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http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/18/business/la-fi-smallbiz-electric-bicycles-20101018
When gas prices spiraled toward $5 a gallon a couple of years ago, electric bicycles were wheeling off showroom floors as fast as their motors could move them. The pace has slowed somewhat since then, despite growing interest among Southern California merchants, cyclists, commuters and manufacturers.
"I'm more than considering one," said Marques Warren, who took an electric bicycle for a test ride at year-old Hollywood Electrics last month and was "thrilled." The only hitch: the $3,100 he needs to buy it.
The bikes' upfront costs are expensive, "but when you look at the numbers long term, it makes sense," said Warren, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Seattle and said he has been spending more than $100 a week on gas commuting to and from his work at a beverage and events company in Hollywood.
"Electric bicycles are an untapped market, especially for commuting," said Stephen Wittels, who in May opened the Pedal or Not electric bicycle shop and guided tour service in Santa Monica.
Wittels is one of at least half a dozen small-business owners who have opened electric bicycle stores in Southern California in the last 12 months.
Although they are true believers in electric bicycles' potential as fun, inexpensive and environmentally conscious transportation, few of these new retailers expected the economic slump to be so stubbornly protracted.
Two weeks ago, Currie Technologies in Chatsworth, one of the country's oldest and largest electric bicycle manufacturers, added its name to the list of new shops. It opened its first Izip retail location in Venice to "prove the viability of this kind of store as a standalone business," Currie President Larry Pizzi said.
These bikes vary in price from $400 to $7,000 and can move at least 12 mph, with further speed depending on the size of their motors, battery packs and the weight of their riders. They are similar to regular bicycles, giving riders the option of pedaling under their own power or with an electric assist.
In California, they are not considered motor vehicles, nor do they require operators to have a driver's license or registration. Riders must be 16 or older and wear helmets.
Whisper quiet, they can usually travel about 20 miles on a single charge, said Ed Benjamin of Fort Myers, Fla., chairman of the Light Electric Vehicle Assn., a nonprofit organization that tracks electric bicycle manufacturing.
When gas prices spiraled toward $5 a gallon a couple of years ago, electric bicycles were wheeling off showroom floors as fast as their motors could move them. The pace has slowed somewhat since then, despite growing interest among Southern California merchants, cyclists, commuters and manufacturers.
"I'm more than considering one," said Marques Warren, who took an electric bicycle for a test ride at year-old Hollywood Electrics last month and was "thrilled." The only hitch: the $3,100 he needs to buy it.
The bikes' upfront costs are expensive, "but when you look at the numbers long term, it makes sense," said Warren, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Seattle and said he has been spending more than $100 a week on gas commuting to and from his work at a beverage and events company in Hollywood.
"Electric bicycles are an untapped market, especially for commuting," said Stephen Wittels, who in May opened the Pedal or Not electric bicycle shop and guided tour service in Santa Monica.
Wittels is one of at least half a dozen small-business owners who have opened electric bicycle stores in Southern California in the last 12 months.
Although they are true believers in electric bicycles' potential as fun, inexpensive and environmentally conscious transportation, few of these new retailers expected the economic slump to be so stubbornly protracted.
Two weeks ago, Currie Technologies in Chatsworth, one of the country's oldest and largest electric bicycle manufacturers, added its name to the list of new shops. It opened its first Izip retail location in Venice to "prove the viability of this kind of store as a standalone business," Currie President Larry Pizzi said.
These bikes vary in price from $400 to $7,000 and can move at least 12 mph, with further speed depending on the size of their motors, battery packs and the weight of their riders. They are similar to regular bicycles, giving riders the option of pedaling under their own power or with an electric assist.
In California, they are not considered motor vehicles, nor do they require operators to have a driver's license or registration. Riders must be 16 or older and wear helmets.
Whisper quiet, they can usually travel about 20 miles on a single charge, said Ed Benjamin of Fort Myers, Fla., chairman of the Light Electric Vehicle Assn., a nonprofit organization that tracks electric bicycle manufacturing.