‘People Are Shocked at How Much Further They Can Go’: The Suped-Up Electric Wheels Silicon Valley Is Stockpiling
One e-bike per family no longer suffices—here are the specialty electric boards, bikes, scooters and minicars zipping around the Valley.
Like fitness trackers and Pelotons, electric-powered bikes, boards and scooters are now a Silicon Valley mainstay—and one per family may no longer suffice. With the marketplace filling with new and highly specialized electric wheels, each serving a specific function, trip length or mood, it’s becoming increasingly common for households to purchase two, three, four or even more electric wheels, from an entry-level e-bike to a souped-up golf cart.
Shaun Abrahamson is one such e-fanatic, swapping out car trips for regular e-bike and e-board rides. Last week the managing partner at Los Angeles–based venture capital firm Third Sphere was in danger of missing his dinner plans due to killer LA traffic. But he made it on time and without breaking a sweat aboard his top-of-the-line Super73 bike—one of four e-bikes the Abrahamson family owns, along with three e-boards—which whisked him about eight miles to Venice in 25 minutes. “Generally people are shocked at how much further they can go with very little effort,” Abrahamson said of his assortment of e-wheels. “I mean, that’s the main, mind-blowing thing.”
From one-wheeled electric boards to electric minicars to the “SUVs of e-bikes,” here are tech executives’ and investors’ favorite e-mobility vehicles and accessories.