Electric Bike Action Podcast

This may be the last episode of the Electric Bike Action podcast. The magazine was closed down, along with Road Bike Action and UTV Action magazines, at the end of February. That action ended the jobs of nearly a dozen people. Hi-Torque is left with four titles, Motocross Action, Dirt Bike, Dirt Wheels and Mountain Bike Action. Supposedly the websites for EBA and the others will be kept going, but time will tell if they have the resources and industry knowledge to maintain those. In the mean time, if you know of anyone looking for people with great writing and photography skills (as well as a couple of great designers), feel free to reach out to me, as I’m happy to connect people. It’s been a good run in an outstanding industry full of great people. Thank you all.

Polini is an Italian company from Bergamo in northern Italy, they produce tune-up parts for motorcycles and scooters. They also now produce e-bike motors the Polini way... In this interview, Alex speaks to Davide Burini all about the company and how their motors are unique. Their philosophy is to build motors that can be repaired for life.

This week, we are speaking to Noa Banayan who works for people for bikes. Noa is a very important person. She's a representative for the bike industry in Washington, she helps negotiate policy and issues that affect us riders, especially with the new development of E bikes. She’s the Director of Federal Affairs at PeopleForBikes.

My guest for this episode is one of my favorites. One of the smartest minds in the battery space, as well as holding several Guinness World Records for e-bike rides. Ravi Kempaiah is a battery scientist, working with Dr. Jeff Dahn, one of the main people behind Tesla’s battery technology. Ravi and I talk about the present technology in Lithium-ion batteries, and upcoming technologies like solid state, sodium-ion, and what’s coming with battery tech and when. This is an exciting episode, and I can’t believe I actually ask Ravi something he doesn’t know off the top of his head. There’s a lot of great information here. Without further ado, here is my interview with my friend, Ravi.

My guest today is Daniel Tonkopi, CEO and founder of Delfast bikes, the high-powered, extremely long-range electric bikes. The company is focused on making bikes that provide sustainable, fun, long-range riding. You’ll learn how the company started, where they are now, and where they are going. We even touch on how they’re used in law enforcement, military applications, and even a discussion of the war in Ukraine.

Our guest today is Ramon Thomas, the co-founder and CEO of Urwahn Engineering GmbH from Magdeburg, Germany. With a passion for technology, quality, and seamless design, he and co-founder Sebastian Meinecke brought the first 3D-printed e-bike to market, which, in addition to a purist design, also takes into account the requirements of everyday use. Urwahn manufactures bikes almost completely in Germany and focuses on sustainable mobility. Their website is www.Urwahn Ikes.com.

My guest in this episode is Sherman Allen. He’s a good friend, a motorcycle riding buddy, and a prolific actor. He’s been in shows like Better Call Saul, Longmire, Manhattan, and movies like Spare Parts (that film makes me cry, and not because of Sherm’s acting!) and Sicario Day of the Soldado. He got into e-bikes partly from my suggestion, and partly because his brother Bill Allen, also an actor, also who I’ve had on the show, is a huge fan of e-bikes. We talk about e-bikes, electric motorcycles and some fun stories about both. #electricbikes #shermanallen

This episode is a great one. Alex interviews Livio Suppo, who has not only managed several successful moto GP teams, but he started Thok e-bikes, who makes electric mountain bikes under their own name, but also produces Ducati’s e-bikes, including full suspension mountain bikes and now some other bikes for the Ducatisti. Livio goes into why he creates a community for his brand, and he even lets the cat out of the bag on a brand new motor that’s coming out. There’s a lot of talk of the future of e-bikes and electric motoE

In this podcast Tony Donaldson and Alex Boyce have a chat with about their recent visits to some top industry trade-shows and comment on what they have seen. The most obvious thing they noticed was the quantity of two wheeled electric transport solutions. There was everything one could imagine, from delivery vehicles, electric pedal bikes and high end race bikes, to battery swapping solutions, powerful electric motocross bikes and the legacy brands like Yamaha starting their entry into the e-bike market. Tony and Alex react to what they saw and ponder how long before everyone might own an electric bike of some sort and also discuss their use in reality.

We have a fun crossover episode today. My guest is Jo Borras from the Electrify News podcast. You have to check out that podcast to hear the latest news in the electric vehicle space. They are part of the Electrify Expo, a series of events held throughout the country that not only showcases electric cars, bicycles and all kinds of other vehicles, but you can test ride almost everything there. They had three events the first year, five events this year, and they’ll expand to 7 events in 2023. I’ve had a lot of fun at their events in California and Austin Texas, and I highly recommend them to everyone, get out there and experience all kinds of electric vehicles. In this episode, we talk EVs, electric bikes, what’s coming in the near future, and more.