On the evening of March 15, CCTV's 315 Gala exposed violations involving electric bicycles having their speed limits illegally removed and being ridden at excessive speeds. Brands such as Hellobike's rental service and others were named. According to field investigations by reporters, electric bicycles rented from Hellobike stores could currently reach speeds of 50–60 km/h, with a maximum of 75 km/h.
The latest national "Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specification" implemented in 2025 clearly states: "The maximum design speed should not exceed 25 km/h, the battery pack's marked value should not exceed 48 volts, and the motor's output power should be less than or equal to 400 watts." Hellobike's rental of electric bicycles capable of 75 km/h clearly violates relevant national standards.
In the evening, the Hellobike rental platform issued an apology statement, saying it attaches great importance to the issue reported by CCTV's 315 Gala regarding "some Hellobike rental stores providing users with overspeed electric bicycle services" and has immediately launched a special investigation.
The statement indicated that Hellobike's electric bicycle rental business operates on a platform model, providing information matching services for users and merchants. The Hellobike platform does not directly operate offline stores; vehicles at platform-affiliated stores are procured and operated independently by merchants. Hellobike has never authorized any store to directly use the Hellobike brand for related rental services offline. The company reserves the right to pursue legal action against the involved stores. According to Hellobike's merchant agreement, merchants must ensure that vehicles provided on the platform comply with the national non-motor vehicle safety technical specifications for electric bicycles. Hellobike continuously reminds merchants through its platform and conducts store spot checks, requiring them to ensure rental vehicles comply with current national laws, regulations, and standards, prohibiting illegal modifications, and regularly requiring merchants to conduct self-inspections and rectifications on their operating vehicles.
"The CCTV 315 Gala report indicates oversights in our review mechanisms or management. We will learn from this incident, deeply reflect, and resolutely rectify the issues, responding to user trust with concrete actions. We thank the media and society for their supervision and will promptly disclose follow-up progress."
According to the CCTV 315 report, a provincial investment manager for Hellobike rental explained that these rental vehicles were produced before the new national standard took effect. Some electric bicycle channel partners used large quantities of pre-produced compliance certificates to apply for electric bicycle licenses in advance. When customers needed these vehicles, they had manufacturers produce them according to pre-new-standard specifications. These newly produced electric bicycles naturally qualified as pre-new-standard models, evading the new standard's "one vehicle, one battery, one charger, one code" mutual recognition mechanism, thus allowing easy removal of speed restrictions.
Public information shows that Hellobike rental is a leading brand in the electric bicycle rental industry, launched by Hellobike in February 2023. It focuses on two-wheel electric bicycle rental services while providing a platform for merchants to trade idle electric bicycle resources. Hellobike Group was founded in March 2016, headquartered in Shanghai, with investors including Alibaba, Ant Group, and Fosun Group.
According to Tianyancha App's equity analysis, Hellobike's actual controller is Huang Chenli, who indirectly holds 0.0109% of Hellobike shares through Hangzhou Xingtao Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., and holds 100% of the company's voting rights. Equity tracing shows that Ant Group Co., Ltd. holds approximately 36% of the shares through Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Hellobike Inclusive Technology Co., Ltd., making it the largest shareholder of the involved company. Additionally, Hellobike founder Yang Lei still holds a 19.524% ultimate beneficial interest.
It is worth noting that the exposed Hellobike rental service is an electric vehicle rental business launched by Hellobike in February 2023. Its website states it has over 5,000 stores in more than 100 cities across China, with an annual total riding distance of 82 million kilometers. Public information indicates that Hellobike took over A-share listed company Yong'an Xing in 2025. As of the close on March 13, the company's market capitalization was 5.785 billion yuan.
Furthermore, in mid-last year, Hellobike formally entered the Robotaxi sector. In June, "Shanghai Zaofu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd." was registered in Shanghai, jointly established by Hellobike, Ant Group, and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) through their investment entities. The company has a registered capital of 1.288 billion yuan and will focus on the research and development, safe application, and commercial implementation of L4 autonomous driving technology. "Zaofu" was a famously skilled charioteer in Chinese history.
The new company is jointly owned by Shanghai Yunyang Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (Ant Group), Shanghai Junha Network Technology Co., Ltd. (Hellobike), and Ningbo Meishan Bonded Port Area Wending Investment Co., Ltd. (CATL), with the three parties making an initial combined investment exceeding 3 billion yuan.
Recently, the "BUG" column also exposed other issues with Hellobike, noting numerous irregularities in its ride-hailing service. One passenger reported that for a 300-kilometer trip, the driver directly quoted 1200 yuan, which she found unacceptable. Another passenger, planning a post-holiday return trip, was absurdly asked by a driver for 2100 yuan for a "full package," with the driver claiming "the later, the more expensive," despite airfare costing only around 1300 yuan.
Another passenger, Ms. Chen (pseudonym), reported taking a Hellobike ride from Shaoyang, Hunan, to Zhuhai, Guangdong, on the sixth day of the lunar new year, only to be abandoned by the driver midway. Due to severe highway congestion, the journey stretched over ten hours without leaving Hunan. On the afternoon of the seventh day, before reaching her destination, the Hellobike platform automatically ended the order. Seeing the order closed, the driver immediately refused to continue to Zhuhai, stranding her late at night and forcing a transfer to another car, delaying her arrival until after 1 a.m.
In December last year, the "BUG" column investigated several Hellobike owner rights protection groups with over a thousand cumulative members. Many users reported their Hellobike electric vehicles experiencing "service disruption," where remote positioning, online battery level checks, and other "permanent member" functions disappeared. Some vehicles even suddenly "powered off and locked" during rides, nearly causing accidents.
Hellobike attributed the "service disruption" to the phase-out of 2G networks, stating some electric bicycles might be unable to unlock. However, users reported not being informed about "using 2G communication" at purchase. After owning the bikes for just over a year, they were required to pay for upgrades. Furthermore, previous benefits were canceled due to network issues.
A permanent "Gold Member" of Hellobike, Li Ming (pseudonym), explained that early on, Hellobike marketed its electric bikes as "smart," featuring remote lock/unlock, battery level checks, remote honking, and location tracking—all part of the Gold Member benefits. After the service disruption, these functions became unusable; the permanent Gold Member services were reduced to only the "Silver Member" functions of "Bluetooth lock/unlock" and "multi-user vehicle use." Li Ming expressed anger, stating that permanent Gold Members were downgraded to Silver Members and had to pay to restore services, criticizing the company's handling and attitude.
Disregarding national electric bicycle speed regulations, and with recurring infringements of user rights in ride-hailing and electric bike services, can Hellobike, backed by major shareholders like Ant Group and Alibaba, still be trusted?
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