Resident wins eco-bike
RIVONIA - A Sandton resident was the winner of a lucky draw he entered online. His prize was a rare yet innovative bicycle with an electric motor, the likes of which are beginning to catch on overseas.
Pedego Electric Bikes was recently launched in South Africa. To celebrate, a lucky draw was held at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. The name drawn at random was Jeremy Bank, a Sandton resident and employee of Mott MacDonald, a management, engineering and development consulting firm which has special focus on shifting corporates to more eco-friendly business practices.
Matt Fisher from Pedego South Africa said, “We were just as surprised and excited as he was to find that our winner was also working toward building a sustainable planet. We hope his new electric bicycle will make him a front runner in their newly launched Carbon Trail Calculator.”
Bank said, “I was reading about the greening of Johannesburg and the suggested bike trails, and I was wondering if I could get one of these electric bikes in South Africa. I entered the competition on their Facebook page. I thought it was a joke when they called and told me that I’d won.”
The handover of the bike, valued at R17 900, took place at the Mott MacDonald offices in Rivonia. Shane Bloom was in attendance
representing Pedego and he explained the bike’s features and how it works. He said, “The battery takes three hours to charge, and when fully charged it can go 40 to 60 kilometres without peddling.” Charging the battery is as simple as plugging in a cellphone, he explained, connecting directly to a wall socket.
He explained that the company had been founded in California and their product was regarded as the best electric bike in the world and was very popular in the United States and the United Kingdom. “In New York and London they’re used daily by commuters,” he said.
Herman Engelbrecht, corporate governance manager for Mott MacDonald, said their company run a sustainability action plan, encouraging staff to reduce their carbon footprints in 18 ways. He said, “We encourage people to cycle to work and we will pay Jeremy Bank for every kilometre that he travels on the bike to and from work.”
