The Tesla Model 3 is a fully electric car made by Tesla. Instead of using gasoline, it runs on electricity stored in a battery. The podcast mentions it because it’s a well-known EV that someone owned in New Zealand.
A mid-drive motor sits near the pedals and works with the bike’s gears. That can make it better for hills because the gears help the motor deliver power in the right way.
A hub motor is a motor inside the wheel. It helps move the bike by pushing the wheel directly, rather than using the pedals and chain to multiply the power.
The rear wheel is the wheel at the back of the bike. Where the motor sends power—directly to the wheel or through the chain—can change how the bike feels and what parts wear out faster.
The chain is the part that transfers power from the pedals/motor to the back wheel. If the motor relies on the chain more, the chain can wear out faster.
An oil crisis is when oil becomes more expensive or harder to get. When that happens, people often look for cheaper ways to get around, like riding an e-bike to work.
A throttle is a control you twist or press to make the motor help you. If it works from zero, you can get moving right away without needing to pedal first.
The stem is the part that holds the handlebars. If it’s adjustable, you can move the handlebars to help you sit more upright instead of leaning forward.
Electric bikes are regular bikes with a battery-powered motor that helps you pedal. The battery makes them heavier than a normal bike, but it also makes riding easier.
Term
take the battery out
Many e-bikes have a battery you can remove. That makes it easier to carry the bike, and you can charge the battery without moving the whole bike.
Front suspension is a shock-absorbing system on the front wheel that helps smooth out bumps and improve traction. On e-bikes, it can make rough terrain more comfortable and reduce rider fatigue.
Some people say e-bikes are “cheating” because the motor helps. The speaker disagrees and argues that the motor can still help people stay active, especially when rides are tough.
An e-bike is a regular bike with a motor that helps you pedal. It makes riding easier—especially on hills—while you’re still in control because you pedal.
Car
LDV e-Deliver 3
The LDV e-Deliver 3 is an electric delivery van. It’s built for everyday driving like deliveries, where the electric motor helps with stop-and-go and city routes.
An electric van is a delivery van that runs on electricity instead of gas or diesel. Owners typically need to plan charging based on how far they drive each day.
A sliding door is the kind that opens by moving sideways instead of swinging outward. Vans use them because they’re easier to open in narrow parking spots.
The Suzuki Vitara is a small SUV that Suzuki sells in many countries. Here, the host is saying it’s basically the same vehicle as a US model name you might recognize.
The Geo Tracker was a small SUV sold in the US. In this episode, they’re explaining that it’s essentially the same vehicle as the Suzuki Vitara, just with a different brand name.
The Chevrolet C10 is a pickup truck. It’s often used as a base for modifications because parts and upgrades are widely available. In this podcast, it’s mentioned in connection with an electric conversion setup.
The BYD Atto 3 is an electric SUV. It uses a battery and an electric motor instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions it because someone had one and is talking about their experience with it.
A test ride means you actually try the e-bike before you buy it. The host says you should do this because different bikes can feel very different and you want to make sure it suits you.
Cargo bikes are e-bikes built to carry stuff—sometimes people use them for deliveries. The host is using them as an example of how e-bikes can be used beyond commuting.
Pedal assist means the bike’s motor helps you only while you’re pedaling. It’s different from a throttle, where you can power the bike without pedaling.
“45 miles an hour” is the kind of top speed some e-bikes can reach. The host brings it up to help you understand that not all e-bikes are the same—some are much faster.
The drive system is the e-bike’s power setup—how the motor’s power gets to the wheels. It includes the motor and the parts that control and transmit that power.
Assistance levels are different “strength settings” for the motor help. Using a lower level usually saves battery so you can ride longer.
LIVE
Hello everyone and welcome to Kill The Water podcast about electric vehicles, renewable
energy, autonomous driving and much, much more.
My name is Vody and I am your host and on today's episode we have an interview with
Sean Howard.
Sean has been on the podcast before and Sean, I'm going to be honest right now, I think
I'm pronouncing your name wrong and I think I pronounced your name wrong the first time
you were on the show so you know let me know if I pronounced it wrong.
I went back to listen and I don't think I pronounced it right the first time so anyway
Sean if I need to correct it please let me know.
Anyway Sean comes on to have a chat with us and we talk a little bit about electric
bikes.
Well actually we talk quite a bit about electric bikes.
Sean just became a distributor for a franchisee I guess maybe would be a better way to put
it for mellow yellow electric bikes and I want to be 100% clear no money exchanged hands
in this.
Sean has been a listener to the show for quite a while, a great member of the community and
I jumped at a chance just to have a conversation with him just to have a chat.
So while we'll talk quite a bit about mellow yellow, the company and what Sean's doing
we also talk just as much about little tips and tricks especially when you're looking
to buy an electric bike and you know again in no way shape or form was this episode sponsored
by the company but also you know if you're interested and you live in an area that is
serviced by mellow yellow go check them out please and if you live in Sean's area he'll
take you for a bike ride like for free like you'll get a chance to demo the bike for free
and you get to go on a little bike trip with Sean so anyway I'll put all the links in the
show notes.
Before we get to the interview though I do want to let you know I was on the Car Stuff
podcast today which today's the 13th of November or of July November cheese.
Tom and Jill and the team are going to release my episode tomorrow July 14th so if you're
listening to this on the 13th go subscribe to the Car Stuff podcast and if you're listening
to it on the 14th go and listen to the and subscribe to the Car Stuff podcast it was
a lot of fun.
Alright having said all that let's go ahead and welcome Sean to the show.
Thank you very much good to be here.
I should say welcome back Sean because you've been on before today we're going to talk a
little it's going to be a little bit different conversation because when you came on before
we talked a little bit about your solar panels you live in New Zealand we should start off
that's where your accent is from.
So you had a Model 3 right in New Zealand that's great yeah yep still got it still got
it.
Oh nice and you put some solar panels on and we talked about that whole experience.
Today we're going to talk about something a little different we're going to talk about
electric bikes and we haven't really spent a lot of time talking about electric bikes
on this show mostly because I don't have one nor do I have much experience with them
other than a friend of mine bought her husband a Rad bike which is a lot of fun.
She had me and another guy build it for him for Father's Day or something like that and
we had a blast just playing around on that thing once we had it built.
But that's my only experience with electric bikes so you have a new business in New Zealand
I wanted to tell us a little bit about it.
Yeah I trained as a bicycle mechanic just a regular bicycle mechanic probably that was
a few years ago and I worked in a bicycle shop for a while there constructing putting
together assembling a few bikes and then I think it was about three years ago I was
employed as a tour guide for a company at the bottom of the South Island in New Zealand
where they have a lot of cycle tracks and I used to guide one of the tracks there called
Alps to Ocean which goes from the Southern Alps on the South Island down to the ocean
on the east coast of the islands about 300 plus kilometers or 200 plus miles and it's
like a five day trip and we had electric bikes there so I used to service those and that
was my first introduction to actually riding electric bikes and actually servicing them
and about the end of last year there was an opportunity for me to buy into a franchise
of a New Zealand bike manufacturer called Malo Yellow sorry I'll put a claimless plug
there for them Malo Yellow New Zealand which designs bikes they are made in China as a
lot of things are these days but we have a free trade agreement with China so we don't
have to pay tariffs so there's a little bit of a bonus there and they get shipped over
to New Zealand of course we have distribution I'm an agent for the very bottom of the South
Island and Central Otago but they have agents all around the country and one of the good
things about me servicing bikes is that they have a competitive service after six months
or 500km, 300 miles and then you service them a year after that and you get extended warranties
if you keep up all the servicing requirements and that sort of thing so that's pretty much
how I'm involved I'm involved as both a service provider and I sell the bikes as well.
Nice and we were talking a little bit before we started recording about the bikes themselves
and you know they first we should say Malo Yellow is M-E-L-O-Y-E-L-O yeah like the song
of the 60s I do believe right I don't know if that's how they spelled it in the 60s but
that song but that's right slick is what I meant to say but I mean they have these cool
bikes but one of the things you're saying is like they're pretty easy to get on and off of in
nearly every case I only see one bike that might be a challenge the other ones seem like they're
stepped through yeah yeah so tell us a little bit about the bikes you have commuter mountain bikes
and city bikes yeah we pretty much have three bikes I'll go through the names as well the first
one is called the town and trail which has a hub motor not a lot all the other bikes have mid
motors which is where the you know where the cranks are where the with the pedals join join on the
main actual section at the front but the first bike has the motor in the rear wheel
hub and and there are benefits to that and there are pros and cons to it one of the benefits is
that the power goes straight from the motor to the wheel it's because it's in the wheel whereas the
other ones the power goes from through the chain to the rear wheel so there are benefits that it
takes a longer time to wear at your chain because the power is not going to be transferred through
that and the motors believe it or not are a little bit cheaper so those bikes the town and
trail which is our entry level bike is a little bit cheaper than the rest because of that particular
type of motor and that we had a big promotion on that a few months ago because of course the
oil crisis is all around the world so there was a big promotion for like especially in cities for
people just ditch your car and take a bike that you can plug in and it costs you almost nothing
to get to work so there was a promotion for that you know a next bike up is the one that has the
motor in where the the pedal sort of hubbers and that's again the good thing about these bikes is
they come with all the extras that you sometimes have to pay with for other bikes like they come
with mudguards they come with obviously bells and lights the lights are all come with them
and the ones that we have now the throttle works from zero so if you if you're in possibly the
wrong gear to start with and it's a bit too much to get going you can push the throttle and it
takes you off the line originally the original bikes used to have to get up to like four miles per
hour or six kilometers before the throttle would actually give you a boost but these these ones
actually they you can go from zero pretty much to start you off and then of course you have the
regular the regular gears as well they're all the first edition has eight as an eight speed
and the ones above that are 10 speeds then yeah so we have that's a second one the third one is
called the super light and it has a lighter weight aluminum frame and it has a few like all the other
bikes have adjustable stems so if people want to sit up a bit more like part of the the setup of the
bike we can adjust the just the stem so you have more of a sitting up position rather than leaning
over position and the super light just to cut down on weight because some people have to lift
their bikes onto there you know when they transport them on the bike racks so and we all know that
electric bikes are quite heavy because of the batteries so you can take the battery out and
this bike is a lot lighter and then the last one has a full suspension so they all have front
suspension but the top model has rear and front suspension so and air suspension as well so yeah
so they are they go from uh entry level up to yeah everything you're possibly imaginable
now I mean to be to be clear this is not an advertisement for melly yellow
I'm not being paid for this no Sean has been listening to the show for a long time
and I enjoy chatting with him but with that you know I'm quickly I'm 51 almost 52 I'm quickly
getting into the age of I can I can still bike just fine but at some point in time my knees which
ache every single time I walk up my stairs it's going to be more and more difficult to get around
what are some of the advantages of electric bikes not only for elderly like myself but other folks
as well who are out there if still want to get around well the thing is you it doesn't matter
well if you are if you find biking a little bit more strenuous the good thing about
all electric bikes not just the ones that I sell but all these three bikes have different levels of
assistance so I see them even when I was looking for a tour company they are very much a leveler
so it really doesn't matter who you're biking with you can keep up with them
you can you can if people are riding off into the distance because you can't keep up to them
the good the good thing about electric bike is that with the assistance is
it makes it more of a level playing field so you if you're a grandparent you get to cycle
with your grandkids and things like that so as I said it's a great leveler so it makes
the activity you're able to keep up with everyone and yeah
yeah when I was in Nevada we all went mountain biking and Tahoe once yeah and I was with people
who are skilled mountain bikers I am not we were on a single track trail and it was killing me and
I was in my late 20s early 30s then I was like this is awful because you if you're not familiar
like Lake Tahoe was like 8,000 feet in elevation and then on top of that you know you're you're
climbing the mountain yeah with your bike on the single track it is it is a skill for sure
it ate my lunch and so firefighters will definitely give you a hard time if you ride an electric bike
with that but on the other side when we're all said and done and I can walk three days later
I'll take I'll take be made fun of a little bit yeah a lot of the two companies to work for
they had just regular bikes and electric bikes and quite often and people request
you know I want a regular bike and they'd always get called it called up by the manager saying are
you sure you want a regular bike I mean there's no extra cost or anything for a for an e-bike
you know so you can take one of those on the tour as well and they say oh I'm not
no I don't think I was sick for that but we always used to take a couple of extra bikes
and quite often halfway through the tour they would opt for the electric bike because they'd
see everyone else on them and they'd think oh yeah I don't seem to have to put in the end of the day
I'm not hurting as much so yeah quite often you would get people converting to the electric bike
it's uh yeah it makes it's still activity and I mean when they first came out everyone said oh
they're just cheating but um I don't necessarily think it is and I'm quite a serious sort of road
cyclist and um yeah I as I said it just it gets people active who normally wouldn't be and um I
think it's a good thing yeah I mean before we were recording I was talking about my neighbors
they both bought one they but they retired seven years ago something like that uh right around
the pandemic so maybe a little less than that but they retired they have two e-bikes they cruise
around the neighborhood uh they're I don't know in their late 60s early 70s they are definitely not
um challenged mobility wise but when they go up to their mountain house uh it's a little bit
more of a challenge and they still want to be able to be active up there so they definitely use the
the assist more when they're up there and here it's just like there's a couple places to eat
outside the neighborhood and whatever they'll just take a ride down and have some dinner and come back
yeah yeah yeah just um like sometimes people are not like a lot of people that I deal with
haven't ridden bikes for like 30 years or some of that and that they get on them and like every
time they get off like I've got a few trails around where I live and if people had uh have come to me
to talk to test ride the bikes then um I have a special trail that we do up a little bit of an
incline knowledge I think and they're always amazed by just the the effortless way that they can get
around um with the e-bike they're still peddling of course I don't know what else I think but um yeah
they don't find that um they want to get back on it they want to keep doing it they don't feel like
oh geez I've got to go out of my e-bike or whatever or something like that so it's almost um most
people find them a pleasure to ride yeah another trip that I was talked into when I lived in Nevada
was uh biking around San Francisco and that was fun oh yeah yeah yeah but also it was a unique
challenge that I'd never experienced before yeah yeah there's a lot a lot of steep hills in San
Francisco I know yeah for a fact yeah 100% yep yep uh I'm not gonna lie I had to get off sometimes
and push yeah I'm not too proud to admit it yeah um all the bikes that I deal with even though you
can take them off road they're not like they're not seriously mountain bikes sort of bikes you know
they're more cycle trails and things like that yeah yeah I mean there is 100% more value
in being able to get out and even if you know even if you're still young and and fit and being
able to get out and uh feel motivated to get into nature there's so much benefit into that
yeah so yeah 100% so you have this new business where you're you know selling the bikes and
and maintaining them uh you talked a little bit about you just recently got a new electric
van what would you get oh yes um yeah well I gained Chinese um but um there's a company
called LDV um now I think in New Zealand they're called LDVs in other countries they're called
nexus uh in Europe and things like that um so it's one of those companies like GM's a prime example
like it might be called a Buick in one country it might be called something else
in another country um and uh so I have an LDV it's like called an e-deliver three which is um
I'm trying to think what van you would compare it to in the US it's like um a small Ford Transit
you know imagine the smallest Ford Transit commercial vehicle um you know the ones that
have no windows you know they're just like a uh well we'll call back home a panel van um
it's like it's very it's very commercial um it has a sliding door on the side obviously to access
it has two big wide like barn doors on the back um and has a few tie downs in the back I can put
four e-bikes in there and I can take them I take them to different shows and all that sort of thing
around the place um it's uh let me think it's probably I'm trying to think of kilowatt hours
it's I think it's a 52 point something 52.5 kilowatt hour battery um because New Zealand's
a relatively small country I I don't find it a problem to charge it and drive any distances
we've got I think this was on the interview the other day we've got charge net charges and there's
a few other ones that are popping up I think BP does a few here there's another company uh used
to be called Shell it's called Zed now which is a New Zealand company that BP obviously and Zed
also sell gasoline and diesel and all that thing but they have a few electric charges
on their full course as well so it's very it's almost hard not to find a charger to be honest
mate but the thing is one once you're an electric vehicle driver you see them everywhere
if you're not an electric vehicle driver you probably don't know they're out there if you
know what I mean yeah but there are charges all over the place and it only gets about I'd know
220 kilometers which is I don't know 130 miles on a full charge but I mean even though the two
regions that I cover for my that e-bike business um uh I just drive along if I need to charge I charge
if I can find a place I'm never I've never been stranded I've been stranded in a petrol car more
sorry gas car more often than I've been stranded in a electric vehicle um but yeah it's I don't find
after driving electric vehicles for I don't know how many years now five years um I've never
have a problem with running out of charge or anything like that are you still because before
I mean obviously you the last time you come to the United States every summer seems like yeah
are you still traveling as much as you travel before because I mean you were all over the
place because you were a teacher and you taught a bunch of different schools are you still traveling
that much uh no no I've sort of based myself in New Zealand for nine months of the year and I'm
used to here for 33 and a half yet so but no how do you get a
how do you get along around in New England um to be honest I have a bicycle in New
New England and I bike around a lot of places on times on my day off um around the lakes here
and all that sort of thing and um other than that I'm working so I use the work vehicle
nice yeah yeah so I've seen a lot of New England but most of it's for the work that I do here
I mean that's not bad you know to be retired and enjoy all the stuff that you're getting to enjoy
yeah yeah okay uh so you heard recently David's episode um do you have anything to add as far
as uh what we covered in in the the New Zealand auto market when it comes to EVs actually there's
one thing I was talking about um I think he said he had a car called a Suzuki Vitara yes okay um I
know what the um the US equivalent is do you remember years ago there was a thing called a
Geo Tracker yeah yep that's what it is it's the same vehicle yeah yeah I had a captain that had a
tractor you know I was talking about GM has different different brands in different countries
it's the same thing uh Suzuki Vitara I think I remember seeing them on the road here years ago
I thought they looked like a Suzuki Vitara and that's pretty much yeah same sort of thing a Geo
Tracker oh I think I'm pretty sure that's what it was anyway yeah I mean they look pretty close
yeah yeah do you have any other kind of like uh thoughts about because you know we got David's
perspective on EVs and when I talked to you the last time which I think was two years ago seems
yeah whatever yeah yeah um there wasn't quite as many options in New Zealand as far as EVs go
is there anything that's catching your eye um well there's a lot more vehicles now I think he's
I think he said he had a BYD Ato3 he has a C10 a lead motor C10 oh that's right sorry lead motor
yeah that's right um yeah so they've they've just come in and um there's there's like quite a lot
of big selection now um a lot of them are Chinese vehicles um we still have the odd Volkswagen and
and then of course Tesla's uh there's quite a lot of those there but um yeah I'd say like MG
um another Chinese make um yeah lead lead motor has come through BYD is quite I'd say quite big as well
then they have about I know three or four models I think that they sell in New Zealand
and of course we we do actually I've seen advertising on TV there for the Kia's
Kia EV359 possibly yeah yeah so yeah Hyundai and Kia are reasonably reasonably popular in New
Zealand I think as well so well Sean if you kind of had some tips to to give to someone who's looking
at buying an e-bike what are some things that they should look out for uh what what I recommend
is what what you do is take take one for a test ride um if you can like uh if you go into a bike
shop um they should they should let you go for a test ride um if they don't go somewhere else um
you should be able to get out onto the road and um try them and I'll tell you what
we're a helmet that's sort of the biggest uh oh for sure yeah yeah I've come off bikes numerous
times and I've always thought oh you know you should be able to put your hands down to to
stop the crash but no sometimes they happen so quickly that um yeah you don't want a head injury
no so I definitely recommend if you've got a few a few I recommend taking a couple for a test ride
don't just take one say yep that's for me take a couple for a test ride um
um and um go in there with some thoughts of what you want um because there are lots of
different variations there's like even for businesses that see cargo bikes like uh
your uber eats or whatever I'm sure they they might be getting into it quite recently if
they're not into it already um you know deliver do you have delivery here maybe not maybe that's
no but I have seen in uh more dense areas people delivering on their bikes and we even have the
the door dash little robots on running around yeah um so um yeah definitely I recommend taking
for a test ride um finding out what uh the salesperson should be able to tell you what
what uh functions they have like um like I personally only know the pedal assist ones I
don't know the ones that have the throttles that can take you up to 45 miles an hour and things like
that um but you should be able to take it for a test ride and try it on a hill and if it if um
if you have to put in less effort than you think you should then that is a good indicator that you've
got yourself a reasonably suitable bike and you should try that you shouldn't I'll be honest
you shouldn't have to put in a huge amount of effort on an e-bike um to go up a little bit
of an incline you know so uh yeah I've um again as I said I'm a big road cyclist so I
quite like hills um but I will there will be times when I'll be using the throttle I'll be
honest yeah yeah so what what's kind of some important features for you um for an e-bike
definitely the um I like the fact that if I've got it in the wrong gear and it's too hard and I've
stopped but I can use the throttle to get myself moving and then select the right gear at that
point it's probably the best thing for the bike in the drive system but you know it's uh yeah
they're made they're made for a little bit of abuse I think but um yeah yeah that's one advantage
I like is that these bikes do have a throttle the bikes that I sell anyway and lots of bikes on the
market have throttle throttles from zero you don't have to start pedaling before you get the assist
and um if you've got multiple um assistance levels those are quite good as well because you
don't want to run out of battery because then you've just got a very heavy machine that you've
got to get home um so if you're on the flat and you don't need the highest assistance setting just
set it down to the lowest assistance setting and peddle along and yeah it'll be shouldn't be a problem
at all well awesome how would people find out more of what you're doing Sean more of what I'm
doing yes sir there's a wonderful website called um malo yellow dot NZ and and um that will put you
in contact with our main website and if you happen to be in my area I will get a contact and I will
then call you up and arrange some test rides for you like I what I do when I'm the good thing about
at the moment the reason why I'm in the US and I don't have to worry I've got someone in New Zealand
looking after it at the moment but it's winter down there at the moment so winter's not the best
time for any sort of biking activity um people tend to think it's cold outside let's not venture
out too much on the motorcycle um so but during the um when I get back in like September until
about May next year if there's a request for a test ride I pretty much go to them with the bikes
and then we get to go for a little test ride I I know a lot of areas where we can go into parks
and do um do trails around the place and um you can have a good insight test all the bikes
that I've got available and if they choose to pitch one then fine if they don't the good thing
about Mella Yellow the uh the company is we have like a no pressure you know sort of attitude to
our selling of the bikes you know people can come along people can test ride them ask any questions
they can even go away we actually recommend go away test ride some others we'll contact you in
a week and a half two weeks see what the story is if you want another test ride come back and
we'll sort it out so it's a very no pressure sort of um company that we've got going in New Zealand so
people seem to be quite happy with it we always have good um good feedback from our from our
customers and people that have come for test rides nice and it's a good way to go on a
nice gated trip yeah yeah yeah exactly sometimes I take them out there um especially people are
unused or new back to riding like I take them around some quiet areas so there's no traffic
flying by it's speed limit high speed limits and things like that and um we just chat as we go along
and um yeah any questions they have and I get I get them to go through all the different functions
that the bikes have and so they get quite comfortable with that so they know everything
that the bike has to offer and yeah the the test rides are I mean some of these car
bikes like I'm a bike shop where I bought my kids bikes from like I got my bike from a cheap
sporting goods store but my kids bikes my wife's bikes are are treks and uh some of their treks
electric bikes are 20000 dollars yeah I've gone into shops before and I've seen
there 24000 in New Zealand yeah 44000 dollars for a bike now
I would find that hard to justify I've just bought a 24000
dollar bike it's like yeah but people buy them it's um it's quite surprising but yeah but even at
you know 5000 dollars it's a used car in in a lot of places so you should be able to test
drive it yeah exactly yeah all right Sean well thank you so much for coming on
and sharing with us and good chat nice catching up yeah yeah no problem no problem at all all right
I want to give a big humongous thank you to Sean um I always love getting a chance to chat with him
he's really a cool life does lots of cool things uh go to the link in the show notes
to find out more about you know how to get in touch with a mellow yellow representative
and yeah I don't know I once or twice a year I get a chance to you know chat with him over email
and I just I one of the best things about doing this podcast is meeting cool people like Sean so
anyway I feel blessed for a lot of different reasons uh again a big thank you to Sean for
for coming on the show and chatting and you know hopefully he comes to the U.S. once a year like
he said for three months so I feel confident that Sean would come on next year in the summer
or in our summer anyway and come on the show and and chat with us again so all right everybody
that is it for us today on Wednesday's episode I haven't planned it yet but it will be news
and then Friday we'll have a little bit of news probably shorter than the episodes have been
recently just because you know we're clearing out the queue and um and I can't I can't continue to do
45 minute episodes plus episodes every we every episode so we'll we'll go back to a more reasonable
20 30 minute episodes this week uh again thanks to Sean thanks to everybody for listening to the
show oh and thanks to the team at the car stuff podcast for having me on I appreciate every one
of you and I will talk to you soon if you like the show please take a moment to rate review
and subscribe it really does help the show to grow thank you for listening
About this episode
Electric bikes take center stage as Shaun Howarth shares how he got into the space—guiding and servicing bikes on New Zealand’s Alps to Ocean route—and what he learned from running a franchise. The conversation covers practical buying advice like taking a test ride, understanding throttle vs pedal-assist, and prioritizing helmet safety. Shaun also breaks down tech choices (hub motors, throttle behavior, chain wear), plus comfort and range realities like removable batteries and service intervals.
On this episode of Kilowatt, host Bodie sits down with returning guest and New Zealand resident Sean Howarth to explore the world of electric bikes. Sean shares his transition from professional bike mechanic and scenic trail tour guide to becoming a local franchisee and distributor for MeloYelo, a Kiwi-owned e-bike company designed for New Zealand's rugged terrain. Together, they break down the structural differences between hub motors and mid-drive motors, the practical benefits of step-through frames, and how thumb throttles from a complete stop can level the playing field for riders of all ages and fitness levels. Sean also highlights his experience navigating local regions using his all-electric LDV eDeliver 3 commercial van to transport demo units for no-pressure customer test rides. Whether you are a veteran cyclist or considering your very first electric ride, this conversation is packed with invaluable tips for finding the perfect e-bike.
