Currie Technologies

Source: Energy Digital

Date :31/10/2007 11:12:13

A vision for sustainability

President & CEO Larry Pizzi explains how Currie Technologies is providing innovative and emission free alternative modes of transportation

Written by Roxanne Ridge and Produced by Melissa Abbott

Currie Technologies is a unique business – not only is it enjoying annual revenues of over $30 million, unlike other companies in the same field, it’s been right on top of sustainability from the start.

In 1998, the company was founded by Dr Malcolm R Currie, who was the former Chairman and CEO of Hughes Aircraft and Delco Electronics.

Dr Currie predicted that electronically driven vehicles would become increasingly important for fundamental environmental and economic reasons and that new and large international markets would emerge around these ideas.

He couldn’t have been more right.

The vision

Joining the company in Spring 2002 as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Larry Pizzi brought years of expertise in the cycling and sports industries. In just 24 months of working, he helped raise annual sales from less then $10million to nearly $40million.

Larry started by working in retail stores after leaving school. He then worked his way into sales and marketing and became VP of Marketing at the bicycle division of the sports and billiards company Brunswick Corporation before taking the role as General Manager Division for Schwinn/GT corporation. Larry was asked to work for Currie Technologies after Schwinn/GT went into a transitional state and was taken out of bankruptcy by the bike manufacturer Pacific Cycle.

He’d first met Dr Currie when he was working for Brunswick and was introduced via Dr Currie’s co-founder, Richard Mayer. Both Mayer and Dr Currie had the vision of the electric drive system for some time, but Brunswick didn’t think the brands were a good fit. So they Larry recommended they contact Schwinn, a company that ultimately became and early stare investor in Currie Technologies.

Larry remembers the first time he met with Dr Currie: “I asked him: ‘Why would anyone want to put an electric motor on a bicycle?’ which made Dr Currie pause,” says Larry. “Dr Currie replied: ‘Perhaps when you get to be my age you will have a better understanding’. And I definitely now agree.”

Dr Currie had previously led major developments in defense electronics, satellite communications and automotive electronics. As Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Dr Currie initiated and spearheaded many of the systems including satellite navigation and night vision, which were central to US success in the Gulf War.

He later went on to form a group that designed the solar-powered Sunraycer for General Motors (GM), followed by the design of the electric power train for the GM Impact and EV1.

Currie Technologies’ main aim is to build products that offer emission free alternative forms of transportation for sport, recreation and commuting.

The company is now the worldwide distributor of the leading brands of a wide range of light elect vehicles including iZIP, eZIP which are house brands and Mongoose and Schwinn they produce a range of cycles under license from Pacific Cycle.. Both Dr Currie and Richard Mayer are the inventors of the Currie Electro-Drive systems which are the propulsion systems and electronics that power the full range of products..

A cool company

With such a topical vision, it’s no surprise that the company has affiliated with high profile environmentalists. “Hollywood types like Ed. Begley Junior and Daryl Hannah whom are using bikes in LA,” says Larry. “Ed is well know Actor and Environmentalists who pedalled up to the red carpet at an Oscar ceremony one year on his bike.

“The ageing baby boomer is no longer the only customer – environmentalism is fashionable. It’s now cool to use sustainable products. And this celebrity interest is filtering down into our customers. I think it has a lot to do with rising fuel prices and the desire to make a positive contribution to urban conditions and the environment. The average American wants to make a difference. This is what we take forward in our ‘clean, green, no gasoline’ marketing campaign.”

Keeping customer opinion at the top of the marketing strategy is a big part of the company. It has a free customer technical support service that has up to 35 people answering customer queries in peak season.

“Valuable feedback matters,” says Larry. “Our specialty retailers are located in many places all over the country but there are many markets where we do not yet have a servicing retailer to provide technical support, so we offer it through our own tech-support. If a customer wants a battery pack replaced, we’ll talk them through it on the phone. And any comments they give at the time we plough straight back into the company’s marketing and product development. It’s a really useful relationship, and as a distribution company, we’re very unique in providing this type of direct customer service.”

Technology driven

The company’s products develop alongside technological changes. “Over the last two years, two main advancements have been the route cause of the fast business development,” says Larry.

“The first is advanced lightweight lithium battery’s that lasts a long time and can be recharged quickly. It’s a third of the weight of the previous sealed lead acid battery and has really been a catalyst for making our bikes more efficient.

“The second main advance is the various advanced drive system technologies that we have introduced including NuVinci™ CVP transmission by Fallbrook Technologies. Utilizing a continuously variable planetary transmission for human powered and motor powered machines has been helped to advance the practically of our products to fulfil real transportation needs.

“The company has already implemented many of these developments on its products and in the near future they hope to use them in a larger scale and longer range vehicles. To fulfil Dr Curries’ core vision, the company continues to develop a variety of electric vehicles that are economical and energy efficient that recharge for just pennies per-charge..

“We’d also are focused on expanding abroad – meeting the specific needs of individual countries with a variety of product platforms. Different countries have different requirements . Places like Holland use bikes as part of their day-to-day lives, whereas USA and UK citizens are still very much recreational users. And of course, third world countries aren’t going to be able to afford the same products, so we offer something for almost everyone.”

Working together

Currie Technologies designs and engineers its products in house. Everyone involved in the product development process work closely together with our manufacturing facilities.

The company has currently outsourced its manufacturing to a South East Asia factory that has a joint venture relationship with the company.

“We’re building products in the most cost effective locations possible,” says Larry. “We have become a very good distribution company who works colsely with our major retailers to ensure the flow of products goes smoothly from Asia to the retailers’ shelves.

When it comes to product distribution, the company takes an innovative approach.

“We provide channel specific product,” says Larry. “Many other companies are afraid of the idea and tend to focus on their more expensive specialty products. We work to establish the sales in places like Wal-Mart and work on the basis that users will want to upgrade their items over time and will wind-up purchasing one of our higher end products in a servicing specialty shop .”

When asked about these competitors’ approaches, Larry maintains that competition in any way draws a healthy exposure to sustainable living and promotes the idea of emission free transportation systems which will over time grow the category.

Currie Technologies is hoping for a steady growth over the next three to five years. Should the recent trend for sustainable living continue there’s no reason why this will not become a billion dollar industry.