It’s a story as old as time. A company thinks it has dialed in the future of mobility with a striking electric motorcycle. Said company then opens bookings for said groundbreaking new motorcycle for a small amount of money. Thousands of people take the bait and hand their money to the company. Then, the company somehow can’t manage its expenses, closes its doors, and leaves its customers furious.
And the last few months have been devastating for that industry, as we’ve seen the electric motorcycle industry shrink, with big players either filing for bankruptcy, entering receivership, or changing hands in a bid to keep their business afloat. The latest to fall victim to this is Fuell, an electric two-wheeler company that was the brainchild of Erik Buell, a formerly big name in the American motorcycle industry.
Following Erik’s departure from Buell Motorcycles, he decided to continue his legacy in the world of e-mobility. Fuell Inc. was the result of this, with a series of electric bicycles and later on, a full-size electric motorcycle in the pipeline. On paper, the Fuell Fllow (no, that isn’t a typo) was a pretty cool machine. The company claimed a single-charge range of 150 miles and a continuous output of about 47 ponies from the electric motor. Fuell began taking pre-orders for the futuristic machine valued at $100, with a remaining $13,995 payable upon delivery of the finished bike.
Back then, Fuell promised that the Fllow would make its way to customers by September of 2024. Well, it’s November now, and the Fuell Fllow is nowhere to be seen. And that’s because, surprise, surprise, Fuell has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as it has found out that it doesn’t have the funds necessary to pay for the costs associated with producing and distributing its products.
It’s a similar story with Fuell’s e-bikes, the Flluid-2 and Flluid-3 (again, not typos). The company reportedly raised more than $1.5 million in crowdfunding through an Indiegogo campaign, but the bikes never went on to be mass-produced. What’s going on here?
