The start-up has outgrown its current premises in Wellington’s Haining Street and will open its new headquarters and manufacturing workshop in Te Rapa’s Brent Greig Lane in the new year.
FTN Motion launched its New Zealand-made electric motorbike, the Streetdog, in 2021 and was eyeing the Australian and European markets - a venture that required more space than its current premises, near the Wellington CBD, provides.
FTN Motion co-chief executive and founder Luke Sinclair said the company was proud to be “Wellington-born”, so they had made the decision to move with mixed emotions.
“We really wanted to make it work and searched high and low for a bigger headquarters in Wellington, but we eventually found what we need in Hamilton. The workshop is brand-new, purpose-built and much more cost-effective,” Sinclair said.
“It was a hard decision for us. Not everyone [of the team of 15] is going to move up. There will be a few sad goodbyes, but we are ready and excited for the move.”
Sinclair, originally from Waiuku, and co-chief executive Kendall Bristow are no strangers to Hamilton - both studied mechanical engineering at the University of Waikato.
FTN Motion founders Kendall Bristow, Saskia Thornton and Luke Sinclair. Photo / Alastair McKenzie
Sinclair said once the team realised they had to move out of Wellington, Hamilton was the first option.
“It’s a central hub and the [Ruakura] Inland Port connects us directly to Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga.
“We will also be located within an hour of more than 70 per cent of our current customer base.”
He said they had around five customers in Hamilton. but the majority of their customers were in Auckland.
With the move to Hamilton, the company would be able to offer workshop tours to give customers an insight into the manufacturing process.
It took about five people to complete one bike, Sinclair said. “There is a lot of prep work involved, but all frames are built in-house and we also build and paint the fairings ourselves.”
At the moment, his team completed between one and two bikes a day.
“But this is going to increase next year when we can set up a bit of a conveyor-belt system.”
The bike’s frame is made from steel but has a body made from hemp composite.
“We used to use fibreglass, but hemp composite has a much lower carbon footprint. In the manufacturing process, it offsets 50 per cent less carbon emissions.”
The Streetdog could be charged on a household power socket and had a range of up to 80km. It had a top speed of 50km/h and could be ridden on a restricted car license because it was classed as a moped. The price starts from $12,000.
FTN Motion was aiming to have 160 Streetdogs on New Zealand roads by the end of this year.
The current FTN Motion premises in Wellington's Haining St near the CBD. Photo / Alastair McKenzie
Sinclair said the bikes were ideal for short commutes.
“Hamilton is perfectly set up for this kind of travel. We did a couple of test rides already. The roads are less windy, they are wider and the traffic is more calm than in Auckland or Wellington.”
The Streetdog was named after Bristow’s dog Mac, whom he adopted from an SPCA shelter. “We thought so many motorbike companies use animals when naming their models - like the tiger - but no one used the dog yet.”
When asked what FTN stood for in the company’s name, Sinclair was reluctant to answer. “It’s very immature... At uni, Kendall and I used to listen to this song and it was in the lyrics... It stands for f*** the norm.”
FTN Motion says it will retain a presence in Wellington, including servicing and key roles like software engineering.
