THOMASVILLE- Scott Blanton and Cody Baggett are very familiar with electric powered vehicles, as they both formerly worked for Madjax, a golf cart parts facility. However, when the company recently sold their business to an individual in Jacksonville, Blanton was looking for something new.

“It was just too corporate, and I like small businesses,” Blanton said. “I spent the better part of a year trying to figure out what was next.”

While trying to figure out his next move, Blanton said he spent a lot of time with his son at the motor cross park he owns in Cairo. 

“Going to the races with my son, we started seeing these bikes called STACYCs,” he said. “They’re almost like strider bikes, but they have a motor on them.” 

Knowing the electric vehicle industry was growing, Blanton was immediately interested in learning more about the bikes. 

“My first thought was there is no other brand out there other than STACYCs and they are really popular with this crowd of people and I want to develop something like that,” he said. 

Blanton began to research STACYCs, when he came across larger and full- size bikes. He then ordered them for his children to try out and see how they worked. 

“I wanted to see how I could improve on it,” he said. “I loved it; I haven’t ridden a bike that much since I was a kid, when I would ride every day.” 

After a ton of research and test drives, Blanton found the market to be bigger for full-size e-bikes and said he immediately went to work. 

Due to his years working for Madjax, Blanton had developed relationships with manufacturers across the US, and was able to find a source manufacturer fairly quickly. 

“We talked with about six and went with the one who had the best reputation and offer,” Blanton said. 

After numerous tweaks and adjustments, Elevate e-bikes finally became a reality. 

There are three classes of e-bikes: A, B and C. 

Class A is essentially a pedal bike that has a motor to assist in pedaling and can go up to 20 mph. 

Class B has the same offerings as Class A, but also includes a throttle if the biker did not want to pedal at all and also goes up to 20 mph. 

“Class A and Class B are regulated the same as a bicycle,” Blanton said. “You can ride it on the street, do whatever you can do with a bike, but Class C goes over 20 mph and is regulated like a powered vehicle.” 

Although there are three classes of bikes, Elevate currently offers four different models, with hopes to have their fifth model in by January and sixth model to launch by summer. 

All the models provide something unique to them, but they also are all compactable and fold up so they can be taken anywhere and fit in spaces easily. 

The models just hit the sales floor in November. 

The bikes can’t just be found on any sales floor, though. 

Blanton is currently selling the e-bikes to golf cart dealerships, due to his former relationships and the notion that those interested in golf carts would similarly be interested in e-bikes. 

“You could at one time buy a pretty nice golf cart from a dealer for $4,500; that same cart now is almost $10,000,” Blanton explained. “The golf cart dealer just doesn’t have a reasonably priced option to sell somebody, so I think it’s a great fit for the bikes.” 

So far, Blanton said the dealerships have been successful in their sales of the e-bikes. 

He shared that most dealerships got their first shipment of e-bikes in during late November and have sold almost half of what they bought on the floor. 

“It fits their model really well,” he said. “It doesn’t take up a lot of room in the showroom, but it’s really gotten a lot of traction in the past week.” 

Blanton also explained that the dealerships are trying to push the word out to their communities that it’s not just bicycle shops that sell e-bikes; they do as well, and are more familiar with electric vehicles. 

When it comes to where will carry the e-bikes in Thomasville, Blanton hasn’t quite figured it out, yet, because of the various bike shops and golf cart dealerships. 

He said there will only be one exclusive dealer, but said he is possibly considering opening a small retail location as well, because this is the company’s home. 

“I haven’t committed to that yet,” he said. “It’s just something I’m thinking on.” 

In the meantime, Blanton is working to finish up his website, which will launch in January and continue working on additional models for both his kids and the community to enjoy riding on.