Meet the new business offering electric motorbikes for hire

Chris Hurdle on one of the bikes. Picture: Newman Associates PR (Image: Newman Associates PR)

Electric Wheels, based in Little Cressingham, is offering near-silent 2x2 bikes for long and short term hire.

The businesses' target market is employees working in the agriculture, tourism conservation, event management, estate management and recreation sectors.

The company currently has 25 bikes, and has already seen interest expressed from as far north as Scotland and as far south as Cornwall.

The enterprise was founded by Chris Hurdle, who came across the New Zealand-developed bikes while on a family trip to the country.

Mr Hurdle subsequently purchased one of the bikes to aid his event management business – and the vehicle's first outing was at the Hampton Court Flower Show.

Mr Hurdle said: 'Increasingly businesses in all sectors are thinking about the impact their activity has on the environment, and it is clear that electric vehicles' time has come. But the options in the utility market have been very limited up until now.'

He added: 'The Electric Wheels bikes solve all sorts of problems: they are practically silent, they have zero emissions, they are all-terrain, and they are easy to use – if you can ride a bicycle, you will be able to ride this.'

However, the bikes are not currently road-legal in the UK and are solely designed for off-road use.

Mr Hurdle has plans to expand the new business further.

He said: 'We continue to be excited by the rapid growth and innovation in the world of electric transport.

'Our aim is to grow our hire fleet by sourcing cutting-edge machines, whether on two, three or four wheels – and hired out for a few days, a few months or indeed a few years.'

The bikes can carry up to 150kg, have a 75 mile range from a six hour charge, and can travel at speeds of up to 30mph.