When the founders of URB-E, or Urban Electric, were coming up with their foldable electric vehicle design in a garage, they decided they wanted to manufacture the product in America. The company is based in Pasadena, California, and some of the top aerospace companies are in the region. That’s exactly what they needed for the lightweight, aircraft-grade aluminum that makes up the foldable frame.
Like any start-up, they started knocking on doors.
“A big challenge for us was manufacturing in California,” said URB-E CEO and co-founder Peter Lee. “Not every fabricator was receptive to the idea. A lot of them were looking for large quantity orders that were very simple as a plug and play.”
URB-E needed partners that would work through their growing pains, and it finally found eight fabricators who were willing to take on the task. It was also able to source the high-quality aluminum from U.S. companies, and started a seven-person assembly line out of its downtown Pasadena headquarters. It started making the vehicles in 2015.
