the rear wheel and are charged via what looks like a regular barrel plug. This can, and has already, led to people looking for E-Bikes and only finding fully depleted bikes available at the stations. On my first really big trial of TFI Bikes, I went through seven different bikes at three different TFI Bikes stations in the city before I found a working bike.

A nearly depleted, or completely dead, battery is unfortunately quite a common sight among the TFI e-Bikes fleet.

Once you do find a working E-Bike though (hint, you can turn the bikes on before releasing them from the station), they are an absolute dream to ride. Now to be fair, they are effectively brand new, fresh out of the workshop, and it remains to be seen if they’ll remain as sprightly after a year or two of use, but for now, it’s ten out of ten, no notes. The gearshift is silky smooth, the saddles are as comfortable as ever, and the electric motor actually packs quite the punch for a “mere” 250W of power, the maximum allowed power under EU regulations to remain usable without license or insurance. Now, I need to make an admission here: I’ve never actually used an E-Bike before. It just never worked out financially and my landlord is paranoid about the danger of the batteries catching fire, which is admittedly a reasonable concern, especially with the more “affordable” brands on the market. 

So these rental E-Bikes were my first real experience with power-assisted cycling. And what can I say, I love it! First things first, you still need to pedal with these E-Bikes. The electric motor will not just run without it. What the motor does is reinforce every pedal stroke you make, making your pedalling more powerful. And that effect should not be underestimated. The higher assist levels in particular pack quite the wallop, and you can be up to the cut-off at 25 km/h faster than you think. That makes these bikes not just great for tackling hills, but also for getting out of the type of tricky situations that are a dime a dozen when cycling in Cork. All in all, these bikes are a quantum leap for TFI Bikes in Cork, and I wouldn’t be too sad if we see a complete replacement of the existing fleet beyond the 100 E-Bikes promised for Cork.

Prior to the advent of e-Bikes, the Marina Promenade was pretty much out of reach for me. Now, it's just a bike ride away!

The same goes for the old railway line over to Rochestown.

Unfortunately, the Rochestown end of the line is pretty disappointing as a destination. But it's still incredible that it is now actually in range for me.

That being said, I am worried about the charging situation. Having E-Bikes available is no good if their batteries are depleted and with the lack of charging options at the TFI Bikes stations themselves, this puts an extra onus on the already overworked maintenance workers. I have to admit that even then nearly depleted bikes I’ve ridden have had more than enough juice left for some considerable journeys, which makes sense given the short-range nature of most rental bike trips in Cork. However, for these bikes to become the success that they have the potential to be, they need to be reliable. And I’m just not sure that the current charging plan, whatever that looks like, is up to the job.

Given these issues, I'm a bit ambivalent about the recently announced price increases for TFI e-Bikes. Effectively, TFI is introducing a two-tier pricing structure for TFI Bikes. Rates for conventional bikes will remain as they have been nice the launch of the system in 2015. However, charges for e-Bikes will be higher and more importantly, they'll apply from the moment you release a bike from its dock. The usual thirty minutes of free riding before the rates kick in will not apply to e-Bikes. I'm honestly torn. On one hand of course, e-Bikes require a lot of extra effort, as outlined above, so I can understand the need to somehow counteract this increase in mainentance costs and effort. Also, it's worth pointing out that you'll still be able to rent both conventional and e-Bikes with the same subscription, which is not the case with the likes of Dublin Bikes or CitiBike over in New York. On the other hand though, I just don't have enough trust in the ability of the operators to reliably keep the e-Bikes charged. My experience over the last few months just doesn't seem too promising.

I don’t want to end this post on a sour note though. These bikes are a true game changer for Cork and make an already attractive system even better. They are solid, comfortable, and an absolute joy to ride. Meanwhile, the new modular approach to TFI Bikes stations has the potential to make expansion of the network that much easier. In a blog post I wrote a while ago, I called TFI Bikes in Cork the most successful public transport project in the city in a long time. I still believe that, and with the recent changes, it has gotten even better.