You remember Neal Saiki, the founder of Zero who then got shown the door when the suits arrived and turned it into a real (hopefully) profit-making corporation? Well he is back and looking to be Kickstarted. According to a newspaper article this morning, written by Jondi Gumz of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Neal has formed a new "startup" company called NTS Works and had developed an electric bicycle that is designed to be both fun and a cargo carrier strong enough to haul 100 pounds of groceries, with a "battery-powered motor that makes it easy to ride up hills". His 2X4 cargo bike is priced at $4,800 retail, but he's selling it for $3,600 to the first 100 backers on Kickstarter.com.
Saiki displayed his e-bike in front of his garage and pointed out that it has an on-board USB charger. He is quoted as saying "I can't imagine being without it". He is looking for space to rent in Scotts Valley (where Zero is based) or Santa Cruz to start production. He is looking for an engineer and someone for inside sales, according to the article. "We love living here", he said as his wife Lisa, NTS Works vice president and mother of four, held their 2-year-old in her arms.
Three years ago Saiki set out to develop a better battery and it took a full year longer than he expected, but he is proud of his new product. "It's many more times efficient than an electric car, he said "you can go 10,000 miles for $30 worth of electricity" The new Li-ion battery can be rebuilt if a cell goes bad and Saiki says that he will repair the battery over its lifetime for half the cost of a new battery pack.
To showcase the battery, he came up with a cargo bike for commercial use. Two years in the making , the 2X4 is sleek, smooth and weighs 68 pounds, according to the article.
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Topic: Neal Saiki is back and on Kickstarter (Read 900 times)