eZee dealer no longer eZee dealer?

[APailthorp]

I bought an eZee Forza just a few weeks back, so I have to wonder about this:

After Three years on the U.S. Market

In 2006 we began (together with NYCeWheels) to import eZee electric bikes, which have since been sold and serviced in just a few cooperating electric bike stores in Seattle, NYC, Southern California and Oregon.

As eZee Kinetics Technology Co., Ltd (see: ezeebike.com) has wanted a national importer-distributor to increase the brand's presence and sales in the U.S. they have now appointed eZeeBike USA Inc. to take on this challenge.

While owner satisfaction with the eZee bikes we have sold remains high, and its race winning performance much enjoyed, we at Electric Bikes Northwest in Seattle have been planning for some time to refocus on other brands offering bikes of different design, technology and support setups.

After our current eZee inventory is sold out we shall thus no longer be an eZee dealer. We shall of course do our best to support the bikes we have sold. Warranty support and spare parts shall be handled by eZeeBike USA and its hopefully rapidly expanding dealer network.

What's up with that?

I've been very happy with my bicycle, and with my dealings with Electric Bikes Northwest in all respects. I like my Forza quite a lot, and won't mind doing Frankenstein work on it myself should that be necessary, but I am curious about the back story...

 

[Jerome Daoust]

It happens that distribution networks get changed. I bought a pair eZee Quando's a year ago and the place that sold them to me in Oceanside has dissapeared, but I found service closer to home at a new place and they even did a small tune-up at no charge. I put about 1000 mile on mine this past year, and no problem.

The prices are about to change (NYCeWheels says +30% after May '09) and we can expect some changes, like higher capacity batteries.

I'm sending a message to Joel P Gayner (President/CEO) about this discussion, inviting him to participate.

 

[APailthorp]

For a little while the eZee page of Electric Bikes Northwest didn't have a statement, but now it says:

We brought the eZee brand to the U.S. in 2006. The owner satisfaction by our own direct customers has been gratifying.

In Spring '09 we were notified that we may no longer import the brand.

We remain as always fully committed to supporting the owners who bought their bikes directly from us and should be able, considering our many years in the business, to source compatible spare parts as needed.

I talked to them about this, and they indicated that some investor types with some big plans have shoehorned into the relationship that had existed between eZee and U.S. suppliers. (My characterization, I don't intend to put words into others mouths.)

Personally, I'm pretty skeptical. I really like my eZee Forza, but am very happy I was able to get it from a dedicated local vendor. It is not clear to me that there is a larger market out there suitable for big plans - I suspect that more damage has been done to the presence of eZee in at least my local market than will be justified by this new presence.

Meanwhile, while I am quite happy with my Forza (and would recommend it to others if they can find a dealer they like to buy from), in the future I want to build something that has massive hill climbing torque. I think I will see useful support for that from dealers like mine, who I will remain loyal to even if eZee doesn't.

 

[APailthorp]

Wowser. The new entity certainly has alienated one seller of eZee bikes. Here's what now precedes a pretty complete listing of eZee products, but notably excludes the formerly listed kit.

eZee Hype versus Facts

Here are a few examples of how the eZee brand was recently pitched on Business Wire:

"eZee's electric bicycles are the most powerful, efficient, and comfortable on the market today."

On which we can only comment that factually eZee is not "the most powerful, efficient, and comfortable on the market today…" Several brands offer more than 350W of power, incorporate drive systems of as high or higher 'efficiency' and provide as or more comfortable a ride.

And "Since 2001, eZee has been designing and redefining electrically powered bicycles by combining technology, quality, styling, and is recognized globally as the “Rolls Royce®â€ of electric bicycles."

Here we are left wondering, after some 15 years in the electric bike business, about the specific ways in which eZee has actually been "redefining" (a tall order indeed) electrically powered bicycles?

As well as admitting to puzzlement: Can any brand of bike be designed without somehow combining "technology, quality, and styling"?

Furthermore we can find no evidence that eZee "is recognized globally as the Rolls Royce of electric bicycles." None, to our relief. What indeed is inferred by comparing a bicycle to a luxury car? Exceptionally high price, no better quality and performance than other luxury brands selling for far less, within reach for but a few, heavy vehicle weight, sales in small numbers, expensive service available from a small dealer network etc?

That said we have found—during our three years of actually importing, assembling, selling and hands on servicing eZees in the U.S.—just about all of our own customers to be quite pleased with their eZee purchase and the actual manufacturer in Shanghai, eZee Kinetics Technology Co. Ltd, to be dedicated and responsive. Not many brands on the U.S. market so far can make such a claim.

The bike models shown below are in stock for test riding and purchase in our Seattle store:

 

[HighTekBikes]

I had an ezee come in the shop for a repair, it needed a new controller. The bike is well made, more went into the design than the run of the mill ebike. They have a custom wiring arrangement. I looked around for an exact controller replacement and the only place that had one was the dealer in NY. He wanted $250 for the controller! No way was I going to pay that. I tracked down one of the company principals in Shanghai and exchanded several emails. The guy was very curtious and explained they were in the process of setting up their distributor and parts center. He was not able to sell me any controllers. I asked him to set me up as a repair center but never heard back. I ended up replacing the controller with the BLP3625 from ecrazyman. It took awhile to figure out the wiring. They actually run the lights on 36V. You have to change a bunch of connectors but it fit and worked fine. It seems they did not handle the transition very well.

 

[APailthorp]

NYC no longer has a dealer apparently. For a while, they were mentioned in the new U.S. eZee web site as an "unauthorized dealer", but that was taken down.

If I wanted to service the bike to replace the nylon planetary gears (for example), I'd work first with my local shop (Seattle), but if that wasn't feasible might well end up ordering from NYC, since that's where you can still find a complete listing of parts (for a price).

Hopefully this U.S. distributor thing will work itself out, and we'll have a good well developed dealer network. Telling the two existing successful dealers (Seattle, NYC) that they have to raise prices 15% on a bike (note the price of the Forza here and here) that is already regarded by many customers as "expensive" sure doesn't seem like the right way to start. I think this will take some time.

Glad to hear you had success with a different controller.

 

[APailthorp]

Well, this is interesting (from the .com website, not the .us website):

Date: July 27, 2009
Title: Warranty and Servicing prior to eZeebike USA


Dear valued customers,

If you have purchased an eZeebike from our partners at EbikesNw or NYCEwheels prior to eZeebike USA, we are pleased to inform you that the servicing and warranty of your bike can be continued with them.

Thank you for your continued support.


sincerely,
W W. Ching

Good news that. So the dealer that I and many other happy eZee owners bought our bikes from, and the customers of NYCeWheels as well, will have a line of support in spite of the apparent inception of a new entity. A new entity that started out by jacking prices so they could pay the rent. That's great. Glad to hear it.

Typical. We had a successful pair of dealers selling these bikes and making happy customers, and some pair of sharpies comes along and scoops up their lunch with a bunch of slick promises. First thing they do is tell everyone this should be a $2500 bike, not a $2200 bike. No doubt the squeeze on the dealers end is even worse than that. I am not impressed.

We'll see if ".us" adds value to the supply line that formally existed between me and W W. Ching via my LBS in the form of some new one coming to me direct from L.A. Could be that I'm pretty skeptical, and expect them to spiral down in a slow vortex of stupidity, failing to build on the past successes, and failing to build the well supported dealer network I'd really like to see. I've never seen L.A. add much in the way of value.

But at least my LBS will still be able to get parts.

 

[spinningmagnets]

As a general rule of thumb I classify most business plans as "Farmers" or "Pirates". Toyota is a farmer. They plant seeds based on a good long-term plan, and then nuture a long-term relationship with their suppliers and customers. Their product is not the most expensive, but is widely well-regarded as reliable and long-lasting. For a short while Yugo was the absolute cheapest "new" car you could buy, and Car'n'Driver said "You can buy a 3-year-old Celica for the same price as a brand new Yugo...buy the used Celica".

Pirates? there was a great restaurant near my house called Millies that spent years building up a good reputation. They had great food and low prices on Tues, Wed, Thurs. My wife and I ate there twice a week, the food was fantastic and you couldn't buy the ingredients to cook for the cost of their prepared meals.

Someone bought them out but couldn't use the name "Millies" so they changed the name to "Milties" and bought cheaper ingredients. Apparently the new owner thought the regular customers wouldn't notice the higher prices and the food didn't quite taste as good as it used to. They noticed, and it slowly died.

The features, quality, options, and prices of E-bike kits and parts are getting better...so I would say that this is not a good time to raise prices and secure a supplier of cheaper parts. (Concerning a new cheaper Chinese supplier...there is an old Chinese proverb that if you sleep with a dog, you wake up with fleas)

 

[ecowheelz]

With all the changes occurring at eZee, we thought it was time to take a look at becoming a dealer. When we first started up, no one would provide us any information. We finally spoke to WW Ching in China, only to find out we needed to order a container of 50 bikes to get started (a $50K+ investment!). Our only other outlets were NYCEW and EBNW, and neither seemed interested in providing us bikes at dealer prices. So I'm sure this is why the new changes were implemented - they needed a true dealership network.

But even with more access to eZee products, we're still feeling skeptical. Although the quality is supposed to be outstanding, the prices are extremely high! Not to mention, there's nothing "flashy" or especially "attractive" about the bikes. To the average consumer, they look like over-priced Chinese imports. Are people really going to spend $2500 for one of these bikes??? Check around on eBay and elsewhere and you'll find bikes that look almost exactly the same - for half the price. Most people don't know (or care) about the difference between LiMn and LiPo. And it's hard to convince someone the higher quality components are worth $1000+ when they look exactly the same as the other imports.

For an American audience, I think eZee is going to need to bring more to the table. The bikes very highly priced - and there's no "flash". Although I'm not a huge fan of the A2B, look at all the attention it's gained in the U.S. market! A little flash goes a long way! And if they're providing a high quality product (which seems to be the case), they're sure to gain market share. I bet we'll see more Ultra Motors products coming soon...

Although people have lots to say about Currie (good and bad), they seem to be taking the right approach in the U.S. as well. They provide a wide range of attractive products - at a variety of price points. Even though the cheaper products may be lower quality, they're attracting lots of new customers to the e-bike market - many of which will upgrade and move on to their higher-end products.

Only time will tell how eZee fares in the U.S... but until we see some changes (ie: lower prices or new products), I don't think we're ready to jump on board...

 

[spinningmagnets]

I'm just guessing, but if NYCe and other EZEE dealers are big enough, they can cut out the middle-man (EZEE) and buy all the components direct from China. As you have stated the EZEE start-up required 50 units ($50K) then sell to the public for a manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) of $2500? the $1500 profit per unit is way too high, even considering perhaps one out of 20 controllers frying and needing to be replaced by the dealer.

Wal-Mart has a Mongoose full-suspension MTB with double-disc brakes for $240, and Raleigh has a very light hardtail with double discs for $450 (Mojave 4.0). Ampedbikes.com has a quality complete starter kit for $400 with a front or rear hub (Minus battery). ebikes.ca has a great NiCD triangle battery pack with charger for $300 (36V/8aH).

Using the more upscale double-disc Raleigh, you can put together a NiCD E-bike for $1200. Assuming $100 per unit will go to warrantee claims, you would have to sell these for $1300 minimum to break even (not counting lower overhead costs from bulk purchases by you at wholesale prices) How much profit is needed for you to start a weekend business?

A $200 profit per unit would put you in competition with EZEE dealers for $1,000 LESS than NYCe. Once you reach sales that are large enough for you to begin buying the parts wholesale, you can make more profit per unit without raising your prices, or you can add a bigger battery pack. "Some" customers will pay more for a turn-key product from an established dealer, but honestly,...when you begin asking $500, $600, $700 more than a new dealer with a better product, won't "some" E-bike customers try the new guy?