eVTOL's and Safety When In The Sky
Green Transport
Stark Drive is committed to advancing green fossil fuel free transportation technologies and when we launched we wanted to provide our customers with the most affordable electric bike solutions in the eBike marketplace.
When we first launched our $399 US electric bike people were sceptical that such a price-point was even possible. Our ambitious goal of lowering the barrier to being able to own a means of transportation that helped primarily people living in cities use it as their primary means of transportation or in conjunction with public transport was thought to be impossible however we defied the skeptics and not only launched Stark Drive's 'City' Range of bikes but also delivered on our promise.
Since then we have been working towards achieving our master plan which included launching Stark Drive Mini which was even more affordably priced at $299 which we thought to be the perfect companion to those that wanted to eschew the rental scooter revolution which has spread worldwide to many cities often treated poorly by the users, improperly parked on sidewalks with there even being questions about the maintenance of the scooters which could result in safety concerns for riders that rent this form of transportation. In conjunction with this, scooters are by design prone to launching the rider forward in the event they hit an obstacle that is larger than the wheel diameter which can often result in serious injury as it is common to see riders of these public scooters forgoing safety gear such as helmets. We at Stark Drive believe that the bicycle has a much better weight distribution for the rider to ensure balance when riding even when obstacle's such as potholes or the like are encountered ensuring rider safety.
After the launch of Stark Drive Mini we then went on to design our first registered custom frame design that incorporated high quality and powerful Bafang mid motors to drive the bike further centering the balance of our bikes by eliminating the heavy rear wheel hub based motor and of course taking into account that our entire range of bikes have the battery pack hidden in the frame of the bike centered on the bike.
Furthermore we have produced the first prototypes of Stark Drive Carbon which is going to be the first 20'' Tire based folding Mid-motor eBike that achieves significant weight reduction by using carbon fibre as the frame material instead of the traditional aluminum that is commonly used in the marketplace. We will in short order be releasing videos of both Stark Drive Torque as well as Carbon demonstrating their raw performance as well as describing the features that we have incorporated into these new models which are typically only found on eBikes at a significantly higher pricepoint.
Shanghai Bike Expo 2023
Our CEO was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Shanghai Bike Expo this year and with that we have been impressed with the amount of integration that is occurring within the eBike industry. Instead of separate components being frankensteined together to build an electric bikes, more and more our suppliers are working to integrate components in more seamless ways so that they not only look better but also improve performance. Some examples of this are turn signals incorporated right on the frame of the bike, rear lights being built into the rear rack. The amount of innovation within the industry is mindblowing and the expo was a good demonstration of this with hundreds of companies showing their wares and their ideas of how to build a better eBike. We have spoken with dozens of companies and will be designing our future products with these innovations in mind.
Our Future In The Skies
There is an burgeoning eVTOL sector that has been gaining momentum in the last several years which we consider to be very interesting when talking about transport for our customers. More and more companies are developing their concepts of battery based aircraft and we would compare this to be a bit of a wild west with many different concepts being designed and tested. The main benefits of the majority of these new styles of aircraft is redundancy in the form of multiple rotors with an inherent improvement in the level of safety when compared with more traditional rotor based craft like the helicopter.
Its more important now than ever to have safety and redundancy as the primary focus for the development of any aircraft design considering the fact that if some component were to function improperly, you not only have to worry about just stopping as you would with an electric bike but also the inevitable descent down to ground. Stark Drive takes these safety concerns very seriously which is why, for the last 3 years, have been working to perfect our design for an eVTOL and having it customisable based on the customers intended usage be it commuting or simply enjoying the feeling of flight.
The current generation of electrolyte based Lithium batters are entirely unsuitable for travel in the skies and we believe that the risks associated with using this technology is doomed to failure. Standard lithium cells are exceptionally sensitive to damage and when lithium is exposed to air leads to an unstoppable combustion process at extreme heat levels. Lithium cells are also exceptionally sensitive to temperature and must operate within a defined temperature range to function optimally. Any eVTOL that is using this technology is inherently unsafe and we believe that this style of cell will be regulated out of the marketplace for this application either through regulation or darwinism.
We look forward to providing you more details on our eVTOL design as well as test flights demonstrating Stark Drives concept of how we think we can democratize the skies. As always, Stark Drives eVTOL will be the most affordable in the market and have the added advantage of being customisable both during the order process or even once you receive your craft and want to upgrade it in the future.
Stark Drive Torque Frames Completed - Pre Orders Shipping Soon
Hello Stark Drive Enthusiasts !
After a long delay due to uncontrollable events we are finally making real headway to shipping Stark Drive Torque. The Process to mass produce (even in boutique quantities) requires the factory that produces our unique and 'design registered' frames requires unique moulds to be produced and regimented tooling so that every frame is designed perfectly to our specifications. with the smaller quantity that we produced for this pre order opportunity, it meant a trade off with time to fit us into an unused factory slot. 
Here the frame is positioned for final welding with Tack-welds to hold the frame in the proper position. After this stage the final welding is completed to strengthen all connections on the frame.
Here is a sample of our batch, ready for the final components to be added.
Of course you may be wondering to yourself at this point, how do you get the battery in there? Wasn't this bike supposed to be a folding bike, you would be correct. the folding brackets are added after the frame has been completed as well as all the required holes for access to the inside of the frame
The battery production has gone on concurrently and is way ahead of the manufacturing of the frames at this point which means there will be no delay when the frames are completed. The next step for the frames is several layers of paint and then it heads off to our partners for final assembly. We hope to have video of the assembly process for you soon and of course of the boxing.
Those of you whom have ordered torque will soon be receiving your final invoices to cover the remaining costs for the unique configurations that you have selected. If you have to update your address or other contact information you can do so at this point. We will then be sending them by container ship to your respective addresses with an estimated 30 day travel time to your door all taxes paid.
Torque, like all of our other bikes is designed like lego enabling you to add or remove components as you require them.
This is the first bike that we know of in the world that is a mid motor folding electric bike, it will enable you to easily take your bike on public transport or store it securely in your home fitting into even the tiniest of elevators.
Future Goals and Company Direction
We at Stark Drive believe in ICE free transportation as is quite apparent with our selection of electric bicycles however there are times that you are in an area where a bicycle just won't do and you need some other form of transport, perhaps one that does not require trails or roadways. We look to the sky to enable fast efficient fossil fuel free transport which will not only get you from point a to point b in a straight line but save you time and be the most fun you can have getting there.
Stay Tuned.
Stark Drive Torque Production Update
Hello Stark Drive Enthusiasts!
We are excited that our Torque Bike frames are nearing completion and final assembly is inevitable. We have a smaller run than normal for this batch of boutique Torque Bikes (Both Regular and Fat tire Variants). As such we have had to wait a little bit longer for frame manufacturing to complete but we are in the home stretch now and expect to be shipping in June.
For those of you lucky enough to secure one of these limited run units, we will be in contact shortly with you to finalize your payment taking into account the deposits that you have already placed.
Also some good news! we have a limited number of fully loaded Torque units available that were produced in excess for us to use in testing and promotion and we are able to offer these to a very lucky few that are interested.
if you are interested in one of these few units, you can place your deposit here and we will be in contact with you shortly.
A review of Stark Drive Torque:
Promotional Video:
Sincerely
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC
Stark Drive Manufacturing and Production Update
Hello!
we are so excited to be sharing this production, testing and boxing video of our latest batch of Stark Drive Electric bikes.
The new generation of Stark Drive has been upgraded from the ground up with:
- New Color display on all units
- Upgraded Front Shocks
- Upgraded Disc Brakes
- Next Generation Upgraded Geared Hub Motor
Its been a long road to get these bikes out to our customers due to delays that were out of our control however the final result was more than worth it and we are very impressed with the determination and perseverance of our team in China that helped us through these difficult times.
Stark Drive Torque is still undergoing manufacturing, the frames are supposed to be complete this week and we hope to post a similar type of video on these next generation, patented, unique, and powerful bikes.
Note that we have a few extra Stark Drive bikes of all models including Stark Drive Mini as well as accessories available if you want to get your bike ready for the summer season.
Stock bikes ready to ship:
Accessories ready to ship:
https://starkdrive.bike/access...
Sincerely
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive Production - Stark Drive Standard Bikes Shipping Soon
Good News
Final assembly of Stark Drive (non-torque) is under final assembly and testing.
We expect these to ship by the end of April or early May.
Stark Drive Torque custom frames are being completed and should be in the Assembly phase by early to mid may.
Stark Drive Available
We have a few Units of Stark Drive City, City+ and Advanced available for immediate shipping from excess that we manufactured in this batch.
Stark Drive Torque Available
We have two units of Stark Drive Torque available for immediate purchase as part of that batch, you can pay the deposit here: https://starkdrive.bike/stock/...
Stark Drive Mini
We have 2 units of Stark Drive Mini available for immediate shipping here: https://starkdrive.bike/stock/...
Thank you
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive & Stark Drive Torque Batch Nearing Completion
hello,
We are happy to announce that manufacturing of Stark Drive and Stark Drive Torque are proceeding for those that ordered late 2021 and early 2022 of this year. The global pandemic has affected all areas of our manufacturing process from sourcing materials, to batteries for our powerpacks as well as final assembly. We are cautiously optimistic as the whole process which we had refined to run like a well oiled machine has become more circumspect due to the issues that have been caused not the least of which is the stringent chinese government policy of 0 covid meaning that entire districts if not cities of millions of people are closed down if a case is detected. at the time of writing this post the latest was shanghai.
Below you can see some content of production and we plan to ship all standard Stark Drive models mid april with all Torque models shipping by the end of April.
Of note is that we have a few extra Torque models that we had ordered for review and demonstration testing for our partners and these are new and ready for sale meaning that if you purchase the 'reservation here: https://starkdrive.bike/stock/... you are able to then have it ship at the same time.
we also have several Stark Drive Mini units ready to go all tested and boxed.
Stark Drive Prices Rise Along With Inflation Headwinds
Hello Everyone,
With the rising prices worldwide for the cost of materials we were working hard here at Stark Drive to keep our pricing stable and held out as long as we could but the final straw was the seemingly now permanent shipping cost increases that we were subsidizing up to now.
Any purchase that was made before the price increase will be honored and shipped however any future orders will be at now at our new pricing structure.
While we hope to keep this new pricing for an extended term, with the global economic situation, we are unsure how long these new prices will remain before we are forced to once again adjust our pricing again.
Sincerely
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC
Stark Drive Illustrated Book Release
The Launch of Stark Drive
Stark Drive originally launched our unbelievably affordable and configurable electric bike on Indiegogo in February 2017. We were immediately criticized for being a 'scam' and that our bike must have been made of 'plastic' by a notable competitor Mate.bike whom had launched their electric bike several months prior on the same platform. Our launch must have been concerning to them as our bike was approximately half the price of their bike with a similar folding frame style.
A week later our campaign on indiegogo was cancelled and all funds refunded to our backers, at the time this was several hundred thousand dollars. Indiegogo at the time never contacted our team to inquire about any issues or questions that they had with our product and in fact we had been conjold originally by indiegogo to use their platform for our product with months of back and forth with their team to hone and refine our launch to ensure success.
Indiegogo broke off all contact with Stark Drive and would not respond to any messages.
As you can imagine this was a devastating turn of events for our team considering the over year long concerted effort that went into all the preparations in designing our ebike, not to mention the time spent on sourcing, contracts with our assembly partners, website design, advertising....the list goes on.
This seemed to be something of a personal vendetta from one of the founders of Mate.bike: Christian Adel Michael whom even reached out to our CEO Oscar Stark on facebook and told us that we should not launch that we had no idea about budgeting and that we were going to run into patent issues
Right Christian, patent issues on a bike that had been open source since around 2011 if not earlier and sold under various brand names around the world, not unlike the Mate or Mate X.
Oscar Stark took the rather unorthodoxx matter into his own hands and actually booked a trip to New York and went directly to Indiegogo's offices there in order to discuss 'launching an electric bike' on their platform, unannounced and without any meeting booked.
It was finally after this meeting that we heard from Indiegogo and they revealed WHY our campaign had been cancelled. Mate.bike International Aps used their lawyer to send a DMCA notice to indiegogo claiming we infringed on their 'patents'. These non-existent patents were not confirmed nor investigated before the platform took action to end our campaign and Christian ecstatic with the result even reached to Oscar again on facebook to gloat before blocking him.
Suffice to say, we did not give up there. After retooling our website we launched starkdrive.bike as a crowdfunding venture from our own website. While the traffic to our website is nowhere near what Indiegogo would receive in a typical day, our sales exploded and Stark Drive was alive again.
A few months later, we finally started delivering our electric bikes and ironically if what we have heard from the grapevine is correct we actually delivered our first Stark Drive batch before Mate had shipped their bikes out which had been delayed over a year from their originally delivery date
While in the playground that would have been the end of it, unfortunately for Mate and Christian, we are adults running companies and when you tortiously interfere with a company there are repercussions.
Check out this short 10 page history in graphical form below. You are welcome to download it and spread the word.
Stark Drive Torque 'Limited Edition' Starts Production
Merry Christmas and All the Best for the New Year From Stark Drive!
we are pleased to announce that the limited edition Stark Drive Torque - Limited to 50 units has started production and is on track to ship with delivery early spring to all of our pre order customers that have opted to purchase this unique Mid Motor Bafang based Folding Torque Sensing Bike. That was a mouthful even to write but the utility and novelty of this bike can not be overstated. There exists nothing on the market that is comparable to this custom built and patented design that we are manufacturing at this time.
We wanted to manufacture something that was not based on an 'open mould' design like so many of our competitors do on the market. We at Stark Drive had our start in this fashion as well with the original Stark Drive electric bike which was based on an open mould design. What we did differently at the time however was the ability to customize your bike from the ground up starting with just a PAS motor based bike and up to adding such enhancements such as the throttle, larger battery packs, and even cruise control on the bike.
We wanted to take a different approach with Stark Drive Torque and add features that you would normally not see on bikes that cost 4-5x the base price of Torque such as Fingerprint recognition unlocking. NFC charging for your mobile phone and using the most powerful mid motors that are available on the market such as the Bafang m620 which, due to its incredibly well built components have seen some 'overclockers' out there in the blogosphere enhance the power output on this motor to 2500w and above.
In the coming weeks, we will be posting images and possibly video of the production process and how we are coming along with completing these very unique bikes. If you were one of the lucky ones that found the pre order page on our stock link www.starkdrive.bike/stock you can follow along with us as we manufacture these bikes.
As always we remain available to answer any questions on the 'chat' function on our website as well as by email hello@starkdrive.com and our US toll free number.
If you are interested in getting a torque based bike, we have gone ahead and manufactured a few 'extra' units that are destined for reviewers but we may be convinced to send one of these to you instead.
Thank you
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC.
Stark Drive vs Paypal Inc Lawsuit (Spoiler alert: We Won)
The history between Paypal and Stark Drive
When we originally launched our crowdfunding campaign through our website after the tortious interference caused by our competitor on Indiegogo by Mate.bike whom use their lawyers to cancel our campaign on that platform, lawsuit still ongoing, we shifted our crowdfunding campaign to our own website to launch the original Stark Drive in April 2017.
Our terms of backing were identical to those of platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter with a donation and rewards based system. In fact, in order to process the payment, the backer would need to confirm their understanding of the crowdfunding system by clicking a checkbox at the last phase of the backing process before payment was processed.
Paypal renegs on their own Terms and Conditions
Paypal's terms and conditions on crowdfunding are exceptionally clear and have not changed since 2017 to the best of our knowledge, they do not cover 'not received' claims for any crowdfunding or donation based systems which is logical seeing as how there is no purchase actually being made, this is one way that bad actors are able to steal millions of dollars from hopeful and altruistic backers whom believe in campaign owners on such platforms. Stark Drive is not one of those bad actors, although we have not been without unexpected situations that needed to be overcome over the course of our original launch.
Stark Drive persevered and while it took us longer than expected to deliver our original first batch of bikes, we did deliver. Paypal whom we viewed as partner became yet another hindrance for us when they started to refund backers, whom had actually received their bikes eventually, even though they were later than anticipated, as well as limiting our account meaning that we suddenly had no ability to pay our suppliers as funds were frozen on their platform.
How to Sue a Global Company and Win?
Paypal is a US Based company as is Stark Drive. We found the way to minimize risk for our company while still being able to take this behemoth to task for their (unscrupulous) behavior and how they harmed our company through small claims court. While the limit in this court is fairly low, it does serve as a precedent and is prejudicial when a decision is reached. Paypal tried to deflect the suit claiming that we were 'selling' bikes not crowdfunding them at the time, all over our website as well as the launch video on the site, it was clear that Stark Drive launched through crowdfunding. Not only that but the payments would not be able to be processed without clicking the checkbox which appeared during our crowdfunding below:
The trial occurred via video conference due to the ongoing pandemic and after 7 hours of waiting for our turn to present our case and a 1 hour trial, Stark Drive was victorious in the eyes of the honorable Judge whom awarded us full damages as claimed in this case. Paypals legal representation pulled out all the stops including trying to deflect the fact that we were clearly crowdfunding when we launched and instead pointing to other terms and conditions in their user agreement such as needing signature confirmation of delivery for 'purchases' over $750 as well as their own backend not registering the fact that we were crowdfunding in the data that was sent to them when the customer wished to complete their order, trying to deflect the fact that to even get to the stage where payment is processed the customer 'MUST' click on the checkbox agreeing that they understand this was crowdfunding.
A very satisfactory result for Stark Drive and it goes to demonstrate that no matter if its a David vs Goliath situation, if you have the truth on your side you will prevail.
Paypal: if you are reading this, we will be expecting payment for your loss shortly, our accounting team will be in touch.
Sincerely
STARK DRIVE TEAM
stark drive LLC.
Stark Drive Torque (Pre-order Reservation) Going into Production!
Hello!
we are pleased to announce that production will shortly be starting on the first and only batch of Stark Drive Torque for our lucky pre order customers. Both the fat tire model as well as the regular tire as pictured below. thank you for those of you who want to be the first to own and love Stark Drive Torque.
we anticipate production taking 45 days at which point we will ship torque out to you via container ship. note that you will be contacted shortly with the final total and to pay the balance so that we can proceed with your order.
If you have any questions about torque or would like to see if there are any available you can contact us at hello@starkdrive.com
sincerely
Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC
