Eric Buell’s EV Brand 'Fuell' Files For Bankruptcy
The niche EV maker owned by motorcycle design guru, Eric Buell, has filed for bankruptcy
The turbulent, and some would say non-existent, EV motorcycle market has claimed another victim in 2024, as Eric Buell’s Fuell brand calls it a day.
Barely out of its infancy, Fuell was formed in 2019, when the world of EVs, both two and four-wheeled, was a slightly easier sell. Fast forward just five years though, and persuading a consumer to take the battery-powered route over a traditional ICE machine will have you being laughed out of the dealership.
To date up till now, Fuell has been taking orders for either its $5,495 (£4,300) Flluid pedal-assisted bicycles (which are a much easier sell as it happens), alongside its $10,495 (£8,216) Fllow electric commuter bike.
We’ve never seen either on the road, obviously, but it’s reported that a first whip-around of funding for Flluid models was successful leading to the launch of the Flluid-1. Subsequent rounds of funding were planned and would have led to second and third-generation bikes from the same platform.
The Fllow, which had performance specifications on a par with a 125cc ICE bike, also took the route of crowdfunding to try and make it to production, but when that ended in a “failure to deliver at scale” notice from the funding platform.
One extract from a letter representing the lawyers for Fuell sadly highlights the chances those who are owed money from the company have of getting their money back. The extract, published on the website Elektrek, reads:
“As the Company has little to no funds and no employees, it is unable to directly answer creditors’ questions concerning specific orders. Creditors may direct questions to the Trustee, who will be apprised of the situation. Since there are no employees at the Company to respond to questions at this time, current inquiries to the company will go unanswered.”
It is worth noting that this is news solely relating to the electric bike maker Fuell. It doesn't relate to his other enterprise, Buell Motorcycle Company.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
