Zpizza in Seal Beach uses them to zigzag through the city on deliveries.
Denver’s Steven Roberts Original Desserts LLC uses them to deliver cupcakes and other treats around town.
Orange County power couple George and Julia Argyros have consumer versions.
Santa Ana’s Thrust Electric Bikes has a few marquee deals under its belt for the company’s bikes, which are driven by a lithium battery as well as old fashion pedaling.
This week, the company’s bikes are debuting at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, in hopes of winning over more pizzerias looking to use the bikes for deliveries.
Thrust Electric President Tom Casey said he’s confident the commercial cargo bike—equipped with a locking compartment and a handlebar grip throttle similar to a motorcycle—will appeal to small-business owners who care about their expenses and the environment.
“It’s not a novelty,” Casey said. “The way green is going to catch on is the pocketbook.”
zPizza
For Irvine-based zPizza, which has made health and environmental concerns part of its marketing, it’s also a matter of convenience.
“It saves us from using our cars, and it saves gas,” said Alan Grant, a six-year franchise owner in Seal Beach who was approached 18 months ago to run a pilot program using the electric bikes.
Thrust’s bike, which can go 20 mph in five seconds and travel up to 40 miles per battery charge, replaced Grant’s old bicycle that was retrofitted with a heavy wooden box and spring board.
For deliveries in downtown Seal Beach, service on the bike is just as a fast as a car and more efficient, according to Grant.
“If we have a delivery to 5th street, it’s such as drag to get into the car, start it up, get out and keep it running,” he said.
Thrust’s other Southern California customers include local franchisees of Florida’s Pizza Rustica and the University of Southern California. The company also is targeting sandwich shops, military bases, police departments, security firms and areas with auto restrictions.
The company’s yearly sales are estimated at $1 million to $2 million.
Rivals include China’s Giant Manufacturing Co., which has the U.S. headquarters of its Giant Bicycle Inc. in Ventura County, and Schwinn Bicycles, part of Canada’s Dorel Industries Inc.
Electric bikes are a small, growing market here. Yearly U.S. sales are estimated at about 300,000 bikes and are doubling each year, according to market tracker Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports.
China is the big market. There, more than 120 million electric bikes have been sold, replacing traditional bikes and mopeds as a major form of transportation.
Thrust’s commercial bikes sell and lease for about $5,000 with discounts on larger orders. Government rebates and incentives, which have spurred the clean technology sector, also are available.
The company expects to ship 500 bikes this year from its 25,000-square-foot space in Santa Ana, where all manufacturing and assembly is done.
Nearly 20 companies have run pilot programs using the bikes. Some 40 restaurant chains with about 12,000 locations nationwide are expected to start tests soon, according to Thrust.
The company is going after businesses rather than commuters in dense urban areas because “we know how to find them,” Casey said. “We know our target market.”
Typically a restaurant chain buys a Thrust bike and tests it for several months before expanding to other locations.
Thrust offers financing for qualified companies that have been in business for at least three years.
A typical lease is 36 months. Monthly payments are about $138 with 8% interest. The owner has a $1 buyout option for the bike when the lease ends.
Casey and cofounder and Chief Executive Pat Rolfes have raised nearly $1 million from their own money and from local investors.
Startup costs have been minimal. Rolfes ran a coffee brewing factory at Thrust’s Santa Ana location, which housed large rotational molding systems, circuit boards, other crafting tools. The labor pool was converted from coffee to electric bikes and skateboards.
Shift From Consumer
Thrust began five years ago as a maker of consumer products, such as electric beach cruisers and mountain bikes. The bikes were rented at the ferry on Balboa Island and at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast.
That’s when some notable locals, including the Argyroses and Steve Rodosky, managing director and portfolio manager for Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., took notice.
Rodosky, the first customer of Thrust’s short-lived electric skateboard, often rides his electric bike to Pimco’s Newport Center headquarters.
The Argryoses cruise biking trails on the weekends.
Thrust’s consumer effort hit a wall when the recession hit a few years ago.
That’s when Casey and Rolfes started looking into commercial uses.
Zpizza in Seal Beach was their first commercial client.
Thrust employs 43 people, most locally. Sales people are scattered along the Sun Belt and East Coast.
The company plans on hiring 30 to 50 more salespeople in the coming months as weather improves in colder regions, according to Casey. n
