At 22 years old, University of Pittsburgh senior Micah Toll is already a serial entrepreneur. He has founded two businesses in the past five years — one produces a robust building material for third-world countries and another has introduced an affordable test kit for Chinese drywall, a sulfur toxic compound found in many homes. While both efforts have been successful, it's Toll's latest venture that may have the most potential.
Pulse Motors is Toll's Pittsburgh startup designed to provide two-wheeled electric vehicles to students and the public. The company's first product, the PEV0, is a hybrid human-electric vehicle. With fully functional pedals, you can ride it like a bicycle, or twist the throttle for acceleration. It is 100-percent powered by electricity, using Lithium battery technology, and has a limited speed of 20 mph. Other features include front and rear brakes, an onboard charger, and a charge time of three hours, running about 15-30 miles per charge.
“The beauty of the PEV0 is that it has functional pedals like a bike does so if you run out of battery you can just pedal back, or you can even pedal while using the throttle so you can save your mileage,” says Toll.
Setting Up for Success
Toll, a south-central PA native who graduated from Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon County, had his first patent pending invention by the age of 16. Science was always a part of his life — his mother was a nurse and father was a biological oceanographer.
“I knew that Mechanical Engineering was going to be my major since I was 5,” says Toll. “I loved to build new stuff and figure out how things work. Cars were always my favorite, too.”
The idea to start a company that manufactures two-wheeled electric vehicles came to Toll about two years ago. Toll knew that he could develop something that was sustainable yet affordable for students to use around campus as an alternative to cars. With Pulse Motors stirring in his head for almost a year, in late 2010 Toll brought his thoughts to friends and classmates, Thorin Tobiassen, an electric vehicle expert, and Max Pless who is a bicycle mastermind.
Toll says, “We, the founders have combined all our skills to build two-wheeled electric vehicles, which brings all the advantages of electric cars. They are more convenient, no pump needed, great for city driving and all around much nicer.”
Between the three of them, Pulse Motors entered into research and development to ensure that they had the right technology and resources. It wasn’t until the halfway point of this year when they started developing their first vehicle.
The Everyday Nitty-Gritty
Toll, who lives about two miles away from the Pitt campus, says that he uses the PEVO to get to school everyday. Also Toll says that the PEV0 is legally considered a bicycle and since the maximum speed on the PEVO is 20 mph, riders reap all the benefits of a bike, including parking.
Toll says creating Pulse Motors in Pittsburgh has its own set of advantages and obstacles.
“The community is ripe with innovation, combining the college-town atmosphere with powerful local tech companies and a fostering entrepreneurship environment,” says Toll. “Additionally, Pittsburgh's terrain has presented an interesting challenge to our design team. We've been forced to design our vehicles to be powerful not only on level ground but also to be able to tackle some of the toughest hills in the country.
“Throw in our intense winters and you can see that we've had to engineer our vehicles to be as strong and powerful as Pittsburgh.”
Currently, Pulse Motors is preparing for beta testing, in which it will lend PEV0s to Pitt students and let them ride the PEV0s around campus for a short period of time to get feedback. Toll says more than 150 people have signed up for the beta trial.
“We are starting to get recognized around campus and people want to ride the PEV0,” says Toll. “Also, students will get to ride the PEV0 firsthand so when the time comes to rent or sell the PEV0 they will be more likely to consider it.”
Leasing the Future
Toll does realize that there are some drawbacks to the PEV0 and that no matter how hard he tries, a two-wheeled vehicle could never replace a four-wheeled car.
“The PEV0 is all about providing convenience to the user,” says Toll of its differentiator. “It allows people to commute on their schedule, for cheaper than a car or bus, and has the added benefit of being an environmentally responsible form of transportation.
“Sure, it's not going to replace your minivan for hauling all of your stuff and bringing the kids to soccer practice, but since most trips are single person trips anyways, the PEV0 represents a much more convenient, inexpensive and sustainable option.”
Toll hopes to have PEV0s available for student leasing in the spring. Toll says that the biggest challenge is costs and that it would be expensive for students to buy and own the PEV0, so leasing is a much better option. Also, Toll says that some PEV0 vehicles will be open for marketing and advertising space, in order to lower costs.
Says Toll: ” We want to lease the PEVO for less than a monthly bus pass. We are going to try to get it as low as $30-$50 per month or semester leases.”
Toll's post-graduate plans include continuing work on a second-generation vehicle, which he'd like to debut within the next year.
“Our second generation vehicle is going to be designed for mass production,” he says. “Depending on our funding, we would like to make anywhere from 50-500 of the second generation vehicles to be sold/rented in Pittsburgh first and then grow nationally from there hopefully.”
KELLY CLAYTON is a senior at Elizabethtown College who plays field hockey and writes on a variety of subjects for publications on campus and off. Send feedback here.
Photographs of Micah Toll by Brian Cohen
