Giant, Flyer, Kalkhoff, Gazelle, Raleigh, Halkama and so on, who uses the Panasonic system. Here I just share my experience and what my thoughts are and my understanding of the history. I don't want to say bad things about other people's product, they have their design philsophy and market perception, we have ours.
Much more than a decade ago, the pedelec really caught on in Japan, today it is a mature market but obviously there is area even the locals are not even aware of. Back then the pedelec was the answer to the ageing population, and therefore I have said it was ORIGINALLY designed for the Japanese grandmother. And in Japan there are not the dedicated cycle lane as we know it. The bicycle is not allowed on the road, and so where ? The pedestrian pathway is shared with bicycle. So 7 years ago when I started planning on my business I have sorted thru' all the publications and went around the world for the cycle shows and etc. The Japanese are always obsessed with details, and so I read their statistics - age group, sex, average distance travelled, etc. Given the speed in which they could ride their pedelec on the pedestrain pathways in those densely populated cities in Japan, plus the age, the weight of the rider and etc, the power required is very very minimal. And I realised the reasons why that their effort to introduce the bikes in Europe failed totally.
In their design , everything is made very exact and very tight , for weight, volume and etc. There is basically there is no spare rooms. Later companies that have failed in their original design like the Flyer decided to use and adopt the Japanese system.
In 2003, my first order for Europe was a 40' container of 80 bikes to Switzerland ! The gentleman who order it, Mr Gunter Thiel is an american engineering graduate from the University of Chicago, a senior executive for Caterpiller in Europe (long retired) and he count then CEO of Porsche his buddies, and he also races F1 for Maclaren. He tested the Flyer and our first generation electric bikes (the eZee Rider with VRLA battery) against the Flyer alongside with his son, taking it from the lake to the mountain where he lives, and he decided that our bikes are better (which honestly I was a quite embarrassed to hear ).
Now how much more power could they pep into the system to make it work for the European market as well. Not that much. What they did was probably in their controller to give the maximum amps that the motor ever need, given their design for the chainwheel and torque sensor with very low gear ratio. So what is the cadence ? Have pedal like crazy to go 20 kmph.
Back in April of 2006, I first visited my distributor in Seattle and spent 3 days in his shop. He was the biggest outlet in USA for Giant Lafree, Twist and etc, and a mirage of other brands in his shop to help out some friends (but not more than Giant and eZee now ). Behind has shop, the roads are like San Francisco though not as steep maybe. A big African American came in to have his Giant Twist fixed, I got him to have a go on an eZee Sprint for fun while has bike is being fixed. He came back in half an hour, sat down, and the frist words were, " Eric , I want to trade in for the eZee ", and the deal deal is quickly done without any haggling at considerable cost to him.
Years ago I did look into the Panasonic system, considering if I should also used this, my final answer is a clear NO. If I do, I would just be in the same queue as the rest above offering nothing special and it would be no use to compete with same, what could I say that my bike is better, just competing on prices ? I must offer something that is different, power, speed, range, design flexibility and range of all options with bicycle gearings.
What is clear is of course a small start up like mine could not in any way compare to a Giant like Panasonic for qaulity controls on the electronics and electricals.
W W Ching
Much more than a decade ago, the pedelec really caught on in Japan, today it is a mature market but obviously there is area even the locals are not even aware of. Back then the pedelec was the answer to the ageing population, and therefore I have said it was ORIGINALLY designed for the Japanese grandmother. And in Japan there are not the dedicated cycle lane as we know it. The bicycle is not allowed on the road, and so where ? The pedestrian pathway is shared with bicycle. So 7 years ago when I started planning on my business I have sorted thru' all the publications and went around the world for the cycle shows and etc. The Japanese are always obsessed with details, and so I read their statistics - age group, sex, average distance travelled, etc. Given the speed in which they could ride their pedelec on the pedestrain pathways in those densely populated cities in Japan, plus the age, the weight of the rider and etc, the power required is very very minimal. And I realised the reasons why that their effort to introduce the bikes in Europe failed totally.
In their design , everything is made very exact and very tight , for weight, volume and etc. There is basically there is no spare rooms. Later companies that have failed in their original design like the Flyer decided to use and adopt the Japanese system.
In 2003, my first order for Europe was a 40' container of 80 bikes to Switzerland ! The gentleman who order it, Mr Gunter Thiel is an american engineering graduate from the University of Chicago, a senior executive for Caterpiller in Europe (long retired) and he count then CEO of Porsche his buddies, and he also races F1 for Maclaren. He tested the Flyer and our first generation electric bikes (the eZee Rider with VRLA battery) against the Flyer alongside with his son, taking it from the lake to the mountain where he lives, and he decided that our bikes are better (which honestly I was a quite embarrassed to hear ).
Now how much more power could they pep into the system to make it work for the European market as well. Not that much. What they did was probably in their controller to give the maximum amps that the motor ever need, given their design for the chainwheel and torque sensor with very low gear ratio. So what is the cadence ? Have pedal like crazy to go 20 kmph.
Back in April of 2006, I first visited my distributor in Seattle and spent 3 days in his shop. He was the biggest outlet in USA for Giant Lafree, Twist and etc, and a mirage of other brands in his shop to help out some friends (but not more than Giant and eZee now ). Behind has shop, the roads are like San Francisco though not as steep maybe. A big African American came in to have his Giant Twist fixed, I got him to have a go on an eZee Sprint for fun while has bike is being fixed. He came back in half an hour, sat down, and the frist words were, " Eric , I want to trade in for the eZee ", and the deal deal is quickly done without any haggling at considerable cost to him.
Years ago I did look into the Panasonic system, considering if I should also used this, my final answer is a clear NO. If I do, I would just be in the same queue as the rest above offering nothing special and it would be no use to compete with same, what could I say that my bike is better, just competing on prices ? I must offer something that is different, power, speed, range, design flexibility and range of all options with bicycle gearings.
What is clear is of course a small start up like mine could not in any way compare to a Giant like Panasonic for qaulity controls on the electronics and electricals.
W W Ching
