A Pre-Order campaign for FUELL Fllow

FUELL is launching a pre-order campaign for its FUELL Fllow through the PreLaunch.com platform:
https://prelaunch.com/projects/fuell-fllow-fllow-ride-into-the-future?utm_source=pr&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=fuellfllow 

Fllow is an unbeatable proposal: an $11,995 e-commuter with a 10Kwh battery, an innovative wheel motor with a power of 47hp (optional 15hp), a highway-capable top speed, and a high voltage architecture with a less than 30 min charging time. All this in a modern, sleek design with more storage space than most scooters. 

Fllow is an unbeatable proposal: an $11,995 e-commuter with a 10Kwh battery, an innovative wheel motor with a power of 47hp (optional 15hp), a highway-capable top speed, and a high voltage architecture with a less than 30 min charging time. All this in a modern, sleek design with more storage space than most scooters.

As part of its pre-order phase, FUELL has partnered with Prelaunch.com – an innovative and first-ever market validation platform that uses eCommerce logic to measure potential customers’ real buying intents. The platform allows entrepreneurs to predict how customers would react to a particular product idea if it’s launched. The tool helps its users avoid wasting their time and resources on unexpected scenarios. It provides including but not limited to:

• Market validation,

• Price validation,

• Seamless landing page builder,

• AI copywriter,

• Data-driven decisions,

• Customer Insights.

This collaboration has come to prove, that no matter what background you have, or how well-known you are, the market is unpredictable. And the only way to avoid wasting your time and resources on unexpected scenarios is to do market validation.

Through this link, we invite customers to place a $200 pre-order today to get a $2,000 discount on MSRP, an exclusive FUELL x VELDT luxury carbon helmet, and be first in line to get Fllow.

Where is FUELL at today? Why re-launching a pre-order campaign?

The “Fllow urban e-commuter” project was revealed to the world in April 2019, as we launched our brand “FUELL” and our other product, the Flluid e-bike.

The reveal generated over 500 press articles and loads of interest, including several hundred pre-orders in a matter of weeks.

We then embarked into the design, engineering, and building of a real-size Fllow. We finalized the key engineering concepts, started engaging with suppliers to develop specific solutions, and built a functional 1:1 real-size Fllow concept – the one you see in photos and videos that we had fun riding and showing to investors, suppliers, and more.

Then came the pandemic… it disrupted first the supply chain and some of our suppliers. Some specific developments were postponed, with the risk of being canceled. Investors got cold feet. Investment promises were put on hold, and some investors rescinded their commitments.

Fast forward to today, and there is much good news for Fllow. The supply chain is getting back to normal, and suppliers are ready to re-engage with FUELL to continue the development of specific technologies and parts. Technology has made progress too, as the EV market has been growing fast and started to enter the mass-production level – allowing for batteries and other parts to reduce cost and become more affordable.

The market is also booming – after the craze for e-bicycles, now are coming several e-powered alternatives to the gas-powered 2 and 3- wheelers, but also cars, that are needed to navigate our cities and their suburbs. These new EVs need to be able to do greater distances than an e-bike and be highway-capable. Public awareness and acceptance of these new e-commuters are on the rise!

We feel this is now the right time to bring Fllow to the world. 

Through this prelaunch campaign, we want to gather as many pre-orders as possible – our goal is to reach over 3,000 pre-orders – allowing us to transition to a crowdfunding campaign and self-finance Fllow.

Our goal is to bring Fllow faster to market, with financial help from our customers but also thanks to their feedback and expectations. 

Does the world need Fllow?

Fllow is the brainchild of Erik Buell, our legendary CTO, and of our engineering team, but does the world need Fllow? 

Well, behind this provocative question was first a lot of research and studies about the evolution of mobility, how cities will evolve in the future (becoming “smart cities”) and if 2-wheelers still had a place in the fast-paced changing environment.

Here is how Erik Buell summarized it:

When I look to the future, there is one compelling solution for urban/suburban transportation. Well, two actually, two wheels… two wheels in a single track with green power. Whether it’s a human-pedaled bicycle, a pedal-assisted electric bicycle, or an electric motor, two wheels are the clear solutions for urban mobility. 

Mass transport works to some extent, but it’s just not a pleasant experience, and it only gets you vaguely near the place you want to be. It’s also a very expensive endeavor that burdens city budgets. Sometimes these huge expensive vehicles are full and sometimes nearly empty. In either case, they keep running from point A to B at Y o’clock even though you need to get from C to D at Z o’clock. 

In Europe where streets are smaller, the support and infrastructure for two-wheelers are exploding. In the US it is starting as well. In Asia, two-wheelers have always been the solution, and now the growth is in making them greener, less polluting, and less noisy. Replacing the 60 million new gasoline-powered two-wheelers sold annually with electricity creates a huge impact on quality of life.

Worldwide, the movement to change our habits is accelerating. Urban transportation should be a comfortable personal tool empowering us to better live our multitasking lives.

A well-designed two-wheeler becomes one with the rider, with speed and range far beyond the rider’s ability. Those great two-wheelers make you feel like you have superpowers! 

We have to blend this feeling with the needs of today and tomorrow. So quite frankly, innovation is critical – you cannot build a new future hanging onto the old ways. New urban electric vehicles must not only feel approachable but also integrate with the digital environment and technology that is part of our society. 

The world needs Fllow!

There is no argument that currently, with battery technology as it stands, gas-powered motorcycles designed and used in traditional ways seem to be a more rational choice. Yet when you take into account the growing restrictions in city centers, and you focus on the duty cycles on urban/suburban use, the relevance of new types of urban scooters and urban motorcycles makes a lot more sense. Even more so when you integrate high voltage systems into your design, to make them compatible with automotive fast charging stations already installed in those areas. 

We started developing the Fllow e-moto range with looks that speak of style and sport, but the real surprise is it includes the utility that urban and suburban commuters need. We broke away from the classic motorcycle architecture – with radical new ideas and materials – to give you the acceleration of a superbike with the nimbleness of a light middleweight motorcycle. 

We are designing the Fllow with a high voltage system, that allows charging in competitive times with filling a gas tank. We are doing it with a smart design that has more onboard storage than most scooters. And of course, we are integrating all the connectivity and safety technology required for an augmented ride, as for all other product classes.

I will myself be striving to develop those close and personal rides into the future, so every FUELL product not only feels familiar, like part of you but also pushes out of the past and flies you to the future!

Who is Erik Buell and why does it matter?

Fllow is the brainchild of Erik Buell, our legendary CTO, and of our engineering team – all senior engineers with years with Erik at Buell and EBR before joining him in the FUELL endeavor.

Erik Buell is the Founder, former Chairman, and CTO of the Buell Motorcycle Company, which eventually merged with Harley-Davidson from 1993 to 2009. 

Erik is a pioneer of modern race motorcycle technology, as well as a world-class engineer and inventor. He created some of the most innovative and usable motorcycles to date, using inventions like a hollow aluminum frame to house the fuel and create chassis rigidity. More than 130,000 motorcycles with the Buell name have been produced to date. 

Erik has an incredible experience in motorcycle development, industrialization, sourcing, manufacturing, and homologation, and brings unparalleled expertise in chassis, powertrain, and overall two-wheeler engineering.

For a project as complex and ambitious as Fllow, his leadership is a great reassurance for all – for future customers of course, but also for designers, engineers, suppliers, distributors, importers, and investors. Fuell and Buell, do you get it now?

What FUELL is trying to achieve with Fllow

FUELL’s vision is to put freedom, technology, and emotion back into urban travel by offering riders something different, innovative, upgradeable, and attractive.

Fllow is the result of a convergence of ideas on how to create urban mobility solutions utilizing the best application for electric powertrains (low speeds, rapid acceleration, zero-emission, zero noise, short distances, denser charging infrastructures) and integrating technology for safety and connectivity.

Going into more detail, we established this functional brief and set these targets for Fllow:

Usage/Users 

Urban/suburban vehicle, re-inventing the pleasure of riding a meaningful machine in an urban environment with pollution constraints/legislation. 

Main designations

Comfortable, easy to ride, powerful acceleration, significant in presence, enhancing to the rider, distinctive. Unique and substantial storage capability and practicality in urban environments.

Design

Minimalistic, utilitarian, integrated, strikingly different, and beautiful

A contemporary take on an urban e-commuter with electric powertrain constraints

Price, Range, Performance

Target price of $11,995, with at least 150 miles / 240 km range in real city traffic condition

With a quick charge as fast as a “traditional stop for gasoline”

Highway capable speed

The Fllow that is presented to you today is the fruit of months of engineering, research, and design to meet these targets. And we’re meeting them!

Let us share with you some of the engineering innovations on Fllow

Fllow is about rethinking the traditional architecture of a gas-powered 2-wheeler, taking into consideration the amazing new opportunities (and challenges!) that an electric powertrain is presenting.

Among the technical innovations we’re introducing on Fllow:

ELECTRICAL INNOVATION

• Axially Integrated Transverse Flux motor uniquely integrated into the rear wheel – very high torque from 0 rpm up, and lightweight (patent pending)
• Battery pack integrated into chassis – structurally forms the major part of chassis (patent pending)
• Ability to update battery packs for new technologies and upgrades

CHASSIS INNOVATION

• Optimized Powertrain Integration – components located to optimize chassis handling and optimize power flow (patent pending)
• High-strength lightweight alloy castings (including magnesium)
• Advanced Braking System (patent pending) allowing to drop the rear brake pedal
• Integrated chassis and powertrain management with traction/wheelie control

Welcome to the world of Fllow

This is Fllow!

Fllow has the luggage capacity and practicality of a large scooter but appears and handles like a mid-size motorcycle. It is nimble and agile for threading through heavy traffic, accelerates like a superbike, and is highway capable. Your dream commuter, silent and non-polluting.

Fllow has been conceived and designed as a viable urban e-commuter, with 150 miles of urban range, less than 400lbs weight with a very low center of gravity, 10 gallons of storage, space for a passenger, and a quick charging port to use existing stations.

Building a functional 1:1 real-size Fllow concept

We first defined the target features and specs, and started designing and engineering Fllow in computers and renderings. But we felt rapidly the need to have a working concept to progress faster in the development of Fllow.

We’ve built a functional concept – meaning that it is very close visually to the production model, yet doesn’t have all the features and performance of the final version. But good enough to see Fllow “in the flesh”, to sit on it and start riding! 

Building a functional concept bike of Fllow allowed us to validate many engineering designs and share practical briefs more easily with suppliers and partners. 

Premium specs, affordable price

Amazing torque, large urban range, integrated fast charge: Fllow was designed for the urban rider’s needs. Practicality, with storage for a bag and a full-face helmet. Low center of gravity making it feels extremely light and easy to ride. There is even a 15hp version to meet reduced licensing requirements.

An urban range of 150 miles / 240 km, with a charge time of less than 30 minutes

With e-vehicles, the limitation is energy, the strength is social responsibility. Real e-vehicle plans must be built around these facts. Too much manipulation of the social image of e-motorcycles has occurred – one should actually deliver viable products.

FUELL believes it is most critical to get products out that are truly viable today, and then expand into new markets as the technologies grow.

Fllow packs 10Kwh of batteries to reach an urban range of 150 miles or 240 kilometers. Of course, riding at full speed on the motorway is not going to give you that range – but remember, Fllow was designed as an urban electric commuter, capable to go on highways, and not as a replacement for a gas-powered touring motorcycle.

Thanks to its high-voltage architecture, charging times become acceptable. On a fast charger – those used by electric cars and now widely available, the charging time is less than 30 minutes. And as you never charge 100% of the battery, but rather from 20% to 90% usually, the real charging time is around 15 minutes. Just enough to get a coffee, check emails, and be back on the road. 

It gets even easier at home, where Fllow can be plugged into a wall outlet, or to a home charger.

Upgrade your Fllow over time

Fllow was designed in a modular way to evolve with technology and allow for upgradability.

The battery pack module (which contains the onboard charger, BMS and DC-DC converter – all linked together by battery technology), the rear wheel motor, and the fast charging socket can be upgraded over time, as your requirement evolve and new technology becomes available. 

As for the connected dashboard, it receives regular updates, so you always have access to the latest software version.

Fllow is “made in the USA” 

Erik Buell and his legacy team are bringing to FUELL a unique experience in designing, setting up, and operating flexible low-cost two-wheeler assembly lines ranging from 1,000+ units/yr (EBR) to 15,000 units/yr (Buell Motorcycles)

Fllow will be assembled for production in the US, and parts and components will emphasize the US and/or western provenance. A truly “made in the USA” e-commuter!

The secret?

Low part count and assembly time allow for smaller assembly facilities and a lower assembly cost. Compared to a gas-powered equivalent, Fllow has 60% fewer parts, and is assembled in 40% of the time… 

The Wheel Motor – an original invention from FUELL

The wheel-motor refers to the electric motor housed in the rear wheel, specifically developed by FUELL for the Fllow, removing secondary transmission (chain or belt) while maintaining power and keeping weight acceptably low.

We knew we needed wheel designs that would work with the large-diameter electric motor technology we are considering: transverse flux. We have come up with a design that works well with this technology: the design allows a sealed housing for these large-diameter designs, but keeps everything as light as possible and allows wheel/tire changes without disturbing the motor seals. Also, a design that would prevent any wheel rim and spoke deformation from lateral and vertical loads from being transferred to the motor housings. 

Because the drive motor is a large diameter, the drive torsion forces go from the rotor out to the rim, therefore the spokes from the rotor carry no torsional loads, only road loads – like the ZTL brake system physics. 

Fllow is fully connected and can onboard the most advanced safety system

Fllow’s dashboard is connected to the rider’s phone, on which an app offers all practical information and functionalities:

• Ignition (also Key Fob) 
• Location 
• Charge level 
• Alarm (if incident) 
• Opening of storage, saddle, access to charging port 

• Navigation 
• Service manual and maintenance alerts 

• Contact with FUELL 

Additionally, Fllow can onboard the most advanced safety system, developed in partnership with iRider: a tech company bringing to market the world’s first complete safety and connectivity system for light mobility vehicles – collision warning, blind spot detection, active road navigation, and more.

What happens once customers have placed a $200 deposit?

Well, first of all, they’ve secured a place in the line, and earned a $2,000 discount off MSRP – that’s already something!

But that’s not all! 

Pre-orders also will receive a FUELL carbon helmet by Veldt, a $1,060 retail value!

These are high-end carbon helmets, ultra-light, and both modular (you can switch from full face to open face) and allow a precise fitting – www.veldt.fr/en

Upon reaching enough pre-orders, FUELL then launches a crowdfunding campaign and will offer to purchase the Fllow with the $2,000 discount and a payment plan.

We expect the first Fllows to be delivered in early 2024.