One of the lessons we learn as we go through life is how much tougher things actually are than they initially appear. I was a reasonably athletic person as a young man, and I thought surfing might come easy. Wrong. Designing electric transportation might be an example of a subject that would certainly be a piece of cake. What’s so hard? You have a battery pack and an electric motor. It has one moving part. Well…., no.
As you check out this electric bicycle, the Pi Cycle by Pi Mobility, think about a few of the design ideas that went into it. While you’re doing that, think about all the ways this could be done wrong; i.e., the thousands of different ways that E-bikes can be made too heavy, too expensive, uncomfortable, dorky-looking, prone to failure, requiring constant upkeep, hard or pricey to repair, requiring hard-to-source parts, easy for thieves to disassemble and steal, quick to discharge, slow to charge, dangerous, dirty, counter-intuitive, or unergonomic.
That’s the beauty of the Pi-Cycle. Nothing’s wrong! It’s the perfect design. When I met these folks at this year’s Clean Business Investment Summit, I knew I had a winner on my hands. And when I had lunch with CEO Marcus Hays at his factory in Sausilito (Northern California) last week, I knew I was in the presence of one of the true greats in this exciting niche space. He’s been hard at work creating the perfect e-bike design for over a decade. And it shows.
1 comment
While I commend PiCycle for designing a product that seems truly sustainable, to say that “nothing’s wrong” is a bit dubious. These bikes are very expensive even for e-bikes: the Limited model is $6,000 and the Sport Touring model is $4,000. This is the cost of a used car or motorcycle (or scooter) and is at a price-point that most people can not afford. Also, since the Limited model goes 30 mph, by U.S. law (and Calif. law) it would not be considered an electric bike and would have to adhere to the same laws as a motorcycle/scooter (i.e. license, helmet): e-bicycles must go under 20 mph. Also, as an FYI, U.S. federal law (and Calif. law) dictates that e-bicycles may not be operated on bicycle paths or lanes, unless allowed by local law. I think e-bikes are amazing: an awesome alternative to a car for transportation, way to reduce CO2, explore new areas, etc. The PiCycles seem like well-designed bikes and certainly cater to a more affluent market; however the article should tell readers why “nothing is wrong”: how much do they weigh, do they provide servicing, how much is it to replace parts, is it easy to replace parts, etc. To blatantly say that “nothing’s wrong” without discussing any of these issues doesn’t really inform your readers, it just makes this sound like a fluff piece.
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