Cyclist apparel designer Showers Pass started a new venture two years ago when its founder Kyle Ranson launched Vvolt, a middle-market electric bike company.
Since then, Vvolt has taken off, selling out its most accessible bike almost immediately, Ranson said. While this has been encouraging for the young company in a city that loves cycling, he said, it’s gotten more expensive over the months to ship large numbers of bikes to Southeast Portland from the manufacturer in Taiwan.
“If we go back pre-Covid, pre-Trump tariffs etc., we would be paying anything from $2,800 to $3,600 for a container. … That same container, just cost us $32,000,” Ranson said.
Given this, Ranson said Vvolt is looking at its options for bringing some of the manufacturing to Oregon. It doesn’t make sense for them to ship finished bikes around the world, he said. It would be more efficient to explore what parts of the process can be done here in Oregon, such as final assembly.
This could help keep costs down, Ranson said, give the company more command over the quality of the product, help them better gauge customer interest in various models and create new bikes based on those interests.
“Fast-forward a year from now, 18 months from now, I'd love to say that we've got products being produced, if nothing else final assembly, happening here,” Ranson said.
The e-bike industry is a relatively new one, but it is taking off as an accessible alternative to cars. Though Ranson said he used to be a skeptic of the EV, he knows now that they take up less space on the road, produce fewer emissions and can be easier to ride than traditional bikes, making them widely accessible.
