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James Downer, the American who spent time in Colombia building electric bicycles: 'The country has a special essence'

He came to Colombia to study migration and ended up creating companies. He told his story to EL TIEMPO at COP16.

James Downer tiene una empresa de bicicletas eléctricas tipo pedaleo asistido. — James Downer runs a pedal-assist electric bike company. Foto: Sebastián García. EL TIEMPO

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Sebastián David García Castro

PERIODISTA01.11.2024 10:14 Actualizado: 01.11.2024 10:25

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"Colombia has a very incredible balance between chaos and order," says James Downer, an American who came to the country to make electric bicycles, in fluent Spanish. Accustomed to being called a "gringo", the New York-born Downer rides one of the bikes he brought from Bogota for COP16, the biodiversity summit, through the streets of Cali. In the capital of Valle del Cauca, he told EL TIEMPO why he became interested in the country.

(Lea esta historia en español, aquí)

After graduating in computer science and international relations, Downer left the United States. He followed the example of his father and mother, who worked in Latin America: "They inspired me to seek a more independent path.

James Downer, creador de Guajira Bikes. — James Downer, CEO of Guajira Bikes. Foto:Cortesía Guajira Bikes

Nicaragua was his first stop. In 2015, he founded Colibri, a solar energy company focused on providing solutions for families and small businesses in rural and urban areas. However, he reconsidered his stay in the Central American country when it plunged into crisis in 2018 due to protests against then-president Daniel Ortega.

"I was looking for the next chapter of my life, and I was really struck by the number of Venezuelans who were leaving. It was something incomprehensible. I read a journalist's report and was curious to come to Colombia to understand that it was a more complex reality that did not fit into a 500-word article," he said in an interview with this newspaper.

He went to Cúcuta and other cities and talked to migrants, "people of all kinds, juggling at traffic lights, selling whatever". "They love to talk; they were always ready to tell their story to a random gringo like me who showed up," he adds. So he began to structure his next business idea, which he wanted to launch in 2020.

"There was a great need for loans for migrants. I organised the ideas; I wanted to work with micro-enterprises," he recalls.

Financing electric bicycles for homebuyers

But the COVID-19 pandemic, which put dozens of businesses out of business, led him to change direction: "I spoke to a homeowner who had a moped. It took him a year and a half to save up enough money to buy it. That's when I saw the need to finance mobility for homeowners".

This led to the creation of two companies, based on the barriers to access to credit for foreigners in Colombia and the problems faced by residents in moving around large cities such as Bogotá to access food, markets and so on. He founded Roda, which focuses on financial services, and Guajira Bikes, a manufacturer of electric bicycles.

To get the initiatives off the ground, one of the first people he hired was Carlos Sánchez, a Venezuelan who worked in transport and logistics and left his country because of a lack of job opportunities.

"I worked in banking in Colombia. I met James through friends. I heard about a job offer with a great position, but I didn't know we'd be starting from scratch. I met him, we agreed on a lot of problems we wanted to solve and now I work here with him," Sánchez, who is the director of Guajira Bikes, told EL TIEMPO.

How do the pedal-assisted bicycles made by James Downer and his team work?

Fabricación de bicicletas de pedaleo asistido. — Manufacture of pedal-assisted bicycles. Foto:Cortesía Guajira Bikes

Aware that mopeds can be dangerous on Colombia's cycle paths, Downer focused Guajira Bikes on the assembly of pedal-assist electric bicycles. This means that when the rider pedals, the entire electric system is activated, giving them a speed of 32 kilometres per hour and an average range of 70 kilometres.

As they are pedal-assisted, they can be used on pavements, footpaths, cycle paths, cycle lanes, cycle tracks and any other place intended for bicycle traffic, as they comply with Resolution 160 of 2017 of the Ministry of Transport.

"Combustion bicycles pollute, are noisy and cannot be used on cycle paths. On the other hand, electric bikes are a much more efficient way of getting from A to B," explains Sánchez.

Las bicicletas de Guajira Bikes fueron pintadas por un artista durante la COP16 en Cali. — The Guajira Bikes bikes were painted by an artist during COP16 in Cali. Foto:Sebastián García. EL TIEMPO

Downer points out that they can benefit anyone who uses a bike for work and, of course, transport. According to his calculations, instead of spending 20,000 pesos a day on petrol, a of a pedal-assist bike would only have to invest 20,000 pesos in the monthly electricity bill: "It's charged like a phone".

"We travelled from Bogota to Cali for COP16. The bike climbed the Alto de La Línea without a problem, we climbed the Alto de Las Letras without a problem. My mother has also climbed high and relaxed, while I sometimes sweat with a heart rate of 170 beats per minute," he says with a laugh.

Bicicletas que fabrica Guajira Bikes. — Bicycles made by Guajira Bikes. Foto:Cortesía Guajira Bikes

Guajira has three bicycles: Magdalena, Sinú and Cauca, which can cost up to four million pesos. Although the company is committed to assembling the bikes in Colombia, Roda offers financing services to help those interested in buying one. The company has already sold 250 bikes and expects to deliver 400 by the end of 2024.

"At the beginning it was a bit difficult to sell the first one because people think the electric bike is a toy, but now they tell us it's a bull," says the 32-year-old American. Although his biggest customers have been homeowners, Downer wants to reach more people as the world moves towards electric vehicles. So he is working on alliances with other companies.

Guajira Bikes se fundó en 2020 para fabricar bicicletas eléctricas de tipo pedaleo asistido en Colombia. — Guajira Bikes was founded in 2020 to manufacture pedal-assisted electric bicycles in Colombia. Foto:Sebastián García. EL TIEMPO

Downer still has a long way to go in Colombia. He has no plans to leave, just to keep pedalling: "The country has gone through traumatic times, but it has a special essence, of optimism, of wanting to move forward and make sure that tomorrow is better than yesterday.

SEBASTIÁN GARCÍA C.

Special Envoy of EL TIEMPO to COP16

Editor's note: This text is an artificially intelligent English translation of the original Spanish version, which can be found here. Any comment, please write to [email protected]

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