…and thank god for that.
Dust Moto looks at motocross from a lifestyle lens. It doesn’t want to go low – the Sur-Rons and Talarias can breathe. It doesn’t want to go high – Stark can wait. Dust wants to make an excellent motocross bike that is good-looking and well-finished, with high-quality components. In doing so, they want to maintain a high dose of off-the-shelf components, do things quickly, and do them at an optimized cost to market.
We sat down with Colin over an interview that stretched beyond an hour. The edited version is live on InsightEV and has a super long format, like with most of our interviews. You may need a good 25 minutes and a cup of coffee, but it’s gold, and something that all electric startups and their investors should do a deep read of.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
Tough being A-Live
Livewire’s full-year unit sales could not cross the 2023 numbers, even as cost-cutting measures and a high loss base meant that the Milwaukee-based Harley offshoot could improve on its losses. It needs new and smaller products. It needs a huge cultural shift in America. It needs a miracle.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
Ola and its misrepresentations
Marketing is critical for technology creation, and India-based Ola Electric has always been good at it. Taking market leadership in electric scooters in an ultra-competitive market is no easy feat. However, we have noticed that their marketing hyperbole often makes technology claims that simply do not exist. In the last two weeks, they have claimed Brake-by-wire and achieving ABS through motor retardation, claims that do not measure up to reality.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
Hero Shocks in a Top-Deck Reshuffle
India-based Hero MotoCorp, the second-largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world, announced the removal of its CEO and CBO. They also separated the underperforming EV business units. Hero is separating its EV & Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU) into a fully independent entity. The promoter-chairman will now mentor the EV unit personally.
Vmoto Remains Under Stress
The ASX-listed (and soon-to-be delisted) Vmoto released its annual sales numbers for 2024, down 33% over 2023. Sales continue to fall in China and the rest of the world, even as the company stresses its positive cash flows and strong balance sheet, and sales are expected to recover in the near term.
That’s a wrap for today. This newsletter will be back next Friday. The posts on the website are more frequent. Also, there is a new X in town.
