Support your local dealers ..??  re: More of the same from X-treme

Seems to me the better approach for us consumers is to buy from a local dealer rather than buy through an online dealer.

I agree - however, many (if not most) of us don't have access to a local dealer. That's beginning to change.

Obviously X-treme has a different business model - where they only sell via online stores. It's nigh on impossible to do local service for this sales model.

I also agree (I'm feeling quite agreeable this morning!). However, I'd like to point out that X-Treme operates a drop-shipping sales model. That is to say there's a low barrier to entry for selling X-Treme products. Pretty much anyone who can create a website can sell their products. The seller never sees the product and the majority of folks have little or no training or experience with EVs. Instead they see the chance to make money - they could just as well be selling toothbrushes. Because of this the seller has little to no incentive to provide pre- or post- sale support. X-Treme exacerbates this problem by persuading potential sellers that X-Treme can handle the support tickets - and X-Treme's customer service has been seen to be inconsistent (I and some of my customers have had good experiences, others have had bad experiences)

Why do I point this out? Well, not all "direct sales" have to be done via this "drop ship" model - unfortunately folks often equate the two. In other words folks often equate all internet based direct sales with the X-Treme model. Not so! At CuMoCo we're going to sell directly and we're going to build a dealer network. Our direct saless is a direct fulfillment model. The bikes arrive at the customer having undergone a full pre-delivery inspection and are 100% ready to ride - they're even delivered on specially designed easy to unpack pallets. We believe that supporting your local dealer is the best way to go (if they sell the product you want) - however, we also believe that we can go much further to minimize the impact of not having a local dealer.

As far as service goes we will be providing all our customers with free access to our technical service manual and will offer phone support to any local technician / mechanic who the owner chooses to service their bikes. We're hopeful that we can successfully support this model and encourage local scooter shops to service our products - even if they don't sell them.

It really would be great to see Electric Vehicle sales and service centers in every major city that carried a full line of products from HR 727 compliant E-bikes and skateboards all the way to full blown family cars, but it would take a lot to get that kind of business model off the ground in a conformist place like the US. It takes a very different thinker to let go of their gasoline based vehicles. Powered skateboards and bikes are still viewed as toys, and not marketable because of laws keeping them out of the hands of the target audience-older children to young adults. Many of those same laws stop them from being practical city transport. E-bikes and Scooters that fall into the "bicycle" category- such a novelty that bicycle shops dont want to touch the concept usually, because of the bad builds, and the electronics headaches, not to mention the lack of a "true" federal standard for regulations. (HR727 actually defaults that if a state law is stronger, state law rules, tricky wording) Many states still require a full drivers license for these things, which leaves out younger teens, and non-drivers who could benefit from the power-assist. (That'd be me, bad eyes keep me from driving a car) Maxi-scooters and Motorcycles?... they've come a long way, and I'm very impressed with the chances for this market. I'd love to see Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha having to make room for the electric competition. Ok, maybe the family cars can be handled by the established car sales systems, that leaves less clutter for the cool toys. :-)
I know that may seem like a lot of doom and gloom, but its just a reminder, this field is still in its infancy in many places. There is room to be the pioneer, for those who dare, as designer, builder, distributor, retailer, or legal advocate, pushing to get standards in place for the industry that protect the rider and the manufacturer. One Hundred years ago, we didnt have light bulbs. Just think where we'd be if one man hadnt had a bright idea, and obsessed over it until his idea came to light.

It seems to me that there is a subtle difference between a dealership, which provides sales along with service, and a simple service shop.

Establishing a dealership seems to require quite a bit of overhead. You probably need to purchase at least one scooter to keep as a sales model, even if customer orders are shipped directly to the customer from elsewhere. And you need to have showroom space, and perhaps storage space. If you allow test rides, there's an additional cost of insurance. Existing scooter stores probably have most of this already, but could still be unwilling to pay for a display model that they aren't sure will sell.

On the other hand, it might be easier to set up a network of regional service shops that deal exclusively with repair issues. All you need is a couple of local motorcycle mechanics who are willing to deal with the differences that electric brings. Initially, most of the training could be done on-demand, as bikes come in with issues that need to be addressed. I see very little overhead to establish a service agreement, as opposed to a full dealership.

I'm thinking in terms of CuMoCo, who will provide support for local techs, but this model could work for companies like Xtreme as well.

Around here in Atlanta, there have to be a couple dozen scooter & motorcycle shops that I could use. Surely, one or two of them would like a little additional service business from electric bikes.