How to start a motorcycle company
British electric bike company Maeving have just sold their 100th bike, just two years after their start-up. And this is how they did it…
In 2017, 26-year-old Sebastian Inglis-jones and his mate Will Stirrup went on a fact-finding trip to China that changed their lives. They’d intended to find a manufacturer to build electric bikes for them, but instead they saw the future. ‘After that trip everything changed,’ Seb tells Bike. ‘Eighty percent of riders over there were on electric bikes. That year 297 electric bikes and scooters were sold in the UK, while 22 million were sold in China.’ It wasn’t the only revelation. ‘We also discovered removable battery technology. Will and I travelled around China on electric scooters and quickly got used to taking the batteries with us and charging them up, like you get in the habit of charging your phone. ‘It made complete sense and was such a contrast to the traditional motorcycle manufacturers like Zero who are trying to compete with internal combustion engines. The sweetspot for electric is not the high power market. But when it comes to cities, electric is fantastic – it’s genuinely competitive with a 125cc bike.
‘Initially we were thinking about importing a bike from China, but bikes are made to a different price point out there. The quality isn’t fantastic. We thought we’d take the removable battery concept and use British engineering and design to bring a different level of quality to the market.’
It was a nice idea, but neither Seb nor Will had any background in motorcycle manufacture. ‘After we got investment two years ago we made our first hire which was a game changer. We managed to employ Graeme Gilbert, who used to be head of product planning at Triumph [a pivotal and very senior engineering role]. He’s been the linchpin. What we’ve done is very different from a Silicon Valley-style start-up where it’s all 21-year-olds sitting on bean bags. Instead, we’ve hired experienced people. The least experienced person in the team has done 15 years in the bike industry.’
The team launched the Maeving RM-1 – a 45mph, £4500, 40-mile range bike you can ride with a CBT – earlier this year and have just delivered their 100th machine. ‘My message to Bike readers is we’re not trying to replace your GS,’ says Seb, who’s kept his old GS550 for weekend blasts. ‘But we do think having an additional electric bike is an option. More than half our customers are established bikers who use the Maeving as a runaround when they don’t want the bother of getting their big bike out.’ » More info: maeving.com