Pedal/Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Expands North Carolina Manufacturing, Opens West Coast Facility

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Organic Transit, manufacturer of the ELFpedal/electric vehicle, is moving to a larger facility in Durham and opening a West Coast manufacturing center in San Jose.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131002/CL90849 )

Organic Transit has outgrown the old retail furniture store where it began in 2011 in downtown Durham.  The new location, located just a few blocks away near Durham's Central Park District, is 7,500 square feet, much more appropriate than the present location.   The company will use sustainable design in the building renovation and implement a higher-volume manufacturing process.

The company builds the ELF, a pedal and solar electric powered vehicle, which is the cleanest, most efficient vehicle commercially available.

"We love the old building, and it was perfect for getting us into business," said Rob Cotter, Organic Transit Founder and CEO,  "But like Henry Ford realized 100 years ago, we need more room for a proper assembly line to increase our productivity."

"We will utilize recycled and upcycled materials in our build out.  And the building is being prepared with skylights, LED lighting, edible gardens, green walls and bee hives."

Organic Transit is also opening a San Jose manufacturing facility in partnership with Good Karma Bikes, a non-profit that trains homeless individuals to become bicycle mechanics. 

"Interest in the ELF on the West Coast has been huge," said Cotter.  "Through this partnership, we'll have an assembly plant to service customers in western states, as well as give something back the local community."

Cotter said the San Jose location will also be a base to make local deliveries of vehicles and act as a regional maintenance facility.

The ELF, legally a bicycle, can travel on bike paths and roads without a driver's license.  The vehicle achieves the equivalent of 1,800 miles-per-gallon and prevents as much as six tons of polluting Co2 from entering the atmosphere each year.

An ELF, which can carry up to eight bags of groceries or 350-pounds of payload, is constructed of recycled or recyclable materials.

Organic Transit's mission is "Environmental Prosperity": build vehicles that reverse the damage caused by climate change, increase the health of the rider and the local community and create jobs in the Green Economy.

Organic Transit began taking orders after a January, 2013 KickStarter program.  Since that time, more than 200 vehicles have been sold through their website, www.organictransit.com

SOURCE Organic Transit