Currie Technologies

When gas prices spiraled toward $5 a gallon a couple of years ago, electric bicycles were wheeling off showroom floors as fast as their motors could move them. The pace has slowed somewhat since then, despite growing interest among Southern California merchants, cyclists, commuters and manufacturers. "I'm more than considering one," said Marques Warren, who took an electric bicycle for a test ride at year-old Hollywood Electrics last month and was "thrilled. " The only hitch: the $3,100 he needs to buy it. The bikes' upfront costs are expensive, "but when you look at the numbers long term, it makes sense," said Warren, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Seattle and said he has been spending more than $100 a week on gas commuting to and from his work at a beverage and events company in Hollywood.

When gas prices spiraled toward $5 a gallon a couple of years ago, electric bicycles were wheeling off showroom floors as fast as their motors could move them. The pace has slowed somewhat since then, despite growing interest among Southern California merchants, cyclists, commuters and manufacturers. "I'm more than considering one," said Marques Warren, who took an electric bicycle for a test ride at year-old Hollywood Electrics last month and was "thrilled. " The only hitch: the $3,100 he needs to buy it. The bikes' upfront costs are expensive, "but when you look at the numbers long term, it makes sense," said Warren, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Seattle and said he has been spending more than $100 a week on gas commuting to and from his work at a beverage and events company in Hollywood.

"Ride up steep hills without huffing and puffing!" "Hammer at 20 mph without breaking a sweat!" At the recent Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, an explosion of companies touted the Lance Armstrong-like powers of the electric bike -- a pedal-powered bike with an electric motor for extra speed when you need it. Although E-bikes haven't caught on in the United States as they have in Europe and Japan, makers say high gas prices, the obesity crisis, better...

"Ride up steep hills without huffing and puffing!" "Hammer at 20 mph without breaking a sweat!" At the recent Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, an explosion of companies touted the Lance Armstrong-like powers of the electric bike -- a pedal-powered bike with an electric motor for extra speed when you need it. Although E-bikes haven't caught on in the United States as they have in Europe and Japan, makers say high gas prices, the obesity crisis, better...

Rancho Cucamonga resident Steven Gomez rises weekday mornings at 5 for a two-hour commute to Van Nuys. Most of the ride is aboard a Metrolink train, but when he disembarks at the Van Nuys station, the 40-year-old design engineer hops on an electric bicycle. In 15 minutes, he's at the doorstep of his employer, Currie Technologies Inc., with only a few beads of sweat on his brow. "It saves me wear and tear on my person," Gomez said of his commute.

Customers who walk into some California Best Buy stores for a cellphone might walk out with an electric vehicle. At least that's the thinking behind a test being conducted by the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer. In May, the Richfield, Minn., company quietly began selling electric bicycles, scooters and Segways at 21 of its West Coast stores, 12 of them in California.

Rancho Cucamonga resident Steven Gomez rises weekday mornings at 5 for a two-hour commute to Van Nuys. Most of the ride is aboard a Metrolink train, but when he disembarks at the Van Nuys station, the 40-year-old design engineer hops on an electric bicycle. In 15 minutes, he's at the doorstep of his employer, Currie Technologies Inc., with only a few beads of sweat on his brow. "It saves me wear and tear on my person," Gomez said of his commute.

Van Nuys-based Currie Technologies Inc., which designs and distributes electric bikes, has received an order to supply more than 130 modified mountain bikes to more than 100 Chicago-area police departments, a company official said Monday. The police bike order was described as the largest ever for the company and one of the largest in the industry. The value to the company, which had $1 million in sales last year, was not released.

For the third time in 20 years, Malcolm Bricklin was either ahead of his time, over the top or out of his element. His Electric Bicycle Co. of Burbank, a visionary manufacturer of electric-powered mopeds, has gone bankrupt and is being liquidated after filing for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws in February. Bricklin's failure is also costly for a number of high-profile investors, including St.

Gone are the days when carrier pigeons flew mail into downtown L.A. from Catalina Island. But thanks to a boost from technology, electro-fueled bike messengers are now flying between offices on Bunker Hill and among the banks, courthouses, shops and other bustling enterprises in the city's business center. Messengers with downtown-based ProCourier blasted off on E-Ride bikes last year. Designed and distributed by Currie Technologies Inc.

Customers who walk into some California Best Buy stores for a cellphone might walk out with an electric vehicle. At least that's the thinking behind a test being conducted by the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer. In May, the Richfield, Minn., company quietly began selling electric bicycles, scooters and Segways at 21 of its West Coast stores, 12 of them in California.

Rancho Cucamonga resident Steven Gomez rises weekday mornings at 5 for a two-hour commute to Van Nuys. Most of the ride is aboard a Metrolink train, but when he disembarks at the Van Nuys station, the 40-year-old design engineer hops on an electric bicycle. In 15 minutes, he's at the doorstep of his employer, Currie Technologies Inc., with only a few beads of sweat on his brow. "It saves me wear and tear on my person," Gomez said of his commute.

The price of gas is topping $4 a gallon ? again. And like 2008, when this last happened, interest in bikes for commuting and shopping is rising fast. With a variety of designs and technologies now available, there is now a practical bike for all types of work, be it urban city transport, long-distance commuting or short-haul shopping and delivery. Shop and Deliver Civia Halstead: Steel-framed nine-speed shopping and cargo bike from a small Minnesota commuter-bike specialist that's designed to carry heavy loads around town.

It couldn't have been a better day to show off the advantages of the Metro Red Line. While rain thrummed overhead Tuesday, slowing traffic on the Hollywood Freeway to even more of a crawl than usual, a bevy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials took reporters on a speedy--and dry--subway ride from the North Hollywood station, under the Cahuenga Pass and on to Hollywood.