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Riding E's boards a charge
By Sandra Thomas -Staff writer
When Steve Miloshev first
opened his store three years ago in Kitsilano selling electric-powered
bicycles, scooters and skateboards, business wasn't good.
"By 2003 I was desperate,"
said Miloshev, an environmental engineer and owner of E-Ride, located
at the corner of Pine Street and Fourth Avenue. "I actually made an
appointment to file for bankruptcy. I was working 12 hours a day and
spending money with no sales."
But lucky for Miloshev, and not so lucky for car owners, gas prices rose.
"When gas prices went over
$1 [per litre] some people said, 'This is the last straw.' The scale
tilted after that and now there's more than a half dozen stores like
mine in Vancouver."
E-Ride is the retail
offshoot of Greenwit Technologies, which Miloshev started in 2002.
Miloshev designs and engineers new light electric vehicles at Greenwit.
And one of his most popular products is the electric skateboard, even
with the over-30 crowd.
"I thought only young
people would be interested but half the people who buy them are older
than 30 or 35," said the 45-year old Miloshev. "So far the oldest one
has been 75 years old."
Stepping outside his
store, Miloshev zipped up and down Pine Street. Using a wireless
handheld controller that looks like a video game controller, he skated
circles on the street. He then headed into an
alley where a short steep driveway behind a Fourth Avenue business
became an impromptu skate ramp. The skateboard made the hill with
little effort and as Miloshev turned to skate down back down, he
explained the controller also includes a brake, which regenerates the
battery when in use. The skateboard can travel 30 kilometres per
charge, which uses about 10 cents worth of energy. In comparison, the
scooter he rides for personal transportation uses about 15 cents per
charge. Both the scooter and skateboard plug into regular sockets.
Miloshev adds with some apartment buildings in the city turning to
solar power as a way to combat rising energy costs, charging a battery
for a skateboard or scooter could soon be free in some areas.
Miloshev said when he
first started selling the scooters, the quality was poor. He flew to
China and toured the factories where they were being manufactured in an
effort to find out what the problem was. "And I did find the
problem," he said. "The scooters were becoming so popular in China they
couldn't get enough trained staff and they were pulling untrained
people out of the rice fields. Now I'm working with a manufacturer that
holds training sessions every three months. Now this manufacturer is
even beating some European work standards."
Miloshev said his next
venture is an electric motorcycle, which he will begin selling next
month. Miloshev said it is the first electric motorcycle with all parts
designed in Canada. He said the frames are being made in China and the
bikes are being assembled in Taiwan.
"It took me three years to find good quality parts. It will travel 70 km on one charge."
published on 06/28/2006
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