Powering Purpose with Electric Utility Bikes
“There’s currently a global movement away from bigger vehicles to smaller modes of transportation and micro-mobility, with many people starting to reappraise what they need in terms of their transport options,” says UBCO Chief Marketing Officer and Cohort 8 Fellow, Neil Tierney. “We’re helping people to see that they don’t need two family cars. One family car and another, more sustainable mode of transportation like an UBCO electric motorbike is enough, with that bike able to meet probably 90% of their needs.”
Mass-electrification of mobility is one of the big solutions to our carbon emissions problem but, Neil says, it can bring with it a range of other challenges. “When you dig under the surface, there are a couple of real problems with electric vehicles (EVs). First, you have to look at the whole lifecycle – not just the energy required by use, but also the energy required to manufacture and maintain those products. And then look at the end of the products’ life, in particular for ways to keep the batteries out of landfill. There are also some real issues to explore around accessibility and cost. For most EVs, 40% of the price is the battery. It’s effectively like pre-paying for 2-3 years of fuel. Once you get past that point it’s a very low cost to run it, but we need to help more people get to that point. Democratising access is a big and necessary jump for the whole industry.”
UBCO is addressing these challenges by complimenting its traditional for-purchase offering with an innovative subscription model, allowing commuters and businesses to pay a subscription cost for whatever period they need the vehicle, and then return it. UBCO will take the bike back, refurbish it and provide it to another user who might be happy with an older bike, like a farm.
Originally known for its work in New Zealand’s agriculture sector, UBCO launched their first pre-production utility EV at Hamilton’s Fieldays in 2015. “We started off electrifying the farm bike, which was a really natural fit. Farmers could use them to get around their properties quickly, inexpensively and much more safely than on an all-terrain vehicle.” The business has since expanded into North America and Europe and added a street bike to their range. While not a replacement for long-haul motorcycles, UBCO’s 45km-speed electric utility bikes are offering an attractive alternative for city commuters, couriers and delivery drivers including current subscription customer, Domino’s Pizza.
Neil has brought his background of design, marketing and business to UBCO since joining the business in their London office in 2020. “Before this I was running a data-driven marketing agency which was bought by a very large US company. Some of our clients were in the auto industry and we were watching those companies wrestling with electric, particularly the incumbents. So I’ve understood and observed the space for quite a while now. I’m also an active skier and mountain biker, so the UBCO product itself was really compelling for me. But also, it’s just sort of a moment in time. Electric vehicles are definitely the sweetheart of all the VCs at the moment; so I saw a significant opportunity in it.”
UBCO has just closed a convertible note for Series B of an initial $10m USD which will ultimately total $40-$50m USD, a raise which Neil says was made possible only through his involvement with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. “Two of the three VCs that have essentially led that convertible note are fellow Fellows: Dino Vendetti (Cohort 6) from Seven Peaks Ventures and Adrien Gheur (Cohort 2) from Nuance Ventures. They gave us access to some of the premier VCs in the world. EHF has been totally fundamental to closing that convertible note and turbo-charging my relationships in New Zealand. It’s been amazing.
“You’d think we’d take a day off now and celebrate, but that hasn’t happened. We still need to close the full Series B before Christmas and then we’ll be setting our sites on growth in Europe. With its prevalent 2-wheel culture, we’re expecting Europe to be the biggest market by volume for us in the next couple of years.”
While Neil continues to work from the London office, he says that UBCO has its sights set on a joint listing on the ASX and NZX in 2023-2024, at which point he expects to be on the ground here helping to get that spun up. UBCO is also trialling a straight-to-consumer subscription model in New Zealand which, if successful, will be rolled out globally in the years ahead. “Our specialism is developing machines to help you get stuff done. We’re not a flashy car company. We build vehicles which help you do your job, whether that’s farming, delivery or commuting to an office. We’re working on 2-wheeled vehicles at the moment, but soon we will be doing 4-wheeled vehicles as well.”
To accommodate this period of high-growth, UBCO is working quickly to scale up the team in their New Zealand headquarters in Mount Maunganui, as well as their overseas offices in Oregon, London and Copenhagen. “We’re looking to fill so many roles – we’ll be advertising even more once we can find time to write the position descriptions – and we’re really hoping that the EHF network can help us find the right people. Team is such an important part of the work and it makes a difference every day if you can find great people and create a great culture.”
Learn more about UBCO here and experience a virtual test drive of an UBCO bike first-hand here.