CycleElectric Newsletter March 2003
The content of this newsletter is heavily affected by the business interests and activities of CycleElectric International Consulting, and should be regarded as opinion and editorial. CycleElectric provides services to light electric vehicle industry.

In this Issue:
Ed Benjamin leaves WaveCrest Labs and moves to EV Rider
Light electric scooter market is strong and getting stronger
Retailers enjoying success with CityBug Helper
Safety issues for our industry
“Must reads” for our industry
3rd China International Green Vehicles Expo 2003

Industry People Ed Benjamin leaves WaveCrest Labs and moves to EV Rider
After 18 months of very interesting work as a VP at WaveCrest Laboratories in Dulles, VA, Ed Benjamin has left to assume the position of President at EV Rider in Sarasota, Florida.
EV Rider is the distributor of the CityBug, City Bug Helper, E2, and other light electric scooters. “I have long standing respect for Dennis Sauve and the EV Rider team, and am delighted to be working here.” Says Benjamin. “The most important task in the light electric vehicle industry is to develop effective distribution at retail – and that will be my focus.” (www.evrider.com)

Light electric scooter market is strong and getting stronger.
Small electric scooters have a short history. Quality and availability problems have plagued the industry – makers and distributors have come and gone quickly. But weeks of visiting retailers has convinced us that the American consumer is very interested in buying these scooters – and is doing so in impressive numbers. Prices have actually risen in the last year, and quality is now much better. The scooter industry has had return rates of more than 70%. Many products are still in this dismal situation - but others have now had 4-5 years of experience and have return rates of less than 2%.

Retailers enjoying success with CityBug Helper
The CityBug Helper is a 5 wheel scooter built on the tried and proven CityBug platform. The vehicle has 4 wheels with a 5th drive wheel in the center. A large comfortable seat, good handling and a top speed of about 10 mph make it faster than a handicap scooter. The Helper weighs only 68 lbs (48 with battery removed) and folds neatly into most trunks. This unique and popular product is available from EV Rider (www.evrider.com)
Currently in stock, suggested retail is 899 US and offers as much as a 50% margin for retailers. (contact evrider198@aol.com)

Safety issues for our industry
There have been very few accidents, but we can see that some issues need to be addressed by the industry to improve safety. Our low speeds and small numbers of vehicles have saved us from major problems – but let's make it better.
Many advanced technology batteries (NiMH, Li-Ion, Ni-Cad and others) can explode or catch fire if incorrectly charged. Or if improperly manufactured. Our industry must become extremely aware of this issue. We must design and build product that will never burn a house down in the middle of the night.
Run away controllers can cause the motor to turn on and stay on without input from the rider. Sometimes this is caused by a bad design where low voltage causes the controller to default to “ON”. Others are caused by EMI or RFI affecting the circuit. All controllers must be designed and tested to prevent such run away.
Low priced scooters often come with minimum quality brakes. These are often so badly made that the rider has no real braking ability. The difference in cost between good and bad brakes is literally pennies. As an industry we must demand safe brakes on all units.
Chargers need to UL or CE (or both) approved. Anything that plugs into an electric outlet is a safety issue and the use of unapproved or minimum quality chargers is unacceptable.
Frame strength is emerging as an important issue. Americans are big people and scooter users are often very big. Frames that were acceptable for a 120 lb test rider in China will bend or break for the Americans - and this can cause accidents.
And just an opinion - exaggerated claims on specification sheets for speed and range simply cause the customer to return to products in a few days or weeks. Promising 30 miles range on a 10 mile battery is unnecessary and self defeating.

Must Reads for our industry:
Frank Jamerson's Electric Bicycles and Scooters World Wide continues to be the best single source of information on our industry. Contact Frank Jamerson directly at elecbike@aol.com for pricing.

3rd China International Green Vehicles Expo 2003
China is the world's largest market for light electric vehicles, and the largest source of such products. If your company is interested in a trade show that can introduce you to this market, and then send me an email and I will introduce you to the show organizers for the 3rd China International Green Vehicles Expo 2003 to be held August 19-21 in Shanghai, China.

Industry People
Many changes! Gary Coffrin has left Electric Wheels International and is once again running Coffrin Group Consulting. James McClean has left Global EV Marketing and is working as an independent rep again. Mike Fritz and Chris Washburn have left EV Global (Lee Iacocca) and are working for WaveCrest Laboratories. Louis Hughes has left WaveCrest Laboratories.

© 2003 by CycleElectric International Consulting Group.