Britain’s Best-Selling Electric Bike — And Why Maeving Is Betting Big on UK Manufacturing!

In this episode of the Fully Charged Show Podcast, Imogen Bhogal sits down with Seb Inglis-Jones, the co-founder and CEO of Maeving, the UK’s leading electric motorcycle manufacturer.

Seb shares the origin story of Maeving — from building a team of ex-Triumph and Norton engineers to hand-building retro-styled electric bikes in Coventry. They dive into the beauty of removable batteries, reviving two-wheeled mobility and manufacturing in the UK and, what it takes to convert even the most loyal of petrolheads to electric!

Seb also explains how Maeving is expanding internationally — city by city — and why the joy, calm, and mindfulness of electric motorbiking is pulling in a new generation of riders.

00:00 Introduction
01:09 Ad Break
01:24 Maeving
42:30 Concluding thoughts
43:11 Duracell Ad

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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Fully Charge Show podcast where today we’re catching up with Seb English Jones who is the co-founder and CEO of Maven, a motorbike and electric motorbike company based here in the UK. Now, if you’ve not heard of Maven before, then go and take a look on Google images, have a look at their beautiful bikes. They have the RM1 and the RM1S, both of which just need CBTs, so your compulsory basic training rather than a full motorbike license. They are truly beautiful, perhaps really well known for their retrofuturistic design. And in this episode, we’re going to get into the details of Maven, how this startup came to be, what are some of their challenges in terms of creating electric motorbikes here in the UK, and how can we get more people onto two- wheeled electric mobility. Now, one thing that we did mention is price fairly early on in the podcast. And what I didn’t mention is that actually you can lease these bikes for less than the cost of a monthly Oyster card. So, that can make them super super compelling. So, all of that is coming, but first, a very quick Charged. Seb, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast on this really rather lovely Thursday morning. Um, there will be so many people listening who will be absolutely familiar with who Maven is. Uh, they will have either seen you at one of our live shows or seen the amazing episode that Jack did in the summer last year. But perhaps for those who aren’t familiar, could you give us the elevator pitch? So Maving is Britain’s first uh and I’m glad to say at the moment bestselling electric motorcycle manufacturer. Um we started the business not that long ago about 2018. And the thing that really defines all the products that we’ve made is that we champion removable batteries. So the idea that despite you know it being a kind of fullyfledged EV, you can take the battery out of the vehicle and charge it at any standard socket which completely overcomes this whole this whole sort of challenge of charging infrastructure being a barrier to electric adoption. So that’s one of the key tenants. And then the other thing is leaning into the rich heritage that the UK has in the world of uh British motorcycleycling. you know, we’re not really known for that much these days anymore as a country um in terms of manufacturing, but but motorcycle design still uh remains one of the of the things and so our bikes I think reflect the kind of best eras of British motorcycle design and that oh sorry I was just going to say and also you know quite a few members of the team have kind of cut their teeth in some of the great British brands. That’s something I definitely want to touch on in this interview because your team is really really quite extraordinary and that’s been incredibly deliberate choice. So, we will get into that. I want to just touch also on those removable batteries because, you know, there are various things, various solutions out there with removable batteries, but what’s really stunning about the Ming ones is that they’re they’re very beautiful. Um, they’re kind you wouldn’t mind having them in the corner of your living room, say, charging away. Well, I think I think that was sort of part and parcel of this idea of trying to introduce a culture where people are, you know, just as you would charge your phone and your laptop at your desk at work or or wherever, you know, even in a in a coffee shop, you sort of you do the same with your battery. So, this has really been pioneered by by the Chinese actually. I mean, you know, now China is such a a big player in the world of EV and and everyone knows that, but back in the day when we started the business, you know, China wasn’t really talked about in the west. It was mainly Norway which had just gone past I think 50% electric adoption and Germany and had pretty pretty big adoption rates but but um China was nowhere to see be seen but actually in the two wheel space you know 80% electric adoption and everyone got used to this idea of having removable battery bikes essentially because the Chinese government sort of outlawed um petrol almost overnight in order to get rid of the the issues with the really bad air pollution they were having in cities. So this whole, you know, movement had to start without really any charging infrastructure. And so removable batteries um were the natural solution to that. Um and now, yeah, you go into a coffee shop or you go into a someone’s apartment in in in uh in Shanghai and they they’ve got their battery on the table charging away. So why not make it beautiful? Yeah, why not make it beautiful? And also, you know, even from a um weight perspective, they’re about 10 kilos. Is that right? So yeah. Well, actually 12 for the RM1 and then about 15 for the RM1S. Um, the RM1S being obviously, you know, higher top speed and and about twice the acceleration the RM1. So, um, and the R1S you can obviously charge the bike directly as well. So, it kind of depends whether you’ve got you live on the outskirts of the city and you’ve got a garage and you can just you plug it in or whether like me you live in a um an apartment in London and it’s yeah, it’s it’s a relief to know that you can just take it out, charge it. Yeah. So, two flagship products at the moment, the RM1 and the RM1S. You’ve mentioned a couple of the key differences between them, but could you sort of spell that out even clear more clearly for our audience? Yeah, absolutely. So, they’re all I mean, you know, they’re they both share the same lineage in terms of design. So, they’re both, as I said, quite quite kind of heritage inspired. Um for anyone who’s familiar with the the cafe racer era of the kind of um 50s60s that’s the where they both hark back to in terms of their design language. Um the RM1 is kind of built specifically with new riders and purely city riding in mind. So top speed of 45 miles per hour, 80 miles of range. It’s a little bit lighter, you know, it’s a bit sort of more uh relaxed off the line. Um and there are plenty of people who live, you know, in London and for whom that bike just makes complete sense. It’s also a little bit more affordable. It starts at five grand. Um the RM1S is for I guess it’s been designed for people whose journeys might take them outside the city center who need to you know spend three times on um motorways and and a roads because that’s got a 70 m per hour top speed. Um I’d also say I guess for the for the bikers among us, I’m you know I’ve grown up loving bikes and cars and the RM1S for me is you know just in terms of speed and and performance is the one to go for. Um, and I think genuinely for riding around town, I would say given bearing in mind that I do still ride the occasional petrol bike, I would say the R1S is the best city bike you can get because it’s automatic. It’s got like bicycle brakes. It’s just super easy to ride. You’re not constantly kind of changing up and down gears, you know, between traffic. So, yeah, it’s good. And critically, so I did um I joined the shoot that uh Jack and the team did last year and you just feel so cool and people stop and ask you questions about them because it’s such a beautiful design. Um I think you said retrofuturistic there and so people stop and they’re curious and they want to know more. Um, and you know there are many people for whom outside of London you quickly get into those areas where you do need to go above 50 60 m per hour and then you can have a bit more confidence with the RM1s. For sure. you know, you I’m I’m glad you said I look I I think that I think people still even though actually in some ways motorcycleycling has has it’s it’s become quite niche, you know, in this country and in in a lot of um European countries as well, not so much southern Europe where it’s more popular, but you know, we can talk about that about how I think it’s seeing a bit of a revival. Um but people still they just love the look of motorbikes and particularly kind of old school motorbikes. And so I I think the bike is beautiful in its own right, but the fact that it’s also kind of quiet and it has this slightly different aura about it. It’s obviously the acceleration is quite good. I think people are just really intrigued and and and sort of confused when they’re working out slowly that it is electric and it is something new. Um so I think you do tend to get quite a lot of attention on it. Now one of the things that came up on our video was the price. M and I think whenever we talk about electric vehicles in any capacity be them sort of two wheelers or traditional cars the question of price comes up because we know that presently there are some instances where we are at price parity definitely at price parity from a running cost perspective um you know if you look at the overall total cost of ownership but that initial purchase price is a little bit higher. So, I wonder if you could sort of share how the RM1 and the RM1S compare to say their internal combustion engine counterparts and do they ultimately end up being something that is cheaper to own versus one of those um internal combustion engine? Sure. Well, actually the I think the first thing I’d say is that the reason that our bikes are a little bit more expensive um is more to do with the fact that they’re built in the factory that I’m in currently in the UK. Okay. So, all of our bikes are handbuilt in in, you know, Britain and the components that we use are incredibly high quality. So, we’ve, you know, we we’ve decided to um to engage with a supply chain that is is is quite elevated versus some of our um competitors. So, I think I think it’s just worth saying actually that’s really where the price piece comes in. And I like to think, you know, based on the fact that we are out selling um, you know, all of those cheaper Chinese players, but also the likes of, you know, Kawasaki and BMW, that people are recognizing that quality um, and and the, you know, the role that design plays and the performance as well. So, I think it’s important to get that first because there are actually electric scooters and motorbikes you can buy in this country that are as affordable as the most affordable 125cc, you know, comparable petrol scooters and bikes. But actually there is not a huge or or any green premium for people who are just purely looking to get the most affordable product you know. So if we but so having said that if we take something I think the most popular bike uh comparable bike in this country at the moment is the Honda PCX125. This is a um you know there’s actually there’s a scooter there’s a motorcycle variant um and that is about three and a half grand versus our £5,000 RM1. So there is a premium that you pay in in the first instance, but if you look at it over the course of 5 years, it’s actually only I think it’s 18% or no, it’s 14% more expensive for the RM1. So that’s taking into account road tax, insurance, petrol use for the average UK commuter. Um so actually it is, you know, um the cost of ownership over the course of four years, it’s pretty similar. Um, and so, so I think the fact that we’ve managed to make a bike that is built in the UK that looks as it does and actually, you know, once once you’ve ridden it for a few years is virtually the same price as the most affordable um, you know, most popular 125 cc bike is pretty is pretty impressive. That is extremely impressive. And actually when I’ve spoken to various engineering friends, we’ve been talking about the maving had one engineering friend who was like okay I need you to find out how on earth they have achieved that quality at the price point because there’s things like really really beautiful machined parts that just have such a high quality feel. I mean, your suppliers are all extremely well-known suppliers, which is quite rare for a startup because typically you don’t have that kind of leverage to to be able to command those good prices from those enormous enormous tier one suppliers. But I know how you’ve structured your team and how you’ve chosen to be in Coventry, sort of the heartland of uh motorcycleycling in the UK, that’s all kind of enabled some of those things. Completely. Completely. It’s all it’s entirely down to the team. Um, so I think when we started the business, we felt very strongly the, you know, the only bikes really that were were in the market were these Chinese imports and the a lot of these bikes are absolutely fantastic at what they’ve been designed to do. You know, they’re built for a populace that are much more price sensitive, a domestic market that has a, you know, where you can buy bikes between $400 and $1,500. Um, and naturally there’s a bit of a, you know, cost-saving exercise that goes into the the quality around that, but that’s sufficient for that market. So, we by comparison wanted to really dig into the quality and to focus on um, you know, making products that people were really proud to own and had that that kind of metal work that you were talking about earlier, stitch seats, you know, all you all that kind of stuff. Um, so we we decided as a company that we were only going to hire the most, you know, people who were top of their game. So our first hire was was Triumph’s head of product guy called Graeme Gilbert. Um the key person for this you know kind of conversation is our head of procurement who’s guy called Neville Thomas who was head of um procurement at Triumph and Norton but also Polestar London Electric Vehicle Company you know all the sort of big um EV players and so it’s entirely through him that we were able to attract um suppliers like Bosch for example who just don’t work with startups um you know young companies as we were back then um and so it was entirely based on their relationship that we were able to to essentially, you know, are just relatively small batches of parts from companies that usually only deal in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Um, and I think the fact that it was, you know, the team, the design that we were one of the few western players, you know, so I think they were also taking a bit of a, you know, bit of an interest in how that market was developing. Um, and and so I think yeah, that that’s how we’ve managed to get the quality, that’s how we managed to get the price. Also, that’s how we managed to fend off the challenges of COVID as well because most businesses that were kind of forged in the fires of COVID did not do so well out of the supply crisis off the back of it. Um, so yeah, entirely down to the caliber of the team and I imagine so for those who are listening, not watching, Seb is not in his 50s. you are early 30s to answer that question. 34, which is horrifying because I remember when I first met you, I think it would have been back in maybe 2021, I was like, “Oh my god, we’re similar age and you’ve started a company and I have not started a company.” But I suspect many investors when you first had those initial conversations, maybe that might have been a bit of a challenge to convince them that you were someone they should back, I imagine they also had a perception that your company was going to be made up of 21 year olds sitting on bean bags. Was that the case? Um, so I think do you know it’s almost one of the advantages of being young and the fact that that my co-founder Will and I have absolutely no history and you know no technical skills you know no engineering skills is that you we just instantly had to lean on very experienced people and so right from the outset the plan was as I said to to to you know hire um a team that really bunches above its weight essentially to sort of take a silo product team from within a really establish you know one of one of one of the great motorcycle manufacturers and and and recreate that on a single product in the first instance in our team. And you know, we’ve also surround ourselves in terms of investors and advisers and our board with incredibly experienced people who more than account for our uh the follyies of youth um and who, as I said, you know, we we just have to rely on them entirely because of our particular skill sets and how much they diverge from that technical skill set. I I think in many ways some of the the companies that have struggled in the EV space have been the ones where it’s been a a kind of a technical founder. You know, he’s been an excellent engineer but maybe not been approaching the whole venture from commercial perspective. That’s very diplomatically phrased I think there. Um but it is fascinating that you know a startup of any nature is really really challenging and that core team of experts of people that you you trust so implicitly is absolutely essential to to best set something up for its success. Um now one of the things that’s really fascinating to me is that you know I would say I’m not a typical person in the biker community probably making lots of assumptions there but I looked at the Ming when I first you know stumbled across it and thought that that is amazing. This is the kind of bike that allows me to have that Jennifer Culage moment sort of riding around Italy feeling extremely extremely glamorous. But has it how has it been received by the broader and more stereotypical biker community? Well, yeah, it’s interesting you say that because we I think pretty unashamedly, you know, built the company around the idea that we wanted to attract the new the new ride, you know, the kind of new generation of riders because partly because, you know, if we’re honest, the motorcycle community in the west has been slightly dying out. You know, the average age for motorcyclist in 2024 was 57. Um, you know, it’s almost entirely male. Um it’s a lot of people who are very very wedded to you know naturally to this incredible um heritage of motorcycleycling which you know involves petrol engines, vibrations, noise, you know um the kind of the oil rag as you clean the button all of that kind of stuff which which which I’ve completely bought into you in the past. And so we thought right we we’ve got to focus on the new rider and people who are not wedded to that that sort of lineage. But the surprise for us when we came to the market when we first went to Motorcycle Live, which is the UK’s biggest motorcycle show, and launched our first bike, having just literally, you know, got it on the road for the first time, was that we got a really positive reception from the motorcycle community. And I think that is down to the fact that we have chosen to build our bikes in the UK, our factories in Coventry. um that we uh are the design is very again very anglocentric but also the fact that we we made it clear from the start that we’re not here to replace you know your your big adventure bikes your sports bikes you know we don’t think electric is quite there yet we don’t think that’s the sweet spot where we think it makes complete sense is in the low power kind of commuting space in you know in cities in particular and so I I I think that that much softer message of we’re not here to kind of, you know, tread on your toes and and take away your your your favorite bikes. We’re here to kind of supplement the bike market with something that we think makes complete sense within its context. Um, and I think those, you know, Yeah, that was really positive message. Wow. Because I think that ability to to recognize that you can’t be all things to all people actually avoids pissing people off, I suppose, in a funny way. Yeah. Exactly. And I think too often um you know EV players have tried to tell people that their love of noise and and all the rest of it is is sort of illegitimate and it’s not completely understandable. It’s just that there are also benefits to electric. You know, once you might miss the the hor the tech that I’m sure neighbors and people in the countryside don’t miss the kind of sound of ducatis racing down the road, but you know, you might miss that, but then you might begin to appreciate the silence, the peace, the kind of tranquility, the meditative element of riding. You might start focusing on your, you know, the environment around you. You might notice as you turn your bike on at 5 in the morning to, you know, in the sort of in the early hours that you’re not pissing off your neighbors. You know, there’s lots of stuff there. um you know even aside from the positive effects on the environment and the rest of it. So I just think you got to be real about the benefits and and also accept that there will be people who will just still be in awe of petrol engines and have a love for for all the kind of heritage bikes and cars as I do. That I feel is the is the humility that we need in the electrification discussion generally because cars and any sort of mobility is weird because on the one hand they represent a very practical thing that you need to get from A to B. On the other hand they are so imbued with emotion and they evoke loads of emotion and perhaps even more so when it comes to motorbikes as well. And I I feel very certain I might have told you this story before, but I don’t think I really understood why people were so obsessed with motorbikes who are um who are in the riding community until I was riding around the Cotsworld. The sun was shining. It was really the roads were really really quiet and I felt this is the closest I have ever felt to flying. This is unbelievable. And I thought I’m I’m convinced. I’m totally convinced. And then I looked at my uh speedometer and I was going 23 miles an hour. Little way to go there, but you know um my mom would at least be proud that I’m not racing around. Um but that sort of that feel of okay, we know that we can’t be all things to all people has also, it seems, really really informed your scaling strategy because you mentioned to me a few months ago that actually you don’t even look country by country. It’s much more localized than that. perhaps even city by city. So walk us through that logic and is that there to try and identify those really really core customers for whom the maven products will really resonate? Um I will absolutely answer that question. I’ve just got to respond to the the the gliding thing. Um just because the it we’ve we’ve recently we’ve been lucky to attract a few a few kind of celebrity you know riders um who who’ve um fallen in love with our bikes and got them and two of those recently we’ve actually done short films with. One of whom is Ashley Walters who’s in adolescence and top boy and it’s you know quite a man of the moment GQ man of the year. The other was a um celebrity chef called Tom Brown that we just we just put a video out a few days ago and it’s it’s been so we’ve learned so much from them about what they enjoy about the bikes. Both of them work in very very hectic worlds. one in acting. You know, Ashley Walter is like super, you know, man the moment, but is actually quite an introvert and very much like a family man. Lives like on the east coast, you know, to to sort of get away from the hectic world. And then Tom again works like in a in a kitchen, you know, late night, like just absolutely frenetic. Yeah. And both of them have found that when they put on their helmet at the end of the day, like, you know, they’re not recognized and they’re just gliding along in silence. And and Ashley referred to it as flying. you know, he said it’s like skydiving. This moment where that you sort of jump out the plane and there’s this and then suddenly you’re just at peace and that’s exactly what they like about the experience of riding an electric bike in particular versus petrol and you know as I said we’re completely learning from from them that neither of them had owned a motorbike before um you know or had any experience so that really really resonates with me. Um, so the sort of the city by city piece is actually it’s more to do with the fact that we have a we that we’re basically the first direct to consumer manufacturer. So we deliver and service all our bikes ourselves. And so world in which you do that you you can’t you know it’s very flippant to just go right we’re going to launch across the whole of the US for example you know you’re basically dealing with a continent of countries of individual states there. Um, and so we think about cities because we think about how far our vans can travel to, you know, give good service, um, good delivery times. And so it’s much more of a kind of, you know, sort of slowly slowly. So we’re now across the whole of the UK, um, and, uh, France and Germany, but in in the US it’s just like the tri-state region and Los Angeles and, you know, the West Coast, California because because it’s just too big a kind of um place to conquer all in one. So yeah, it’s much more to do with that. Naturally, we gravitate towards cities because there’s higher population density, but also because that’s where our bikes make the most sense. So, you know, I can’t remember what the figure is. Last time I looked, about 35% of our sales were in London in the UK. So, um, you know, just makes sense. What I have to ask you, you know, you you’ve obviously been on this journey for a number of years. You founded this company. What does it feel like when you see someone random on one of your bikes? Best feeling in the world. And it was always it was it was one of the I said you know my father and I ages ago we said that one of the best feelings that we were looking forward to was when we were you know at the lights on a bike and then someone else pulls up on one of our bikes next to us and they don’t know who we are you know obviously and we said the minute that happens we must just drop everything go and get a bottle of champagne and celebrate um and and even now today when I particularly when I’m actually driving well I commute to from commentary to the factory I’m based in London and occasionally bikes will our bikes will just overtake us, you know, like one or two and I still get a thrill every time I I see them, you know, even though there are more lot more of them about now. So, it’s really it’s very satisfying. It’s also really satisfying actually every day. Um, our office kind of overlooks the the factory floor. So, just seeing bikes coming off the line, you know, just if you love cars and bikes, seeing seeing them being kind of built, you know, from scratch is is magical. It is magical. And I remember um I mean I was an automative engineer for quite a short period of time and one of the things I worked on and actually I worked on it over a summer internship and it was called an air curtain and basically it’s like a tunnel that directs air around the front um corner of a vehicle with the intention that ideally it reduces drag. But every time I saw a corner of a car with an air cushion, I I was there once. And seeing that physical thing and having that tangible connection to your work is is unrivaled as a feeling. And and I think that’s the beauty of of engineering and manufacturing here in the UK, getting to see your stuff out and about. It absolutely is. I mean sometimes it can be a bit of a c you you know you really start to hang on the um feedback of your customers you know you just completely of its own delicion a kind of ming owners club you know formed um on Facebook and uh you know sort of grew quite quite big and and just seeing people’s comments you know mainly you get good posts with people just sharing photos of their journeys and their bikes as they have a you know cup of coffee somewhere um but but you know in the early days of people would say oh you know not so sure about this or you know why don’t maybe create more story or whatever it might be you just you you become quite sort of fidious about and and yeah about sort of what you can do to improve you know to always improve the product I guess yeah you can’t have one without the other now you alluded to this slightly earlier on um but the perception of of bike in the UK is slowly changing but if you look in other countries across Europe certainly if you look in Southeast Asia in particular biking is is totally different. There are way more bikes on the road than there are cars, for example. Do you think that the UK can ever get to that sort of density of bikes because at the end of the day, it would totally reduce the traffic on the road. It would reduce the amount of space taken up by cars, but we are somewhat cursed by unpredictable weather. Um, we are, although there’s always that great sad about how the UK buys more, you know, convertible sports cars per capita than anywhere else in the world. Um I I um I so we’re clearly I don’t know we’re more optimistic than we give ourselves credit for. I I think so I look the main reason why people predominantly buy um bikes in you know Southeast Asia and China you know it’s the most popular form of transport is because of the price. You know it’s a much more attainable form of transport and and actually bikes are super capable. I mean most people in these countries have riding around on low capacity bikes but high capacity bikes you can do absolutely everything other than obviously transport a family around. But so so you I sort of understand why those countries have you know more bikers per capita but I do think people are waking up to the value of of two wheels generally. So the EV revolution has brought ebikes. It’s brought um electric push scooters and we see you know electric scooters, electric motorbikes as a natural and a more capable step up from those and there’s and there’s now a completely new customer who’s never never engaged with the world of the sort of niche world of motor and quite macho world of motorcycleycling before is is looking at this space as a practical solution. You’ve also got to remember that the average commute in the UK is 6.7 miles. The vast majority of trips are done solo. you know, traffic has become worse. Um, sort of public transport has become less reliable. It’s become slower. Um, you know, we got a third party study that identified that our bikes produce less carbon per cap, sorry, per mile per capita than even the London Underground. So, wow. It it is faster. It is more affordable. Um, you know, our bikes are cheaper by far on a monthly basis than than an Oyster card, for example. Um, it’s greener. I I I just think you need to get people riding and test ride it for the first time and and I just guarantee that you won’t go back because you can reliably get across London, the whole of London in like 20 30 minutes on a bike in a way that you just cannot with any other form of transport. And look, it does rain in this country. It does get cold. You can put on a you can put on a jacket. You know, if you’re doing relatively short distances, it is not the end of the world. And lots of this is why you see that people who ride in in in urban areas tend to ride all year round whereas people who ride recreationally in the countryside not so much which is completely understandable. So I think you’re going to see more people on bikes. You’re going to see a new customer who’s come up from a sort of ebike or a push scooter and just wants a bit more capability. Um and absolutely there are benefits in terms of pollution congestion. You can fit like 10 motorbikes in a car parking space. you know, even, you know, big this this whole sort of EV SUV revolution is is not great. You know, people are getting cars that are much bigger than they need to that that require considerably more resources and, you know, raw components than bikes do. So, I but look, the most important message that I would get across to anyone is the is the fact that it’s fun. Commuting is a is a cursed word. You know, so people do not enjoy being sort of shoved into the armpit of a stranger on a train or sitting in minus traffic in a car. And by contrast, and this was the big surprise to me when I got my first bike was the fact that every single morning and evening it was a joy to commute and I’d look forward to it as well, you know, and I think that I love cars as well. I love driving so much. Um, but I I think riding is is is the next level in terms of enjoyment. I I would really I don’t know anyone who rides a bike or scooter and and um motorbike or scooter and doesn’t still find it an event essentially hop on it. That fun is is so important. And when you’re talking about Ash Ashley Walters and Tom Brown and they describe that feeling of flying, you’ve also got that that feeling of peace and it’s quite a mindful thing because you absolutely cannot be doing anything else. It’s hugely mindful. It’s and it’s a really it’s very sort of differentiating from the car when I’m in my car going which I love to and from commentary and I’m listening to a podcast and I’ve got a heated seat and I’m I’m you know I’m eating and I’m sort of drink you know whatever it is. Um you’re in your sort of your cocoon of comfort. Um and on a bike you’re you’re you know obviously you’re focusing on the road much more as well. You know much more conscientious. You’ve got none of that. You’ve got the wind, you’ve got the the temperature, you’ve got the feel it. you know, it it’s you’re you’re left very much in your thoughts and just thinking about the kind of sensation of riding. Um, and that is a much more meditative. I think meditative is the right word, but also calming experience. You know, if you’ve got a 20 minute commute between the office and home and you left work angry, by the time you get home, you won’t be because you’ve been kind of just focusing and um um, you know, in a very singular way for that 20 minutes. And that’s not the case in a car. in a car, you’re probably on the phone, you know, having a call with your friend about how crap the day was. Oh, yeah. And then also, if you get stuck in traffic, you’re then thinking about all the things that you should be doing in that time, and you’d factored being home 15 minutes ago. It’s Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It’s not a fun thing. But beyond the fun, you’ve described some really compelling facts there. So, I just want to repeat that back to you that there’s less carbon per mile than traveling on the underground. cheaper than an Oyster card if you were using the underground to commute every day. 10 motorbikes in one parking space. These are ridiculous, incredibly compelling reasons for us to encourage more motorbiking. But do you feel adequately supported by say the UK government or from various policies to encourage uptake? Is there anything that you would like to see in addition to what currently exists? It’s a it’s a good question. I mean the the one of the big blows to us when we enter the market was I think it was about about a year in the government reduced the plug-in grant from £1,500 to £500. So we right away we lost you know £1,000 on every bike we sold essentially and so we had to put the prices up which was a blow to to customers. We eventually then put them down as we sort of you know got economies of scale in the company but [Music] um yes is the is the is the you know the long and short of it. Um there are countries where the subsidies for EV purchases are much much higher. You know our European peers get much better subsidies in in France and Germany. There are countries like the US where there the governments are pouring huge amounts um of investment into manufacturing operations to encourage um companies to to you know to to to build their their products in the US and there’s there’s none of that um in the UK. So the you would have heard of the um IRL or IRA funding in the US where essentially the government was pitching to us to you know come and set up in a factory factory in um in the US with all of the expenses paid and a percentage of our cost of goods for the next 10 years. I mean, you know, if we were in a more mature state at the time, I think it would have been very hard to ignore that offer and there’s just none of that in the UK. And I, you know, obviously we’re in a much tougher um economic environment over here in terms of the cost of our debt, in terms of our borrowing, all that kind of stuff. Um um you know, the effects of COVID and so on so forth. But um there’s definitely not the same positive optimistic growth orientated attitude towards the the the EV industry in this country. You know, we’re not currently championing um cell manufacturer uh motor manufacturer in the way that some you know countries are. Some countries are sort of setting a strategy around being being the the the the sort of economic center of these these industries which is not at all. Um, we we currently about 65% of our bikes by volume are made in the UK. We we would love in theory for 100% to be made in the UK and to champion, you know, the best British motors, the best British battery cells, but we just don’t make those things at the moment. Yeah. And, you know, um, I’ve had various conversations over the past couple of weeks and I found out that here in the UK businesses, it’s like the most expensive electricity for businesses like pretty much globally. And there are many countries that that you know if you’re going to set up a manufacturing operation you’ll be given heavily subsidized electricity or you’ll be supported in your build cost or what have you exactly as you were probably offered for for the US and I had did an interview with um the climate change committee a couple of weeks ago and I was like oh where do you really see the opportunity for the UK to to really lead in the clean energy transition and I was so disappointed when he said professional services I like ah that’s so boring like what about manufacturing and really you know fostering those sorts of things. Um so certainly your your um wishes we hear a lot unique. I yeah it’s actually just worth saying we’re lucky our factory’s got head just solar panels cover the entire roof so we we we moved into it in that state. So we’re very lucky in terms of our kind of subsidizing there otherwise it would be a complete nightmare but um the it is worth saying that we have received an incredibly good welcome from kind of local government in the area. So in terms of help with finding factories with you know recruiting in the first instance with with looking out for um loans and grant funding all that kind of stuff um so there’s the willingness to support in the local area and a lot of pride in Coventry and the West Midlands about the manufacturing kind of prowess. You know there’s still a lot of um engineering companies are headquartered here. It’s just we don’t make, you know, the the the stuff. And so there’s I think there’s that there’s the willingness, there’s the appetite, there’s just, you know, there’s just not ultimately the kind of focus from the top. I forget his name, but there is a guy in Coventry City Council who’s like head of innovation or something like that. And he is incredible and he’s not the only person that’s really shaping some of the projects that they that the Coventry City Council support and also, you know, West Midlands more generally. It’s they have a big vision in that part of the world. They do. And and and but also, you know, it’s justified in so far as you you you go down any of the streets here and they don’t look like anything, but behind each, you know, gate is is a they’re amazing factories, designers, engineers, everything around. We’re just, you know, we’re next to JLR. Pstar’s just down the road where where our old factory used to be. I mean there’s just there’s a huge amount of talent and and prowess and knowledge. Um and I think we’re not capitalizing that on the right way and you know there are certain specific things like the battery and the gigaf factories and stuff that do need to come in order to kind of onore a lot of that expertise. Um but yeah it’s definitely not a focus unfortunately government. So when you first went to commentary I have to ask you this. How intimidated were you by the ring road? Uh I I I am not a thrillseker. The one area in which I do not suffer from confidence is in driving um and biking. Uh as my nine points on my license will attest to. So Oh my god. An absolute joy. Uh not not a challenge. I have cried on that ring road many many times. It is I don’t even understand how it works. It defies it defies logic. Yeah. I don’t know how they think that the car merging isn’t going to eventually end some sort of crash. But I would Yeah, I mean for anyone who can master it, I I salute you. Um, okay. We are coming towards the end of this podcast. And I wonder I actually I shouldn’t even ask you this question because I know you’re not going to be able to tell me very much, but what’s in store for the next five years of Mabing? Yes, it’s a good it’s a it’s a good question. you do tend to like to be fired. But look, I I think just in general terms, our our goal is to, you know, we don’t want to be a a niche um British manufacturer. Our desire and and our kind of mission as a company is to get as many people onto electric transport as possible. We think that the key way to do that is through two wheels. And so it won’t surprise you to hear that that we are looking to expand the use cases for our bikes and to cater for all bikers and all kind of two wheel transport out there. Um I think the key thing for us is that we will only ever do that with the latest technology that makes sense. So as I said, you know, you won’t see us making some sort of crazy rec or trying to make some crazy recreational bike at the moment because battery density isn’t there. But um the move towards solid state’s happening greater capacity you know greater functionality um and so uh so yeah so you will see more products you will see more use cases um and uh I think us really pushing the boat when it comes to our kind of R&D and actually driving kind of progress in the space. What I could see happening there is that you were picturing I don’t know the powerpoints or the decks that you’ve got that are marked strictly confidential of future product portfolios think how much can I say but what’s very evident is that the intention is to expand the portfolio when it makes sense um such that more and more people can enjoy the fun of two wheation it is and also actually as well as kind of products you talking about product pipelines very easy but I think the thing that we’re trying to do just as hard is to invite more people into the motorcycleycling space. I think we’re trying to overcome this idea that motorbikes are for, you know, men in leather jackets who like speed and and instead trying to work out how we can how we can clearly communicate all the benefits that you and I have been talking about on this podcast. Um, and make it make the tribe broader, you know, and more inclusive. Um, and I think that’s really, yeah, I just think that’s just as important. And one thing that I should ask you based on that, um, are you still offering the thing where you cover the cost of people’s CBT training? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it’s our no new rider program. Um, yeah, precisely for that reason. You know, I mean, there’s there are there aren’t that many barriers luckily to getting on bikes because they they are because they’re low power, they only need the CVT, which takes like half a day to get as you know. Um, so yeah, the deal is that that if you do get one of our bikes and you’ve just done your license, we will cover the cost of that um to encourage people to to get onto it. Um, but look, I mean, even if you don’t end up getting one of our bikes, I just encourage you to go and do your CBT and to spend some time on, you know, on bikes because, as I said, I just don’t think you’ll be going back. Yeah. And you know what? I’ve done my CBT twice, which I’m sure many people say, why haven’t you done your full license? That’s illogical. But I was quite intimidated about going the first time and it was just the most joyful day. You have an instructor who is so wants you to succeed and wants to share this world of biking with you and actually I think it’s also made me a better car driver because I am aware of what it Yeah. Yeah. the way you you know you don’t just sort of um when you’re on a bike you don’t just take kind of green lights as red and soar through them you know without looking at the junctions you know you’re you’re thinking a lot more about um everything and that contributes to that kind of meditative state that we were talking about earlier a lot more kind of focused um but no definitely makes you a better definitely makes you a better driver and more conscientious of cyclists and and bikers and and kind of everyone else who’s on the roads you know pedestrians yeah I I’m definitely much more patient, much more aware, and I then feel very smug in my I’m I’m an aware driver. Anyway, um this has been absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for giving up your time to to come and chat with us. Um we will be watching the Maven journey with an keen eye because it’s just so fantastic to see the growth that you’ve experienced over the past four or five years. It’s it’s amazing. Um so, thank you so much. It’s an absolute pleasure and absolutely love what you guys do as well in kind of, you know, driving the the EV in general and opening people’s eyes up to all of the benefits and all the different kind of products that are out there, you know, weird and wonderful. So, yeah, thank you. Thank you so much to Seb for joining us for this episode of the Fully Charge Show podcast. I personally adored the fact that 65% of their bikes by volume are produced here in the UK and the carbon emissions per mile, if you look at the overall carbon emissions that go into making that bike, are less than traveling on the London Underground, that is very, very compelling. But that’s it. That’s all that we have time for. Before you go, if you could do us the honor of giving us a like, a comment, a subscribe, or sharing with a friend, then we will love you forever. We cannot tell you how truly truly valued it is. Thank you to Katie from our team who’ll be editing this particular episode. Thank you to you for listening. So if you have been, thank you for listening. We’re really excited to partner with Duracell Energy to showcase their amazing renewable energy solutions. If you want to reduce your energy bills and join the renewable energy transition, installing home battery storage and solar panels at home is a great way to start. Duracell Energy’s ecosystem of products typically partners with solar panels, but they can be just as effective without it. Particularly for electric vehicle owners or anyone looking to take control of their energy. And with Duracell Energy’s platinum homeowner offer, viewers can get a custom service that pairs you with top quality products and the best installers in your area. 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