Bimotal Inc.
Powering electric vehicles with better motors, batteries, electronics, and software
Highlights
Featured Investor
“I have been involved in finance and operations for major technology companies for 35+ years, supporting companies to scale at every stage. I chose to invest in Bimotal because I immediately saw the promise of their vision and the dedication to their mission of improving the health of people and the planet. Watching the company grow from inception to launch (including the Silicon Valley tradition of starting in a garage!), I’ve been continuously impressed with their integrity, strategy, and r...”
Our Team
Page Outline:
- What does Bimotal do?
- Our Vision and Mission
- Why Bimotal?
- Bimotal's Master Plan
- The Pitch
- Product Testimonials
- Technology and Design Philosophy
- Founder's Story: Bimotal Started as a Need
- Links (blog, product, details, etc.)
- Wrap-up and Conclusions
1. What does Bimotal do?
Bimotal designs and develops custom electric powertrains for small electric vehicles [EVs] weighing 20-50 pounds. A powertrain is the electric motor, gearbox, battery, charger, electronics, and software that makes a vehicle electric. Tesla is pushing the envelope on the technology front for large EVs. But smaller EVs need the same level of technical development and they're not getting it--that's where we come in. Switching out all gas-powered vehicles for same-sized electric cars is not enough to get us to our global carbon emission targets. We need reliable, safe, compelling, portable, modular, and serviceable small EVs [ebikes, e-scooters, power-assist wheelchairs, and more] to solve the transportation segment of the global climate crisis. Our proven engineering expertise enables us to build the most power-dense, small, and lightweight powertrains on the market.
- Link: Elevate Product - Web Page
- Link: Mid-Drive Product - Power Point Deck
- Coming soon: Wheelchair Product - Power Point Deck [Not yet public!]
Elevate: This is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) product. We have pilot customers in the field, we've built most of the manufacturing tooling we need, and we're ready to ramp up production.
Mid-Drive: This is a business to business (B2B) product. We're currently building Beta prototypes after a successful Alpha design that validated the technology we developed in our novel gearbox. We're approximately 18 months into the 3-year development cycle, with initial funding provided by a top bike brand.
Wheelchair: This is a B2B product. Our aim is to leverage the motor and gear design we're doing for the bike industry and bring lighter, more-economical power-assist solutions to the wheelchair mobility market. About 1% of the population uses a wheelchair (50-80MM people globally). 65% of that market consists of folding wheelchairs, many of those users suffer shoulder injuries from overuse. There is an incredible opportunity for light-weight, removable power-assist solutions optimized for folding wheelchairs: we're setting out to build it.
Investor: Why multiple programs? Shouldn't you focus on one powertrain design?
Bimotal: Doing multiple programs allows us to leverage our engineering efforts across multiple business fronts. Let's take Elevate and wheelchairs as an example. Developing Elevate to the point of a highly-functional prototype took about 1.5 years. Developing a wheelchair motor system to the same place will take approximately 3-6 months, due to all of our applied learnings, common components, and shared suppliers. Doing multiple programs lets us acquire more total resources and go deeper in various technical aspects that are shared across programs. In the end, this will yield a better powertrain in each of our programs.
2. Bimotal's Vision and Mission:
Our vision is to transform the health of humans and the planet. We are achieving this vision through our mission: reducing barriers to car-free mobility.
- Link: How Bimotal got its name - Blog Post
3. Why Bimotal?
We need better light-weight forms of transportation. We need reliable batteries. We need light-weight, portable ebikes with enough torque and power. 100’s, maybe 1000’s of companies are working on small EVs (Electric Vehicles). Only a few companies have the technical capability to do ground-up powertrain design. Bimotal is creating enabling technology--think Intel Inside to computers--to make this happen. We do millions of cloud-based motor simulations and designs to find an optimal handful for each application. We have a brilliant engineering team with an unparalleled bar for packaging and space efficiency. We’re here to lift an industry up, to accelerate adoption. Keep reading and help power our vision for a healthier, happier planet.
Bimotal featured in ANSYS Earth Rescue Documentary
4. Bimotal's Master Plan
- Focus on core technology - Small electric powertrains [Elevate]
- Gain Traction - Expand the business model, scale [Mid-Drive, Wheelchair]
- Vertical integration - Pursue to grow competitive advantages [full vehicle]
5. The Pitch
Problem: Small EV serviceability, weight, and design
Solution: fully optimized powertrains for small EVs
Market: TAM over $50B and a focused, premium beachhead
Competition: Bimotal is the clear leader in power density
Advantage: Technology, team, speed, and focus
Business Model: Scale with B2B powertrains
G2M: Powertrains scale to multiple business verticals
Forward-looking projections cannot be guaranteed.
Revenue: Path to $100MM+ with conservative market share
Forward looking projections cannot be guaranteed.
Traction: $5.5MM B2B contract, significant D2C orders
Forward looking projections cannot be guaranteed.
Raise: $3MM to accelerate growth
Only $1.235M of the $3M will be solicited in this Wefunder offering.
6. Product Testimonials
"I have an extreme passion for mountain biking, and I think the "Elevate" product that Bimotal is creating is one of the greatest biking inventions I have ever seen. I was wondering if there was a position available on your team for someone with my skill set?" - Tesla Gigafactory Manufacturing Engineer
7. Technology and Design Philosophy
Design philosophy
Closed-loop design
We iterate our designs based on thorough analysis of current prototypes in all areas: structural design, thermal simulation, magnetic simulation, and more. We then correlate our computer simulations' predicted performance to real-life performance that is measured in the lab.
Elevate exploded animation - we design everything
- Link: Website technology page - Web Page
8. Founder's Story: Bimotal Started as a Need
Bimotal started with a ski crash. Founder Toby Ricco suffered a knee injury and wanted to continue mountain biking, but couldn't manage the steep hills. He looked extensively at ebikes and conversion kits but did not find a solution that was as light, removable, or integrated as he envisioned possible.
"I couldn't find anything that was light, removable, and added the assist I needed to ascend my favorite trails without knee pain. I was stubborn and knew there had to be a better way. I spent months looking at my bike until the concept of Elevate hit me, a way to drive torque through a bike's disc brake. Bimotal transitioned into a B2B powertrain company in the process of pitching Elevate to other companies--OEM's [original equipment manufacturers] loved the team and innovation, but wanted something specifically optimized for their application. Now we're working on a variety of powertrains that will improve the fidelity of our technology (battery, motor, electronics) across all products. And we are still as committed as ever to get Elevate into the world."
9. Link Summary
- Bimotal website home - Web Page
- Blog - Web Page
- Investor Deck - PowerPoint Slides
- Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions - PowerPoint Slides
- Elevate Product - Web Page
- Mid-Drive Product - PowerPoint Slides
- Coming soon: Wheelchair Product - PowerPoint Slides
- Youtube - Social
- Instagram - Social
- Facebook - Social
10. Wrap-up and Conclusions
- This is an opportunity to invest in an incredible team, tackling relevant issues in a very conscious and focused way
- Bimotal has multiple lines of business expected to reach $100MM+ annual revenue (not guaranteed), with real products in the field and the backing of a major industry player
- Back us to help build amazing products that will transform the health of humans and the planet!