WAVECREST'S TROUBLED
SEAS - Published: Monday, 31
October 2005
By Bill Moore - excerpts from EVworld.com
When
I rode my first WaveCrest TidalForce electric bike, I
was enthralled.
I’d
ridden others and owned a Currie Technologies folding
electric bike that buzzed as I rode along. The TidalForce
bike had
three times the power and was completely silent. Its
matte black finish lent to its mystique.
Clearly,
these guys were on to something special. I visited their
headquarters
just outside of Washington, D.C., did a special promotional
deal with them that gave away two of their bikes.We
later bartered one of their early demonstration models
for
advertising on EV World. I drove their modified Smart roadster
at their
Detroit R&D center, and mentioned them every chance
I got.
More importantly, I ride my TidalForce M-750 every
opportunity I get. It is one fabulous piece of hardware
that is one of the technological treasures of my life.
So, you can imagine the disappointment I felt when I
started hearing rumors that the company was folding its
electric
bike unit. A WaveCrest dealer sent me a copy of the
letter he received from the company explaining that while
they
would continue to provide service and support for existing
customers, they would no longer continue their two-wheeled
EV business.
As you might imagine, there was more to
the story than that. Allen Anderssen, the multimillionaire
who bankrolled the company for some five years, spending
an estimated $80 million of his personal fortune trying
to make the company succeed, decided to call it quits.
Speaking
confidentially, my source told that Anderssen has decided
to try to license
or sell off the company’s
electric motor technology, including its automotive
hub motor unit in Detroit, which a group of investors
are apparently
interested in acquiring separately in order to keep
the team that together.
Read
full article at: EVworld.com
