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Efun International (Taiwan) Inc., a subsidiary of Link-Tech
International, and the new owner of Jacpro International
Company, Ltd., proudly presents our new concept and production
of state of the art folding bicycles. This new corporation
as a whole has a background of nine solid years of experience
in the design and manufacture of folding bikes. In fact,
in that nine years, our corporation produced more folding
bikes than any other company. Our goal is to design and
produce the most unique, high quality and affordable folding
bikes in the marketplace. Efun employs the very best engineers
who are dedicated to producing folding and eventually electric
bikes. Our other main goal is to be number one in customer
satisfaction. We are off to a good start, in that our new
design just won the Taiwan 2002 Bicycle Design Competition
Award.
Efun provides its employees with the latest technological
equipment so they can do their work effectively and efficiently.
Our designers take into account concepts that consider not
only safety, but also the ease of riding. The engineers
have access to several of the best bike testing facilities
in the world. The new bikes are subjected to strict design
and quality guidelines. Each new prototype design is modified
anywhere from three to eight times before being put into
production, to insure high levels of strength, safety, and
functionality.
In production, most of the bike frames are welded using
the most advanced tungsten inert gas and argon welding.
Also, very strict quality control procedures are followed
at every step in manufacturing, assembly, packaging and
shipping to guarantee the highest customer satisfaction.
Efun also prides itself in the high quality components
used on the models. For example, to avoid rust problems,
Efun uses stainless wire spokes and has developed an anti-rust
chain.
As I imagine may be true for most corporate owners with a revolutionary product and a compelling name and image, I get bombarded with questions. People have asked me, most centrally, “What is eFun?” The name itself, with its lower-case “e” and capitalized “Fun” has also caused some wonderment. More recently, several have raised the question, “How did eFun get into the bike business and later, into the PMD (Personal Moving Device) field?” Finally, the nature, objective, and origin of the eFun Key Supporting Group have become issues that we have found necessary to address publicly.
A Story
I will answer these questions through a personal anecdote. An idea for the company struck me in 1986 when I moved with my family to Phoenix , Arizona , in the United States from Taipei City, Taiwan . One of the greatest culture shocks was that people simply cannot navigate the sprawling metropolises of America without driving a car. Meanwhile, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tokyo—or even in less developed areas like Jakarta, Indonesia—one can use public transit easily to move from place to place locally as well as in intercity travel. I was bewildered that Phoenix , among other American cities, lacks acceptable public transit, despite its reputation for affluence and advanced technology which lend themselves to greater ease and efficiency of city life.
Car Driving Disadvantages
My job at the time required that I drive a lot. Seeing most cars on the freeway carrying a single person made me feel especially uncomfortable. Why would someone weighing 200 pounds require a car of a 2,000-pound load? Nor did this make sense ecologically as cars burn fossil fuel, creating carbon dioxide, causing global warming and acid rain, hazards to trees and animals, and producing yellow smog that increases asthma in our children?
Land
Car driving forces developers to waste around 50% of acquired land for parking-related usage. In Phoenix building regulation, for instance, for every 50 square-foot area in a restaurant, one parking space measuring 153 square-foot (8.5 x 18ft) is required. When including driveway and turning space, land reserved to accommodate driving can double the required parking space, which may easily reach more than 50% of developed land. Moreover, in the city, people park their cars along the street. What a waste to purchase land and to convert them into streets which are used and expanded primarily for parking!
Time
In addition to going to work, most of my friends needed to drive their children between school, sports, music lessons, a chance birthday party, the movie theater, and a variety of stores. Conversely, in Asia , children ride the bus (which stops every ten minutes, five during rush hour) or the subway (three to five minutes) independent of their parents. Moreover, traffic jams in 1986 (when the economy was still good) transformed the highways into veritable parking lots at least twice a day, which were invariably slowed even further by accidents. Some of my friends in L.A. told me that they were spending between four and six hours a day behind the steering wheel five days a week. I know from experience that in Hong Kong , less than a quarter of that time is used for transit, including walking and waiting time, to move that distance via the subway. Even in a larger city like Tokyo or Taipei , the “ Los Angeles driving time” is cut easily in half either by bus on designated roads or the subway.
Driving, though seemingly convenient and time-saving for the individual, claims a great deal of time when everyone drives. In economic theory, by comparison, when all individuals choose not to spend (and thus save more money), the whole society sags as the economy is powered by moderate spending.
Cost
The oil used for driving is neither unlimited nor cheap. Yet the simple cost of gas from the pump is only a small portion of total transportation costs when you include indirect costs (both government and personal) such as highway construction and repair, road maintenance, auto purchase and service, insurance premium, productivity loss due to traffic jams, and human time loss when carting our children across the city from school to piano lessons.
On top of these various driving expenses, we must include emergency medical-related costs (i.e. the ambulance ride to the hospital), war cost (i.e. to secure oil from foreign competitors), wasted land cost, and damage to the Earth's environment (caused by oil leakage and global warming).
These costs will only increase. The doom prophesied by the ecological oracle will come ever sooner unless we address these problems immediately.
Causes
Still, most Americans cannot help but drive, for they seem to be without an alternative. Why are we willfully assuming the shovel-bearing and grave-digging roles of our own lives?
One may argue that we are ruled from above as the big automotive companies team up with the big oil companies and persuade Congress to prevent the formation of a mass transit system. Others will argue that the average American enjoys the freedom and excitement of driving. Still a third reason may simply be that American cities are too big for establishing reliable public transportation. When I posited this question to one of my friends, he laughed and said dryly, “Just look at the Yellow Pages in any city. See how many accident lawyers have full-page advertisements and you'll understand why.”
We feel the same way as many people, especially those of younger generations, that no matter what the real reasons are, we need to confront our predicament and change it. There is no better time than now.
With eFun's Personal Moving Device (PMD), I intend to remedy our situation.
Problem solving
How can we encourage people to drive less? We assume that the more people using mass transit or car pool, the better our lives, our economy, and the future of our planet will be. Better mass transit means having enough schedules (so that riders do not need to wait long) , more comprehensive routes, and greater user-friendliness. Many people we have interviewed have said that they would take the bus or other public transit (e.g. subway and light rail) if they could have an effective means of transport between home and the departure station and between the arrival station and their office. We hope to fashion transportation devices that will help people move quickly and easily over a relatively short distance. A similar situation occurs when people car-pool. Instead of driving between each passenger's destination, it would be more efficient if the car could stop at one place and all passengers, traveling to their various destinations, could drive independently on a Personal Moving Device (PMD).
Foldable Bike with small wheels
The bicycle seems to be the best pollution-free means of transit. But can we design a bike that can be easily carried by passenger when going to a subway station? A bike that is good for city street riding, can be carried while walking, can be lifted easily up and down stairways, and is maneuverable when surrounded by fellow passengers? Can there be such a bike which might be stored in a small space when not in use (i.e. under the passenger seat of a bus or train and/or under a desk in the office)? How might we develop a foldable bike so small that four of them could be placed into a car trunk full of car-poolers? To meet these requirements, it seems that a regular bike, which has a big wheel and a large, solid frame, needs serious modifications. eFun believes that a lightweight and maneuverable bike with a foldable frame and small wheels, would be ideal for mass transit and car-pooling purposes.
Why not existing bikes
By viewing some numbers, we easily ascertain that traditional bikes are not designed for car-pooling and mass transit: generally speaking,
Highway racers ride 20 to 60 miles a trip, on paved road.
Mountain bikers ride 10 to 30 mile a trip, on unpaved road.
In other words, traditional bikes are designed to handle long-distance transportation, compared with the one- to five-mile distance in our car pool/mass transit application.
Knowing that we cannot force anyone to use our product, we must design it in such a way that people will desire to use it. In other words, we want people to have “Fun” using it.
eFun comes in
Since Environmental concern is our starting point and having “Fun” our destination, we call ourselves eFun.
Thinking that most people do not like to bear the heavy load of Environmental Concern, we reduce the “E” to a lower-case “e.” Instead, we emphasize the “Fun” portion by capitalizing its first letter, while keeping the foundational importance of the environment in mind.
I believe that we have answered the introductory questions, but one can only talk so much about history. Everything else relies on the present and future. While we generally pursue the “here and now” independently, the shaping of our future requires collective vision, direction, and action.
Other thoughts
Once, my Japanese friend asked me if the “e” in our name stands for enjoy. The “e” may certainly have this meaning, for we must make our product's use enjoyable to achieve success.
Yet the “e” also combines Fun with energy, efficiency, enlightenment, enabling, and empowerment.
Moreover, “e” can be electrical to give us room for expansion into developing energy-power-assisted bikes and Electrical Personal Moving Devices.
1) Promote less driving through the design, manufacturing, and marketing of Personal Moving Devices that are innovative, reliable, easy, and Fun.
2) Allow more people to enjoy eFun designs and products by lowering costs, raising efficiency, and establishing various marketing channels.
3) All activities of eFun are centered on making the earth cleaner, preserving our health, and conserving natural resources.
Conservation – Earth's natural resources are limited and should be used wisely.
Efficiency –Use the mind, technology, and strategy to reach the highest efficiency whenever possible.
Equal opportunity– Everyone has an equal opportunity to grow and prosper, for our lives carry the same weight and are subject to the same elements on earth.
Excellence – Aim high and demand the best of ourselves.
Contribute – We offer our knowledge, wisdom, strength, and ability.
Team Work – Cooperation promotes increased Productivity by exercising mutual respect and establishing common goals.
eFun Key Supporting group
Very soon after I began the bike and PMD business, I learned that my work could not function without the help—especially the knowledge and friendship—of a group of capable people. The bike is an assembly of many parts. Each part has its own design history as well as individual future in technological innovations. Human relationships, which connect people like the pieces in such an assembly, are important when requesting good prices and prompt delivery. Luckily enough, I was introduced to many well-respected experts in many fields. Some of them have become my good friends over time. The eFun key supporting group was established to facilitate communications.
Responsibility and benefit
To be an eFun Key Support Group member, responsibilities and benefits are as follows:
Responsibility: (1) If possible, when asked, contribute your opinion, knowledge, time, and skill to help eFun in its design, manufacturing, and marketing of PMDs. (2) Treat all acquired information from eFun and/or its members as confidential (to avoid unnecessary harm and competition). (3) Promise "no harm" to eFun and its constituents.
Benefit: (1) Possible financial, informational, and/or contact aid from eFun and/or its members. (2) Get to know and have fun with other eFun members by joining eFun's activities (e.g. invitations to trade shows, sales and promotions conferences, international conventions, and dinner parties). (3) Possible significant financial reward when the products your ideas and skills helped coordinate generate profit (a certain percentage of eFun's profit is dispatched to the people who helped, according to their contribution, as judged by eFun).
eFun Key supporting group is a "by invitation only” group for the protection of trade secrets and to avoid unnecessary competition.
Communication should always be directed to and received from the President of the eFun Key Supporter Group. The president (or his core assistant) will contact each individual member and seek their approval before they are introduced to a new member. Each individual member's approval also will be obtained before allowing other members to contact him or her directly (for identity/privacy protection).
The President is currently Nelson Lin
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