note to our subscribers: an earlier version of this article was published earlier. This revised version includes a link to Karmic’s new Kickstarter campaign.
Electric bikes are a perfect solution for Palo Alto commuters
Getting people out of their cars should be easy in Palo Alto- the weather is amazing, it’s mostly flat and it’s a lovely place to ride. Palo Alto even established the nation’s first bike boulevard back in the 1970s when it set aside Bryant St as a designated bike road. And with 44% of high school kids riding to school, Palo Alto has one of the highest rates of student biking in the United States. Plus, parking in many parts of Palo Alto can be challenging and frustrating.
But despite all these natural incentives, many adults still choose to travel around Palo Alto by car. So how do we get more people out of their cars and onto bicycles? The answer: electric bikes. Afraid of getting to work all sweaty? Electric bikes take the effort out of cycling. Not enough time to commute by bicycle? Electric bikes can go up to 20mph (a decent speed in a town where 25 mph is the standard speed limit). Want to look cool on your commute? Enter Karmic Bikes, co-founded by Palo Alto entrepreneur and dad, Hong Quan.
Karmic Bikes: another great Palo Alto company started in a garage
Hong Quan, founder of Karmic Bikes
A Silicon Valley entrepreneur and cyclist for over 20 years, Hong has owned about a hundred bikes, all on the quest to find the perfect ride. He loved the idea of electric bicycles, but the first one he tried, the Specialized Turbo S, cost $6,000. When he could not find a similar, lower-priced electric bike on the market, Hong followed the grand Palo Alto tradition and started an electric bike company in his garage called Karmic Bikes. Working with Zero Motorcycles co-Founder and battery technology guru Neil Saiki, Hong focused on creating a good-looking, well-priced bike with a battery that was lightweight and efficient.
“Electric bikes have tended to fall into two buckets– affordable (sub-$1,000) bikes that are built cheaply on old battery technology, and very high-end bikes that perform, but that are out of reach for most people at $4,000-$7,000,” said Quan.”We wanted to build a bike that looks great, can comfortably do 20mph with a 20 mile range at a price that’s within reach for most people: $1,500-$2,000.”
Now for my confession: I love electric bikes. I was a motorcycle rider in my 20s, but with marriage and kids, I sadly had to sell all my dangerous toys and settle for driving around in a Prius. So the first time I rode an electric bike, I felt the exhilaration of a motorized ride with the quiet of a bicycle and the convenience of a vehicle that requires no gas or maintenance. Plus with a 20 mph speed limit, I couldn’t get myself in too much trouble on my electric bike, and I could use it to take my kids to soccer practice and pick up groceries at Trader Joe’s.
Karmic Bikes – fun, fast and energy efficient
So when I test rode two versions of the soon to be released Karmic Koben, I was hooked. The Karmic bikes have mid-drive pedal-assist motors, which are more efficient and safer than the front
The Karmic Koben bike, available through Kickstarter
wheel hub-models on my electric cargo bike, along with impressive components and a relatively light weight (for ebikes) at 30-35 lbs.
So if electric bikes are so great, why aren’t there more of them around Palo Alto or Silicon Valley? A glimpse at other countries shows what the future could hold here for electric bikes.
Are electric bikes the cars of the future?
In China, there are more than 30 million electric bikes sold each year. In Europe, e-bikes are popular too, and about 1.5 million are sold a year to city governments for mail delivery and policing and for use by commuters in high density urban areas. So far, electric bikes have been slower to catch on in the U.S., with sales around 200,000 a year, but that may change with creative policies coming from Washington and Sacramento Federal legislators extended the federal tax credit for electric vehicles to include electric bikes and motorcycles in 2012, offering 10% or up to $2,500.
The City of Palo Alto has set a goal of having 15% of adults commuting to work by 2020, and electric bikes could help make this target much more attainable. Ready to try your first (next?) electric bike? Sign up for a demo at KarmicBikes.com. Or do what I did and have Hong come to your office
testing a Karmic electric bike is fun!
and let everyone see how much fun it is to ride an electric bike.
If you’re ready to buy, set yourself up on the Karmic Bike’s Kickstarter campaign and be among the first to show off your electric bike around Palo Alto. You’ll be glad you did!
