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Ann Arbor Company Building Electric Bikes
Updated: Monday, 08 Aug 2011, 9:19 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 08 Aug 2011, 9:16 PM EDT
By ROBIN SCHWARTZ
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - What's happening inside an Ann Arbor warehouse is truly state of the art. Current Motor is a company that makes electric motor scooters. Workers hope their new invention will give one more jolt to electric vehicle sales.
"Some electric vehicles are starting to become popular right now, but they're so expensive. We wanted to make affordable transportation that real people could use to get to work and back," said Current Motor co-founder Erik Kauppi.
The bikes are certainly affordable. They sell for under $10,000 each. The company says they can reach a top speed on 60 miles-per-hour and can travel about 50 miles on a single charge. Plus, at just a penny a mile you can't beat the fuel price. They use lithium ion batteries and plug in to any standard outlet, preferably during off peak hours.
"You can put it on a timer, charge at night when we have tons of electricity. You just don't charge it in the day when everybody's running their air conditioners," Kauppi said.
"It's a much greener, cleaner transportation," said Current Motor CEO Lauren Flanagan. "The really big plus is it's quiet."
Just a whisper of a buzzing sound -- a little strange for those expecting a revving engine.
The company's two founders are former Ford engineers. They launched a test program back in January and set up shop in Michigan because the suppliers, manufacturing facilities and talented workers are here.
It's estimated there will be 25-million e-motorcycles and 120-million e-scooters on the roads worldwide over the next five years. 25-percent of them will be in America.
"It's as safe or as unsafe as any other motorcycle, so that's a personal lifestyle choice," Kauppi told FOX 2's Robin Schwartz. "Some people will never ride a motorcycle. A lot of us love riding motorcycles and scooters."
They hope more and more drivers will feel the same way. Right now, the scooters are being sold in Ann Arbor and online. They're already in several states, and the best news of all, the company plans to create hundreds of jobs in Southeast Michigan if the e-scooter craze takes off as expected.
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