Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

145 posts / 0 new
Last post
Joshteacher
Joshteacher's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 6 months ago
Joined: Sunday, September 9, 2012 - 18:20
Points: 100
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Do you have a CANBUS adapter, or do you know of anyone who has one for cheap?

xvectrix2
Offline
Last seen: 9 years 3 months ago
Joined: Monday, November 4, 2013 - 23:44
Points: 26
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Sorry Joshteacher, no canbus adapter available.. You should ask the guys in factory, I'm sure they can help..

CHL lithium battery
CHL lithium battery's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 3 months ago
Joined: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - 18:58
Points: 305
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home
CHL Lithium's (who, I think, is or knows Mountain Chen?) comments are quite relevant to the topic at hand.

CHL either own a large share of or all of China erider and reside in the same building ;-)

Yes,we are in the same building and hold 30% share of Erider/Mountain Chen ,see http://chl-battery.en.alibaba.com/

Mik
Mik's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 1 week ago
Joined: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 15:27
Points: 3739
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hello, if anyone interested in having few tools, spares for V please contact me. I've found those in my old toolbox in the garage. I'm former vectrix technician and I don't need them anymore. In addition I found one brand new tps board for throttle. vvv.jpg

Welcome to the forum!

Are those encoder disk alignment tools?

Mik

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

CO2
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 7 months ago
Joined: Sunday, July 24, 2011 - 15:04
Points: 110
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

So any news about Vectrix?
It seems they don't make anymore li+ because they don't have batteries....maybe that's why they will change supplier of batteries for new model...

xvectrix2
Offline
Last seen: 9 years 3 months ago
Joined: Monday, November 4, 2013 - 23:44
Points: 26
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Mik, yes. First two are for encoder alignment. The nylon is in fact a magnet for throttle.

xvectrix2
Offline
Last seen: 9 years 3 months ago
Joined: Monday, November 4, 2013 - 23:44
Points: 26
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Mik, yes. First two are for encoder alignment. The nylon is in fact a magnet for throttle.

R
R's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 09:46
Points: 1768
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

It seems they don't make anymore li+ because they don't have batteries....

The Owner of Vectrix, GP batteries, unable to supply lithium bateries?? OMG!
Jones
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 09:58
Points: 29
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Well, the tires are FLAT and the batteries are DEAD!!! Vectrix will no longer live and sell anyone parts. Doors close this week and all will be asked to leave. Deal with Daimler is dead and China has declared "death to the Vectrix family". Thanks GP Batteries!

Sorry to have to provide this news, but good or bad, it would have come out sooner or later. Polish up those bikes and save them as trophies because you'll have a hard time finding parts for them. Althou - If you have a good working Scooter you'll be able to ask premium dollars for the parts on the open market. Especially for those Li+ batteries.

And for the sales weenie out there, can't remember his name, you were told this about a couple of months ago and refused to believe it. And don't go down the Segway path.....That's DEAD also!!

R
R's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 09:46
Points: 1768
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Is there any way to confirm this news about Vectrix's death?
vectrix facebook page is frozen again...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vectrix-Official-Site/173833539331662

Drew
Drew's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 months ago
Joined: Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 15:16
Points: 152
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Interestingly, this page has now been pulled by the chaps who developed the new abs braking system for the VT-1
temporary link to google cache

It was only released on 16th and has been pulled since then - see below. One would ask - why?

Drew

16
DEC
2013
The new VT-1 of Vectrix, equipped with J.Juan product
vtrx_side-storage-view.jpg

J.Juan, together with the German company Continental, collaborates with Vectrix equipping its new electric motorcycle, the VT-1.
The mentioned motorcycle has an ABS that J.Juan has provided: the hand master cylinder, the brake hoses, the calipers and the disc.
One of the main things that have attracted Vectrix from J.Juan is its accessibility. Other reasons why Vectrix finally decided to go on in this collaboration are the current agreement between J.Juan and Continental and the ability of J.Juan of giving right answers to the needs.
During the project, J.Juan has participated in the configuration of the whole system, being in charge of the management and development, so Vectrix just had to validate the product.

pic05097.jpg

In this sense, Nik Hatzis, from the Product Development Department at Zero, emphasized some positive points of the collaboration between them and J.Juan Group:

Technical Capability – J.Juan possesses a very skilled staff of engineers and support staff. The quality of the prototypes has been much better than we expected. The technical team has constantly provided us with very timely feedback for all questions and issues that have occurred. I find that the J.Juan technical team is always focused on providing cost effective solutions to complex problems. I also believe that they represent themselves in a most professional manner to their customers and our customers.
Sales and Commercial – I have had nothing but positive experiences working with the J.Juan sales and commercial team. They were always capable of listening to our requirements and providing very quick responses to cost and schedule questions. They are very easy to work with even when the project is very chaotic. They have helped us in many ways outside of a normal technical development with testing in Spain and coordinated the event with my team and the Daimler team in a most professional manner.
Project Management - The project management staff was very timely with their requests for information. Based on the information we were able to supply, they quickly produced very detailed project plans that coordinated the activities for both J.Juan and Continental. We also believe that the J.Juan team worked well with coordinating necessary activities to Continental”.

Drew

kingcharles
kingcharles's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 6 months ago
Joined: Monday, August 17, 2009 - 08:41
Points: 408
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

What does this qoute mean? (in the above J.Juan article)

Nik Hatzis, from the Product Development Department at Zero

Picture of the Vectrix but company Zero?

Once you go EV, Gas is history!

R
R's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 09:46
Points: 1768
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home
Jones
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 09:58
Points: 29
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Well KingCharles - It means that this twit sold out and drove the company into the ground. Why he was brought in to manage the company no one will understand, but I will tell you that a vast majority of the people that worked at Vectrix saw the writing on the wall when this half wit took over. They knew that this idiot didn't know what he was doing. Most of the workers, as well as some management, felt that the company should have been moving in two directions. One with Daimler and the other with our OWN product based on the VT-1 design, but this twit decided NOT to do this. We felt that if Daimler didn't work out we would have a product that we could bring to market......

Qualified Observer
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Saturday, December 21, 2013 - 09:32
Points: 2
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Well KingCharles - It means that this twit sold out and drove the company into the ground.

Complete horsepoop. GP is solely responsible for this debacle.

Respectfully,
QO

Nik H
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 3 months ago
Joined: Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 12:19
Points: 23
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hello all,

Although I don't make a point of rebutting comments, I felt like I should so people can understand the truth behind the jjuan comment. I am Nik Hatzis, the twit that Mr. Jones speaks of in his post. Unlike Mr. Jones, I don't hide behind a perceived cocoon of anonymity. There is no such thing.

Why jjuan quoted that I was a Zero employee alludes me. The marketing person at jjuan who executed the post simply made a mistake. I have already alerted them so they could retract the statement. I am in the same position that all of the Vectrix engineers and employees find themselves today - out of work. I have never worked in the past nor have any prospects of working for Zero in the future. I was quite proud of working at Vectrix. The people were great and the passion within the company was second to none in the industry. We accomplished a great deal in the 15 months I was there.

Mr. Jones,

Management never felt that we should go in two directions nor did most of the employees. So stop lying to this group. Most employees realized that the Daimler contract was the only way to scale the business and produce a product that was reliable. Going in separate directions would have been a more costly approach than a platform approach which would spawn two derivatives. I know most of this is gibberish to you. If you knew anything about design or business, you would understand what scaling means. But you know nothing about business nor engineering nor your role at Vectrix. As with most people of your type; if given the opportunity to make any difficult decision, you would choke. Keep hiding in the shadows where your type typically reside. Moreover, please continue to post whatever unpleasant comments about me or anyone else that you wish. It makes no matter to me what you think or what you perceive to know. You know little other than what you can find out from others who continued to work there and who were trying to remedy the situation.

To everyone else, please understand that it is easy to armchair quarterback any situation. This was not an easy situation and there were many interrelated factors that may still be salvageable despite what the esteemed Mr. Jones states in his posts. Please also accept my apologies for all of the product issues you speak. The VX-1 was a true innovation that was far ahead of its time. The problems you speak of are part and parcel of why Vectrix was attempting to change and become a truly unified company with a process driven approach to producing a world class product. Given the time, we would have succeeded with the VT-1. Keep the faith as it may still happen.

Nik H

Aircon
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 7 months ago
Joined: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - 00:55
Points: 519
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Very nice and informative post, Nik. Thanks for giving your time to write it.

Drew
Drew's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 months ago
Joined: Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 15:16
Points: 152
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hello all,

The VX-1 was a true innovation that was far ahead of its time. The problems you speak of are part and parcel of why Vectrix was attempting to change and become a truly unified company with a process driven approach to producing a world class product. Given the time, we would have succeeded with the VT-1. Keep the faith as it may still happen.

Nik H

Hi Nik,

Thank you indeed for taking the time to clear a few points for the forum members - indeed, you are quite right about the VX-1 being a fantastic piece of kit. I too was a bit perplexed about jjuan's comments concerning Vectrix and Zero, good to have that tidied up too. I can imagine that at a time when people are looking forward to Christmas and have lost their jobs at Vectrix that emotions can and will run high. It's therefore all the more encouraging to hear that Vectrix was at least trying to get on the right path with respect to the business and production of high-quality and reliable bikes, despite the obvious difficulties. Hopefully, the efforts will be seen and valued and then entice a suitable buyer or partnership (hopefully this is underway already).

Nik, can you confirm the current status of operations at Vectrix New Bedford and Vectrix Poland? I don't expect you to divulge confidential information but any additional information is always gratefully received. There are many vested interest parties here on the forum, myself included.

Thanks and best wishes,

Drew

Drew

Jones
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 09:58
Points: 29
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Well, All I have to say is that this debacle happened on YOUR watch......Period!!!

As for the VX-1, you can't lay any claim to this since YOU had nothing to do with it's development. Yes, we did put out a state of the art product. Don't even go there!!

As for you commenting on this site. Any respectable officer of any company would not even entertain the thought of going onto this site to explain his/her actions....Period. Your nothing but an empty suit. And as far as YOU being in the same position as the others, not having a job!! At least you have that nice GOLDEN PARACHUTE that will help you to land oh so softly....DON'T EVEN GO THERE.

As for your management wanting to go in two directions, well yes, it's true and this is another thing that's gone over your head!! You didn't even listen to them. Why would you listen to anybody on this site?

Remember everyone who has followed this thread. I called out the jibber jabber of the talking head salesman.......Where's he right now??? The talking head of a VP is now at your door step. Ask away and let's see if you get the same empty responses that were given when the employees asked the questions.

JJuan got it right and so did the WORKERS at Vectrix. Oh so looking forward to the retraction........

Nik H
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 3 months ago
Joined: Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 12:19
Points: 23
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hello Drew,

Thank you for your response.

There is little I can add regarding the state of operations in NB other than to say that all of the remaining engineers and support staff were dismissed last week. We thankfully were paid our salary owed and our vacation balance but that is it. No severance or "golden parachute" was offered. Contrary to what Mr. Jones continues to say, I was not an officer of the company so any next steps are unclear to me at this time. We hope that some resolution will be found that will bring some of us together again. I don't know the state of Poland as it was a separate subsidiary but I am sure things are winding down there as well.

I hope this helps you and everyone else.

Nik H

Qualified Observer
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Saturday, December 21, 2013 - 09:32
Points: 2
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

...and so did the WORKERS at Vectrix.

That's me; I'm telling you you're wrong.

JimmyB
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 5 months ago
Joined: Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 16:57
Points: 252
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Interesting piece from the Motley Fool a couple of days ago:

http://www.fool.sg/2013/12/20/three-shares-that-lost-to-the-market-today-33/

Three Shares that Lost to the Market Today
By Ser Jing Chong - December 20, 2013

GP Batteries International (SGX: G08) rounds up the trio with a 8.3% decline to S$0.77. Two Fridays ago, the battery manufacturer had announced a profit warning where it “is likely…to report a net loss” for the third quarter of its financial year ending 31 March 2014.

The reason for the expected-loss stems from the impairment of the company’s investment for a 45% stake of the Vectrix group of companies. In particular, the value of Vectrix group recorded on GP Batteries’ books is likely to be higher than the cash that can be recovered based on the former’s latest cash flow projections.

In light of that, GP Batteries’ board thinks it will be “prudent” to make further provisions for impairment losses, hence the profit warning.

Merry Christmas ...!

betatester
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 days ago
Joined: Saturday, November 2, 2013 - 01:07
Points: 9
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hi everybody,

that means for the shareholders, to throw good money after bad. GP is like a barrel without bottom and seems to me a desaster for vectrix. I still have a nice dream, that a white knight comes round the corner and rescues vec. Halleluja...

Happy New Year

Peter

bigbluejlr
bigbluejlr's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 months ago
Joined: Monday, July 6, 2009 - 13:34
Points: 7
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hi All,
I wrote from Belgium and I m an early VX adopter.

Vectrix might be dead, but the R@D of VT1 was fully financed by Daimler . Vectrix got paid milestones after milestones achieved.
Vectrix was supposed to produce 20000 bikes for Daimler being there new electric scooter ( RSP SMART 9000 eur and 7500 for the VT1)
Daimler paid for the dev and I m sure they have the intellectual property, they will probably use the Polish plant to produce it, either it is Vectrix or not !
Polish plant want to produce whatever the name of the headquarter is, as long as they get paid !
For Vectrix it is sad and i m sure the name will survive once more but the VT1 is totally developped and will be produced by someone for sure and it is a great product !!
The lobby of the petrol industry does not even know the name of Vectrix so they don t care and did not tried to kill it, I would not say the same for Tesla...
God save Elon !

VectrixOfficial
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 3 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 03:25
Points: 35
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Dear all,

Indeed, let's wait and see what happens. Only Vectrix LLC (New Bedford) is so far set for closure. All staff from there with the exception of a bare bones staff of 3 have been dismissed. Vectrix LLC would not have been of particular interest to new owners as we were told it had a lot of outstanding creditors and no real capital worth. All of the IP and patents are held by Vectrix International in HK. As you know Vectrix Poland was a separate entity from LLC and remains open and awaiting sale.

Personally I was employed by LLC and have my last day either on 31st Dec or 31st Jan. With all sales, marketing and development staff laid off one can assume that Vectrix as a brand sold through Vectrix distributors will be no more. As you all have appreciated with for example the VT-1, there is a lot of good technology, development and design close to completion for another company to take on either through purchase of the remaining companies or if that does not happen to take later from liquidators.

I wish it all the best and good luck to all you owners out there. I hope you get the support to keep you on the road.

Regards,

Michael

bigbluejlr
bigbluejlr's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 months ago
Joined: Monday, July 6, 2009 - 13:34
Points: 7
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hi All,
I wrote from Belgium and I m an early VX adopter.

Vectrix might be dead, but the R@D of VT1 was fully financed by Daimler . Vectrix got paid milestones after milestones achieved.
Vectrix was supposed to produce 20000 bikes for Daimler being there new electric scooter ( RSP SMART 9000 eur and 7500 for the VT1)
Daimler paid for the dev and I m sure they have the intellectual property, they will probably use the Polish plant to produce it, either it is Vectrix or not !
Polish plant want to produce whatever the name of the headquarter is, as long as they get paid !
For Vectrix it is sad and i m sure the name will survive once more but the VT1 is totally developped and will be produced by someone for sure and it is a great product !!
The lobby of the petrol industry does not even know the name of Vectrix so they don t care and did not tried to kill it, I would not say the same for Tesla...
God save Elon !

Mr Bond
Offline
Last seen: 9 years 5 months ago
Joined: Monday, December 30, 2013 - 13:09
Points: 3
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Hi Caruso.

I am in the market for another Electric Scooter.
I had an Nimh bike for three years and it gave good service on my commute into East London .
There were a number of friends and colleagues who also ran Vectrix with varying levels of reliability and range .

The Guy that used to come out and service and repair them was excellent .
I can't recall his name but he new the bikes inside out and never failed to effect a repair.
He would plan servicing for several bikes in one day around the same location to keep the costs at a sensible level.
The last time I spoke with him he told me that Emissions Free Solutions were refusing to sell him parts or inflating the prices making it uneconomic to continue.
Shame because he was very good with the bikes and passionate about the brand.
We all contacted Emissions Free Solutions for repairs and servicing only to find the costs prohibitive and technical knowledge extremely lacking.
I sold my Vectrix shortly after along with many of my colleagues .

I still cannot find a local dealership for this Brand so will probably wait until BMW launch their new E Scooter.
This way the service will be local and from my past BMW experience with their products 1st class

I am afraid Vectrix have missed the boat as far as I am concerned .
The length of time that they have been around ,they should have had a distributor and after sales network in place and be market leaders in this sector.

Just my experience and opinion.

James

R
R's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 09:46
Points: 1768
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Thank you,
Michael and the rest, for throwing some light into Vectrix's situation. It is a real pity how Vectrix LLC ended, I desire the best to all their staff, you all deserve the best.

Anyway, we still need help with the MC1014b, if any ex-vectrix employee wants give us a hand, I'm willing to PAY some money for that brief task:

A Motor-controller Firmware MC1014b with the lower voltage limit raised from 102v to 119v. It is just ONE single change in the hex code (raised top speed limit to 110-120km/h would be also be very welcome), but will help us a lot.

Send me a Private Message or email if anybody interested,
Regards.
R

CO2
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 7 months ago
Joined: Sunday, July 24, 2011 - 15:04
Points: 110
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Maybe The Laird can propose that, R!
I know some Vectrix in Europe have this: 120kmh (for 400usd)

Drew
Drew's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 months ago
Joined: Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 15:16
Points: 152
Re: Vectrix closing shop, sending people home

Gosh, that would be good. I'd like that too! 110km/h (68mph) wasn't quite quick enough for me!

I would be interesting to hear more details about that 120km/h version of motor controller software. For my own purposes, it would also have to ignore the temperature monitoring sensors as the UK weather and riding conditions render them somewhat problematic, despite my very best waterproofing methods. I now run the Laird's 'ignore them' software with the lower charge current and all has been well for a while like that.

I too wish the ex-Vectrix employees every success in the future. My only hope is that someone will indeed further the brand somehow. It seems like an awful lot of technology and effort to can, never to see the light of day again. Surely, in the right hands, it could be a commercial success? (Isn't that what being in any business is all about?!)

I wonder who the remaining three Vectrix employees are and what their job functions are? Tie-up the I.P. and sell it? Mmm. This is the point that insider information would be most helpful.

With best wishes,

Drew

Drew

Pages

Log in or register to post comments

Use code"Solar22" and enjoy 12% off for all solar Kits.


Who's online

There are currently 0 users online.

Who's new

  • Juli76
  • xovacharging
  • stuuno
  • marce002
  • Heiwarsot

Support V is for Voltage