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Roll Order
Electric bike
Utrilla
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Unicornio Azul

Electric bike

Urban sharing: from design failures and expensive Spanish sourcing to an Asia product and a 10% tariff.

Urban sharing electric bike developed for rental fleets

From expensive buying to proprietary product

Challenge

A client with charging stations and electric bike rental for municipalities. Bikes bought in Spain were very expensive, with seat and basket theft, kickstand failures, battery issues, and other problems from intensive shared use.

What we did

Failure checklist, analysis of US rental companies, supplier report, China and Taiwan trip with the CEO, samples, redesign — and when tariffs jumped, a new fully legal 10% solution.

Result

Manufacturer and bike defined, manufacturing order started, and import operation at a fully legal 10% tariff.

Charging station and electric bikes for urban rental
Lime

From product diagnosis to viable import.

Checklist

We mapped every bike failure point.

Asia

Suppliers, China and Taiwan fairs, trip with the CEO.

Product

Samples, testing, and redesign for urban sharing.

Tariff

From 73% to a fully legal 10% operation.

Failure checklist

We identified every bike problem so we could fix them one by one.

Seat theft

Basket theft

Kickstand

Battery life

From the USA to China and Taiwan

With business intelligence we analyzed American urban rental companies. We proposed a US importer report and suppliers — whether in China or elsewhere.

Report
Suppliers and sourcing options.
Trip
China: manufacturers and a fair; Taiwan: a second industry fair.
Reference
The US sharing market pointed to Lime-type models.
Team
We accompanied the mobility CEO to test quality.
Factory visit and electric bike production in Asia

Samples, testing, and redesign

With manufacturer and bike defined, we moved to samples and testing to lock the sharing product.

Issue Basket theft

Solution

Basket + handlebar

Joined as a single piece.

Issue Seat and parts theft

Solution

Anti-theft hardware

On every element that used to get stolen.

Issue Kickstand

Solution

Reinforced kickstand

Stronger bike support.

Issue Battery life

Solution

Battery

Higher quality, better specs, and a top brand.

Issue Charging stations

Solution

Charging stations

Support for the full stations.

The tariff changed mid-order

Mid-manufacturing, the EU raised electric bike tariffs. We had to coordinate a new solution.

14%

Before

73%

EU hike

10%

Final operation

In the end the operation ran at just 10% tariff — fully legal.

Frequently asked questions

Finding suppliers online is not enough. You need to define specifications, compare manufacturers, review critical components, request samples, and verify production capacity and quality control.

For complex products or significant investments, yes. A visit lets you check facilities, processes, component suppliers and real production capacity.

By first analyzing real usage failures. In this project we studied issues such as component theft, mount strength and battery range before redesigning the bike.

Beyond manufacturing and shipping costs, you should analyze tariff classification, antidumping duties where applicable, documentation, homologation and applicable European regulations.

Yes. A tariff change can completely transform landed cost. That is why customs taxation and classification must be part of the project’s economic analysis.

When the project requires it, the work can include supplier preparation, trade fairs, factory visits, meetings and sample evaluation together with the client.