It all started with the desire to solve the commuting problem that prompted Pushkar Phatak to develop his own e-bike and his design became the topic of conversation when he rode it to work. Many people who saw his bike asked if he could build one for them too, and that’s how Pushkar realized the potential of his e-bike. Together with his college friend Amit Sondhit, they later founded a company where selling e-bikes became their new passion.
Ahead, Amit shares with us more about Watt Wagons, his bikes, and how they set a new Guiness World Record.
You are based in Boston, USA. Tell us about the incredible growth of Watt Wagons e-Bikes.
Like most start-ups, we started from a garage building bicycles with our own hands. For three years, we are an established brand in the high performance segment. We have moved into an 8,000 square foot building and hired employees to build and repair electric bicycles. We have also started a 5-star rated e-bike service company “ebike.rehab” to “cure” e-bikes, build relationships, increase sales and increase passion for riding. We’ve been profitable for two years now and are working on new technology that will be a game changer in the rider ecosystem. Starting with one product, we now have a portfolio of different bikes catering to all types of use cases. We saw doubling last year’s sales!
How did the idea of producing luxury e-bikes come to Pushkar Phatak, the company’s founder?
Pushkar built his first e-bike to solve his commuting woes. He realized he was onto something when someone at a traffic stop asked him about his bicycle and if he could build a similar bicycle for them. Playing with ideas, he easily saw that while there were countless products on the market, almost none of them qualified as reliable, serious, or, in some cases, just plain functional. He went to the blackboard and out came some wildly successful pure engineering work!
He founded Watt Wagons and worked to secure designs and vendor relationships after getting great feedback from lots of enthusiasts! He used the holy grail to prove the reliability of Watt Wagons – a Guinness World Record! Of course, along with the accolades, that put a lot of work into developing Watt Wagons.
I have been a friend of Pushkar since college, and have worked with him on many other things, including other companies, when we decided to collaborate and take Watt Wagons to the next level. The company moved into a workshop much bigger than a garage and out came a state-of-the-art new product, new website and brand strategy, NHL player support and media coverage.
Can you name some of the early Watt Wagons supporters?
Watt Wagons is organically funded by us, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge some of the early backers who put their faith in us and ordered some of the best e-bikes in the world. Many of our loyal customers believed in us from the beginning and ordered based on our advanced concepts. Their orders helped us build our foundation and help improve it.
What is the main proposition of the Watt Wagons e-bike? How innovative and “smart” is the engineering behind this bike?
We focus on defining the technology of the future. When we started, we were the first to introduce the high-powered, belt-driven titanium commuter e-bike, which we used to set a new Guinness World Record. The next generation of our e-bikes offers ultra-light carbon fiber frames with the best components and full suspension capability. We even offer internal gear hubs for reduced maintenance. We modify the motor with our advanced controller to make it more reliable, efficient and fun. Our newest product, the Hound, is the only adventure e-bike platform that offers onboard charging — you can use your EV charging station just like your electric car!
In the summer of 2019, Watt Wagons traveled to Halifax with rider Ravi Kempaiah to set a new Guinness world record. Can you tell us more there?
In the summer of 2019, Watt Wagons traveled to Halifax NS with rider Ravi Kempaiah to set a new Guinness world record on the Ultimate Commuter Pro e-Bike (Now Helios). Our e-bikes complete 400 miles in 24 hours using electricity for under a dollar. We were tagged by Prof. Dahn, head of battery research for Tesla. We are covered on Canadian and US news channels.
You are optimistic about the growth of the e-bike market, which numbers and research papers do you have that support your vision?
We usually follow research papers from various data consulting/organizations (like McKinsey and Forbes) and online news from various outlets (like Electrek) that focus on electric vehicles in general.
How do you define sustainability? How innovative is your vision and the metrics you have put in place?
It’s our seriousness about sustainability that brought us here in the first place. We want to transform commuting through more environmentally friendly solutions wherever possible. Our vision is to replace the vast majority of car traffic with more sustainable and healthier alternatives. That’s why we focused on building a product that reliably for thousands of miles and requires minimal maintenance to create a true automotive-grade replacement for natural gas vehicles. Every mile ridden on our e-bikes is greener and cheaper than traditional gas transportation. In addition, we are also one of the largest recyclers in our city and engage with local governments to help deliver messages, products and drive change.
Watt Wagons has been a profitable company for the last three years. Are you targeting an IPO in the near future? Where do you see the company in five years time?
We believe we have a few ways to go before we consider an IPO. There are certain products within our pipeline that we would like to see results before we decide to go public. We recognize we are still a smaller player and want to establish ourselves as the de facto leader in our space with a broader product suite before going public.
Where do our LUXUO readers go to buy Watt Wagons e-bikes? Who are your resellers? Do you also sell online?
We ship worldwide and recently also started dealer onboarding. LUXUO readers can purchase our products online and join our other customers from 25+ countries. If interested, they can also contact us to become a reseller.
For more information on Watt Wagons e-bikes, click here.
To read more about the leader, click here.
