emopeds like the Ubco 2x2?

[Smaug]

Some stats:

145/156 lbs (66/71 kg) weight, depending on battery spec'd. (2.1 or 3.1 kWh)
50/75 mi (80/120 km) depending on battery spec'd
4-6 hr charge time; includes fast charger
$5k / $6k depending on battery spec'd

I just noticed the Adventure has no rear fender. That's an interesting choice, for a dual purpose bike like this...

 

[m@Robertson]

Ubco just went into receivership. Unfortunate. Its a great bike for what it is. The Australian postal service recently bought I think 140 of them to deliver mail on rural routes. They also saw use in military applications and were sold into the farming community as work bikes.

They were/are very durable. Not toys. Sad they weren't able to find a profitable niche.

 

[Anton]

So sad to hear, it looked like a great emoped. Like you said @m@Robertson, they signed a deal with Aus Post and they have already delivered all 175 emopeds. Now that UBCO has collapsed, the bikes will be serviced by a 3rd party. The parent company of UBCO will support replacement parts. Such a shame, as they were a New Zealand based company.

Here's the full article:

https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/01/20/tauranga-electric-motorbike-company-ubco-goes-into-receivership/

 

[Smaug]

I wonder if Australia Post will go back to Honda, in time.

I think they were just too expensive for what they do, and folks couldn't convince themselves that the higher quality was worth the extra cost.

Fleets make sense for electric, they could make the electric angle pay off. (I'm sure the Australian gov't made some calculations re. gas and projected maintenance costs vs. combustion) For the public to buy them, I think they were at least $2k too expensive. ($5-6k for a moped) I don't think they ever sold the faster RWD 60 mph model as a motorcycle to the public, which I think would've helped, as there's a limited market for a 2WD moped.

 

[m@Robertson]

I think they were just too expensive for what they do, and folks couldn't convince themselves that the higher quality was worth the extra cost.

I think thats it exactly. These were not leisure toys they were work bikes.

Strictly speaking, receivership is not the same thing as liquidation so its possible a white knight could come in and save them (but since all employees have been terminated and all operations ceased, thats a long shot). Reportedly some former staff lay the blame on the company not aggressively pursuing military contracts. Fleet sales seem like an opportunity.