The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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April 25, 2009

Scooting on electricity

Some can reach 60 mph

By Tim Krohn

GARDEN CITY — They’re the latest in green and they’re downright cool.

“It’s fun zipping along while it’s totally quiet,” said Marty Leenhouts, after taking an electric scooter for a spin at his rural Garden City home.

He has just become the Minnesota dealer for a line of electric scooters that range from small bicycle-like scooters that top out at 20 mph to motorcycles that go 60 mph.

“I heard about them through a friend in Wisconsin. They’ve been importing them to Madison, and I checked them out and I became the Minnesota rep,” Leenhouts said.

“The technology has really come along on electronic transportation.”

The smallest scooter will go about 30 miles on one charge. It has pedals that, if lightly pedaled, give the bike a little more energy and extends the battery charge. The cost of the smallest bikes range from $700 to $1,000 depending on accessories.

The small scooter weighs just 100 pounds with the battery pack accounting for 40 pounds of the weight.

The larger motorcycles use a lithium battery that is lighter, holds a charge longer, but is more expensive.

The bigger electric motorcycles cost up to $7,000 and will go up to 85 miles on a charge.The smaller lead-acid batteries will last a few years while the larger lithium batteries have a life span of up to 10 years.

“The nice thing about the small scooter is they are just like a bike. You don’t need a license on it or a permit to ride it. You can ride them anywhere you can ride a bike,” Leenhouts said. “And maintenance is about what you would do for a bicycle.”

The larger machines require a license and motorcycle permit.

“Once people see and try these, they’ll really catch on.”

The machines can be charged at a traditional electric outlet. The battery can be removed. “If people ride them to work or something, they can bring the battery in and charge it during the day,” Leenhouts said.

The motor is entirely enclosed in the rear wheel and requires no maintenance.

Leenhouts, who is just getting set up, is beginning to look for dealers in other parts of the state.

The smaller bikes are sold under the EZride label while the larger motorcycles are sold under the X-Treme Scooters label.

The electric scooter business is one of several endeavors Leenhouts is involved in.

He teaches for Northstar Academy, an online Christian and home school academy. He has 18 years of traditional classroom teaching in Wisconsin, South Dakota and Indonesia and holds a master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

He’s nearing completion of a new big red barn on his homesite southwest of Good Thunder that will serve a variety of purposes. One section will be a showroom for the electric scooters. He will use one room to teach chip woodcarving, a passionate hobby and a business of his.

And the two-level barn, which will include sleeping quarters, a full kitchen, classrooms and a large events room can be rented.

“It can be for anything, family reunions, business retreats, quilt clubs, scrapbooking or other arts and crafts groups,” Leenhouts said. “It can be just a one-day thing or over a few days, whatever people want.”

The farmsite, near where his wife, Shelley, was raised, is nestled in a serene setting surrounded by woods, rolling fields and next to the Watonwan River.

“We have the whole rural entrepreneur thing going here,” he said of the projects he and his wife are undertaking.

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