Electric bike
Urban sharing: from design failures and expensive Spanish sourcing to an Asia product and a 10% tariff.
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.
From product diagnosis to viable import.
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.
Samples, testing, and redesign
With manufacturer and bike defined, we moved to samples and testing to lock the sharing product.
Issue Basket theft
Basket + handlebar
Joined as a single piece.
Issue Seat and parts theft
Anti-theft hardware
On every element that used to get stolen.
Issue Kickstand
Reinforced kickstand
Stronger bike support.
Issue Battery life
Battery
Higher quality, better specs, and a top brand.
Issue Charging stations
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
Electric bike
Urban sharing solved: product, Asia, and a viable tariff.