Today we had a guest speaker Bryan Hallez UC student and the UC Nuclear Renaissance President. Along with Bryan’s studies he is an expert at converting regular bicycles to electric assist. He gave the class his methods to conversion and insights on where he sees this hybrid system going. His bikes can be see at http://www.ebicycle.org Bryan is a true visionary in the area of power assisted bicycles and we are proud to have him a student at UC.
After the presentation students assembled in their groups to begin the projects research phase. The market segments we are targeting in are as follows
Regular folks: Most see the E bike as an “auto alternative” for short tripping and light errands, thus saving money on gas and being “independent” from their cars”…. Just seem like “regular folks” as most of these sales are mass market (applies to lower end WM & Best Buy Currie bikes)
Baby Boomers
Some are older / active or need the additional power for hills during light recreation – they just want fun / recreation / fresh air. Older folks want step-thru frames for ease of entry. & still see E bike use as some of positive light exercise (applies to eZee, Hebb, Eco, Pedego)…some comments say they are “enjoying the freedom that e power assist brings”
Urban / Commuters
User may not own a car, don’t want to sweat on way to work or school, (some are more fashion oriented i.e. A2B, E Road, Pedego, & some are pure function i.e. eZee users)….
Greenies / Environmental activists
Just a few want to make an environmental / carbon footprint statement by not using a car or other form of petroleum powered transport
Visionary
Could buy a very expensive e bike because it’s a cool thing to own (i.e. Optibike, Cherry Pi) Note: a recent trip to Pi Mobility showed they were building several custom models for the Marin County Elite set.
No comments:
Post a Comment