[maelochs]

Who is the intended customer? I can see an electrified trike scooter for people who need mobility and have balance issues ... this would get them out of the house and give them a little exercise. But are those people we want out in traffic on major roads where the speed and pavement quality might make suspensions necessary?

Nothing against this product, but what niche does it fill? What does it replace?

Obviously it can still tip over. That takes away the safety/elderly/immobility scooter market. With all that gearing it appears to be designed for varied terrain and a bit of speed, so it is meant for over-the-road transport. The basket is a joke for any sort of utility use though, and it doesn't have anywhere to hang panniers.

A much bigger question---the seat looks to be right over the bottom bracket. That can't be an efficient or comfortable pedaling position.

It's not a recumbent, it's not a utility vehicle, I don't see where it offers any benefit over a regular trike for utility or a recumbent trike for road riding.

Who is this aimed at?

 

[maelochs]

The vehicle was designed for 100 kg with a big safety margin.

Are you joking? I weigh more than 100 kg dry and naked. I think a lot of the people (middle-aged and more) who might want to try an electric bike/trike ... well, I am not abnormally oversized.

Here in the u.S. men over 1.85 meter and 100 kg are not unusual .... and the older and fatter, the more an electric cycle would appeal ... except this one is unsafe even unloaded?

I weighed over 125 kg at one point and still could load my bike with 30-40 kg of gear or groceries with no issues.

What you have here is interesting ... and while it doesn't have to "fill a niche" or "replace" something in a niche .... it has to find a market, right? I am not trying to squelch the designer's creativity ... but if it doesn't offer anything but novelty, you might find that no one will be willing to pay a big ticket for a novelty.

How would you sell it? How would you do a feature/benefit breakdown? What would be the attractive features? It is less stable than a trike, no more stable than a bike, and weighs as much as a trike and more than a bike ... so it would have less range, less safety, and minimal carrying capacity.

Where is this designed to run? On roads with other bikes and cars? Only in quiet suburban neighborhoods? On MUPs? On unpaved trails? Where does it offer an Advantage?

I look at new products as a potential investor might, and as a salesman might. How would I sell it, who would I sell it to, how would I make back my money?

Sometimes I might underestimate the illogical appeal of a certain product ... maybe I am in this case. But it seems to me the market you are aiming at is small enough that people looking to lay out serious money (a couple to a few grand is the starting price for real electric bikes around where I live) would do a little research and not be so much moved by impulse buying or surface appeal.

It will be interesting to see if I ever see one of these on the road ... or even see an ad for one.

One never knows what might attract the attention of people looking to buy stuff.

 

[maelochs]

I’ll bet you could sell some. There are people out there that will buy anything strange. They like to be different.

I completely agree. Plus, a good salesman can take a spark of interest and turn it into a burning desire to own ... not that s/he should, necessarily ... but for people who like the novelty and don't really think it through .... ("You don't own a Pet Rock yet? What are you waiting for??!!")

My question, from the investor angle would be, could I find enough suckers, I mean customers, to pay for production, promotion, and distribution.

A lot of ideas fail not because no one liked them, but because not enough people liked them.

I have never watched "Shark Tank," but I picture a panel of potential investors doing the same math I am doing .... and this idea not making it to Round Two.