Power Hour: Zero CEO shares his plan to grow the EV market

In this episode of Power Hour, Brendan talks to Sam Paschel, CEO of Zero Motorcycles, a California-based electric motorcycle design and manufacturing company. A lifelong motorcyclist, Paschel shares how Zero’s EV bike completely changed his riding experience, and how his company is attempting to make the same EV experience more accessible for everyone. 

Paschel has been at the helm of Zero for eight years. With an engineering background, he came to zero after learning how to build, sell and market consumer products at Burton. When he was first approached for the CEO job at Zero, it was at the very beginning of the EV trend, and was first apprehensive about taking the job, wondering if electric motorcycles could get the same traction as other electric vehicles. 

“I decided to drive to a local Zero dealer and take a test ride. And after that one test ride, I went from being intellectually interested in what was going on, to being so desperate to be a part of what they were building, I would’ve taken a job as the janitor at Zero Motorcycles,” Paschel says. “The ride experience blew my door off.” 

Now, Paschel is trying to make Zero Motorcycles more attainable to a broader range of motorcyclists. Last year, Zero closed a $76 million funding round, helping the company launch its new all-access initiative, where it plans to release six new distinct EV vehicles over the next two years, all priced at less than $10,000.  

This move is in step with other OEM pricing models under $10,000. More recently, Harley-Davidson announced it was selling its Nightster model starting at $9,999. 

Since announcing the more affordable models, Paschel says Zero has seen a 25% increase in dealer interest since the start of the year and is on pace to double the dealer network by the end of the year. Paschel adds that Zero is receiving three to five new applications a week from dealers after the company unveiled its new “all-access” bikes at the 2024 AIMExpo. 

Paschel says Zero tries to offer easy dealer terms, such as free-flooring with automatic extensions, low on-boarding costs, and specialized marketing assistance to specific dealers. “We respect our dealer partners and know our future runs through them,” he says. “We want to make it as easy as we can to on-board with little financial risk and provide all the support they need in a growing adoption market.”