By the time the bike ships out of the
headquarters, it has gone through 63
steps, each one signed off on. Because
of this level of detail, DiCostanzo says
they have near-zero defect and return
rates.
ONWARD TO THE
STREETS
Past the assembly and shipping
areas is the parts area. Rows of bins
contain every replacement part needed
for every bike they make and for every
year dating back to 2010. If they need
an old connector, they have it right
there. Sometimes they even upgrade
parts when better ones are available for
an older bike.
A big row of yellow cabinets separates shipping from parts; these
hold the batteries. At any given time
they have 1500 batteries, all carefully
labeled. DiCostanzo likens batteries to
bananas—they all have a time when
they are perfectly ripe. And 1500 batteries with about 60 lithium-ion cells each
add up to a lot of cells. DiCostanzo
quotes a statistic that 1 in 10 million
cells is bad, and even with that little
risk, he errs on the side of safety.
Next to the parts department is
a couple of offices with bike stands
outside. This is their R&D and custom-
er-support area. Not only can they work
on new bike ideas here, customers can
call, Face Time or Skype in, and a tech
can visually walk them through a fix for
it in real time without anyone having to
ship a bike back or take it in to a shop.
It’s an amazing way to fix problems,
leaving the customer with a sense of
pride in having completed the fix them-
selves, and it’s a way the techs can
spot problems in design, manufacturing
or parts on the bikes.
They’re always working on new
bikes. Currently, they’re developing a
mid-drive, full-suspension mountain
When you first
walk in to the
Experience Center,
you’ll be greeted
with a sampling of
Pedego bikes.
Terry Sherry and
Don DiCostanzo.
Don DiCostanzo sits proudly
on a customized Interceptor.
He loves sharing his love of
electric bikes.
{ PEDEGO }
