E-bike firm in the UAE on the charge

[LockH]

Hehe... An ebike firm "on the charge".

From the United Arab Emirates:
http://7days.ae/e-bike-firm-uae-charge

What’s got two wheels, pedals and a motor and can travel the same distance as an electric car? An e-bike, that’s what. And a trio of Emirati friends, who design, make and sell electronic bikes in the UAE, believe their motorised bicycles are the next big thing and could help you get across the city.

The group started their business 12 months ago after spotting what they thought was a gap in the market. Fast forward 12 months and the founders of Ebikes UAE say they have sold 80 bikes, and the trend is on the rise.

Co-founder Ali Al Madani told 7DAYS: “At first, we bought our own bikes, but one of the other founders, who’s an engineer, bought a regular bike and made it electric. He added a motor to it and improved the speed.

“After that, we knew that it was the start of a business. We started assembling our own bikes, adding motors to them and customising them. So far, we have sold 80 but the sales are picking up.”

The price of the bikes, which come in five models, range from Dhs700 to Dhs42,000. They can travel the same distance – 80km – as a two-seater Renault Twizy electric car, which retails at Dhs69,000, on a single charge. And, unlike an electric car, all is not lost if you run out of power.

However, as they are classified as bicycles, there is no need for a licence. Al Madani said people can use the bikes to travel around neighbourhoods, parks and bicycle tracks.

“They’re 100 per cent electric. They can go up to 80km with one charge,” he said. “Electric bikes are a very new trend.”

However, he says that unlike other elec­tronics fads, such as motor­ised scooter boards, there is a health benefit to the bikes.

“We have different models,” he said.

“Some of them, you can chose if you want to pedal, but we also think about people’s health, so, in one of the models you have to pedal to boost the motor. They’re very different to the scooter boards, as the battery life can last longer and it travels faster.”

Their website:
http://ebikesuae.com/

... and they're on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/EBikesUAE