GenZe Scooter & e-Bike
Last Thursday I had the great privilege of touring the Mahindra GenZe factory in Ann Arbor, MI. In addition to the the tour I had the opportunity to ride the GenZe 2.0 electric scooter, and e102 Cruiser e-Bike. More about our rides in a minute, first lets talk about the factory. GenZe was founded three years ago by parent company Mahindra. While GenZe is but a young pup, Mahindra has been around since 1945 when they built Willys Jeeps in India under license. GenZe was founded in 2012 around Mahindra's vision of the future of mobility, the 5C framework. The 5C's are: clean, convenient, connected, clever, and cost-effective. After spending an afternoon with their products I would have to agree on all counts. The engineering and design teams really did their homework. The factory has the capacity to build up to 12,000 bikes per year on one shift, with series production of the scooter beginning this past Monday. The e-bikes have been in production for awhile, and are currently available. In addition, GenZe is the exclusive North-American distributor for the Armadillo line of riding apparel.
"Christine" the first prototype, constructed in 2013.
Last gamma prototype, note competitive scooters in back for benchmarking.
All GenZe scooters feature an aluminum exoskeleton, as can be seen above in white, and run a Cann bus electrical system, just like a car. Other scooters typically feature a tube frame draped in a plastic body (excluding Vespa, of course). The battery was developed to be easily removed for charging. Your scooter stays in the parking lot, the battery goes with you, saving you carrying a really long extension cord everywhere. As such the battery was designed and tested to sustain a 3ft drop onto concrete with no damage, try that with your smart phone. To charge the battery fully takes about 3.5 hours on a standard household outlet, and said battery is fully certified under the same guidelines as home appliances. GenZe states that it will maintain 80% of its capacity after 1200 charge cycles.
Production adding 3 new colors, preorders were only available in white, silver, and charcoal.
Similar to the Tesla Model S, the GenZe has a sim card and 3G connection offering the ability for remote diagnostics, and OnStar like emergency services. A down rider alert will use sensors built into the bike to send a text message to your predetermined emergency contact in the event of an incident. Geofencing alerts can be setup with the built in GPS, especially handy for monitoring younger riders. There are 3 drive modes: EZ; Eco (maximizes range, up to 35 miles); and sport mode. EZ mode is designed for first time riders, and cuts throttle when the brakes are applied. The seat has 2 positions; traditional, and a semi-standing stool-like option.
Designed to fit 3 grocery bags, rated to hold 75 pounds!
When Wired magazine rode the GenZe they described it as "relentlessly practical". Between the commanding view as a rider, and the incredible versatility that it offers, it is almost truck like, in a good way. The back bay was designed for hauling, and will offer numerous accessories, one of the available bags doubles as a backpack. GenZe has prepared an app for the scooter, which I didn't get the chance to try out, but hope to in the future. Major functions are controlled through the Cruise Connect touchscreen display (shown below), as well as having a built-in digital owner's manual.
Cruise Connect 7-inch touchscreen.
And Now, On To The Rides...
The scooter that I rode was the last completed gamma prototype, hand built, but with final production parts. (Pause, I get to ride hand built prototype scooters, I love my job!) Mine was missing the front logo, please pretend its there when perusing the gallery. In the thirty or so minutes that I spent riding, I was very impressed. The first thing I noticed was that the bike had great takeoff in sport mode. I meant to try all the riding modes, but had so much fun in sport, that I forgot. I am looking forward to spending some more time with a production bike, once the preorders have been delivered, and will be much more thorough at that time. I was absolutely struck by the solid feel of the bike. The fit and finish were well beyond that of a prototype. Cornering was very stable, aided by that low mounted battery, right at the scooter's center. The handling was responsive and confidence inspiring. That big 16" front tire sure can take on Michigan's finest speed bumps and potholes with aplomb. While it was but a brief ride, I came away anxious for my next opportunity to ride this great machine. The GenZe is entertaining to experience, and has a practical elegance when viewed in person. The scooter will retail for $3,000.
My trusty steed with seat shown in high setting.
Lastly, I rode the GenZe e102 Cruiser e-Bike. It also features a removable battery, in this case offering 16 miles of range. The e-Bike can be ridden like moped in throttle mode, or as an assisted bike with 5 different levels of assistance available. The bikes powertrain is plenty powerful, in throttle mode it got all 210 pounds of me uphill from 0-15mph in the length of several parking spaces. For all you bus commuters, even the heaviest of the three styles of e-bike is under 50lbs. It was hands down the most fun I have had on a bike in my adult life. What I found most interesting was that you can attach a bike trailer, suddenly dragging that extra 100 pounds of trailer plus 2 kids doesn't seem so daunting. Retail price for the model ridden is $1500.
Most fun on a bike 20 years.
I would like to say thanks to all of the folks at Mahindra GenZe for allowing me to tour their facility. And I want to give a special thanks to Terry for being my tour guide, and setting me up with the demo rides.
