- The popularity of electric bikes is growing rapidly
- The Polish factory of e-bike batteries was established near Krakow
- The Polish manufacturer sells its batteries to over 140 countries
– According to a study by the Polish Bicycle Association, already 40 percent. Poles are considering buying a bicycle assisted by an electric motor. In the following years, such two-wheelers can, to a significant extent, replace cars as a means of transport in cities, especially in the most crowded cities. Even Porsche started producing electric bicycles. The use of cars is becoming more and more expensive – fuel, service, parking – and their use in cities is less and less effective. I can see it myself when I travel by bike from Podgórze to the city center. Recognizing the growing demand, we opened our own e-bike battery factory in Balice near Krakow. The value of the investment is PLN 12 million, 30 jobs have been created – says Ochyński.
– 23 percent We sell our batteries in Poland, most of them go to Western Europe, the most, because 24 percent. to Germany, 11 percent each. to France and Italy. In total, we are present in over 140 countries. The countries of the old EU are definitely more electrified, there are already over 1 million electric cars on the roads, in our country it is only 30-40 thousand. plays – notes Ochyński.
– The company was founded in 2013, I was active in the consumer electronics market and I saw its needs – the battery was missing, so I took care of it myself. We were selling over the Internet, so entering Western markets was not a big problem, especially since we look “European”, not only in name. Even our recipients in the country often do not know that it is a Polish company. Since 2016, we have been operating through large e-commerce platforms, e.g. Amazon. From batteries to devices, we quickly moved on to larger solutions – batteries for bicycles and equipment for charging electric cars. We are interested in the entire market of new energy and the broadly understood energy transformation, which will last even several dozen years, so there are quite good prospects – he adds.
– We have been on the market for several years, so our position is stable, but the interest in micromobility is growing rapidly and the market is getting crowded. Big companies with significant capital resources entered the game. Bosch is the leader in the electric bike segment. The largest companies with extensive experience and money, eg LG, deal with the production of batteries for cars. However, we want to create an intellectual value that – under its own brand – will defend itself even among such giants. Tesla, of course, is a completely different company that operates in a different reality, but we also want to take advantage of the great technological change that is taking place around us. Musk has shown that it is possible to realistically replace the leading technology of combustion cars with electric solutions, to set a new path towards a civilization at a higher level of development, which remembers respect for the environment and sustainable development. In this sense, Elon Musk was certainly a significant inspiration for me as well – sums up Ochyński.
Wojciech Szeląg interviewed