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Engadget takes a ride on the Faraday Porteur e-bike
We've watched as Faraday Bicycles' first offering, the Porteur electric bike, went from award-winning concept to a fully-fledged consumer product courtesy of Kickstarter. Recently, company founder Adam Vollmer offered us the chance to ride one, and naturally, we couldn't wait see it for ourselves and put feet to pedals.%Gallery-161281% First impressions are important, a fact of which the folks at Faraday are clearly aware. The Porteur's white frame, wood fenders, and sea foam green trim pieces and rims provide a pleasing visual counterpart to the leatherwork adorning the seat, frame and handlebars. Add in the yesteryear script of the logo and vermilion detailing work, and it's retro done right -- visually arresting without being gaudy. As is often the case, the coolest bits of the bike reveal themselves upon close inspection. We're fans of the leather pouch (for holding smartphones or other sundries) nestled between the parallel top tubes and chain stay guard embossed with the Faraday name. And, the addition of the company slogan claiming it's "the ultimate electric propelled utility bicycle" along with each bike's production number is a nice touch. But enough about its good looks, how's the thing ride?
Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video)
Last time we saw the Faraday electric bike, it had just emerged victorious from the Oregon Manifest design competition. Designed by Ideo and built by Portland's Rock Lobster Cycles, the retro-styled ride was destined to rot in concept hell for all eternity -- that is until lead designer Adam Vollmer quit Ideo to press the bike into production under the Faraday Bicycles name. Now he's perfected the design, the company's launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter to, er, kickstart the first production run. Don't be fooled by its low-fi looks, parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which power a front motor, good for between 10 and 15 miles of travel. The two front prongs are the basis of a modular racking system and contain a pair of LED headlamps that activate automatically in bad light. It charges in 45 minutes and weighs around 40 pounds. The bike will set you back $3,500, $300 less than when a second run is produced next year -- significantly cheaper than the current price for the $5,400 Grace One we rode around New York. If you've got some baller-style cash to throw around, you can spend $10,000 on a collectors edition hand-finished by Rock Lobster's Paul Sadoff. After the break we've got video and more details, but be warned -- you might find yourself opening your wallet a little too rapidly.
