●  San Diego · Building since 2003

From $500 to the American Dream.

Ali Horuz, Founder & CEO of Xion Motors. I build electric last-mile vehicles, and I founded VIP Outdoor Media.

I came to the United States from Turkey in 2003 with $500 in my pocket. I pedaled a pedicab around San Diego for two years, built VIP Outdoor Media from one bike, and have sold more than 1,000 vehicles since. Now I'm building Xion Motors.

Work with Ali → Read the story
Xion Motors is raising. Investors, let's talk →
Portrait of Ali Horuz in a dark suit
Ali Horuz · San Diego
20+
Years building in last-mile mobility
1,000+
Vehicles sold
130+
City-permitted pedicabs in San Diego
$500
What I arrived with in 2003

Figures as of October 2026.

Proof

What clients say.

Recent and long-running campaigns from VIP Outdoor Media, with client words from public LinkedIn recommendations.

Cisco-branded electric VIP pedicabs lined up along the bike path by the San Diego Convention Center
●  Case study · Cisco Live · 2025

89 electric pedicabs, 520,000 impressions in four days.

Cisco Live attendees move constantly between hotels, restaurants and the convention center, and signage can't follow them. We put Cisco's brand on 89 fully electric pedicabs that carried those attendees through the Gaslamp Quarter, the Marina District and the convention center corridor. GPS tracking reported every route, rider count and impression.

9,000+Rides delivered
520,000Mobile impressions
12,460Miles traveled
89Electric branded pedicabs
Read the full case study on VIP Outdoor Media ↗
●  Case study · ForTec Medical · April 2015

20 branded pedicabs, two days, 7,000+ eye surgeons.

Challenge
ForTec Medical was launching a new laser service at a national meeting of cataract and refractive surgeons in San Diego. A banner would have been lost among hundreds of others.
Campaign
20 pedicabs wrapped in high-quality ForTec graphics, running for two days.
Where
Around the San Diego Convention Center and the downtown social areas where attendees spent their evenings.
Result
Broad awareness for a fraction of a major billboard's cost. The team heard about the campaign in comments and conversations throughout the show.
For a fraction of the cost of a major billboard, we got tremendous exposure to our audience in a fun (and useful) way. … The return on investment was outstanding. Tim Warrell · Marketing Manager, ForTec Medical

“Ali is extremely professional, responsive, and easy to work with. The custom pedicab artwork is always printed correctly and looks great around the city. … We continue to renew our partnership each year.”

Mary Kriegsfeld · Event & Marketing Director, Patra · Client for 4 years

“We were able to custom brand the pedicabs and worked with Ali to set up a custom schedule. … It was great brand awareness and just had overall positive brand experience for conference attendees. Will use again if and when I can.”

Kari Seurer, PMP · Regional Marketing Director, UnitedHealthcare · 2024

“The drivers were all courteous and friendly and our members had only good comments and positive feedback… The director, Ali Horuz was onsite to make sure that the pedicabs arrived on time.”

Venise Lewis · Meeting planner · 2015

Read the full recommendations on LinkedIn.

The story

Built one ride at a time.

The business model came from the street. Every shift on a pedicab was market research: where the crowds went, which brands wanted to be seen, and how a moving billboard could reach people a static one never would.

  1. 2003

    Landing with $500

    Arrived in the United States with strong entrepreneurial instincts and not much else. Started driving a pedicab in downtown San Diego.

  2. 2005

    VIP Outdoor Media opens

    Launched with a single pedicab in one of the most competitive markets in the country, pairing rides with mobile advertising.

  3. 2009

    San Diego's largest pedicab company

    Four years in, VIP Pedicabs led the city's market and became the model other operators followed.

  4. CNN

    “Somebody's Gotta Do It”

    Featured on Mike Rowe's CNN series, which opened the door to clients like ABC, Fox, HP, HBO, Starz, USA Network and Showtime. Watch the episode ↗

  5. Fleet

    A national branded fleet

    A permanent fixture at Comic-Con San Diego and events across the U.S., with a custom-fabricated fleet, in-house printing and more than 1,000 vehicles sold.

  6. 2021

    Xion CyberX raises $1.18M on Indiegogo

    331 backers funded a 50 mph, 100-mile-range custom e-bike, designed and assembled in San Diego. The first Xion vehicle built for riders, not fleets.

  7. Now

    Xion Motors

    Taking two decades of operator experience into electric last-mile vehicles, built for the people who run fleets every day.

Why Xion

I built the vehicle I needed as an operator.

For twenty years I've run pedicab fleets on real streets: Comic-Con crowds, convention shuttles, late-night rides downtown. I know what breaks, what riders notice and what keeps an operator profitable.

Most last-mile vehicles are designed far from the curb. Xion Motors is built from the operator's seat: electric, durable, permit-ready and simple to keep on the road. It's the company I wish existed when I bought my first bike.

Ali Horuz · Founder & CEO, Xion Motors
The Xion CyberX electric bike with green illuminated frame panels and lit wheels
●  Product · Launched on Indiegogo · 2021

Xion CyberX: $1.18M raised from 331 backers.

Before Xion built for fleets, we built for riders. The CyberX is a custom electric bike with a 5,000 W peak mid-drive motor, a removable 72 V 32 Ah battery and a chromoly frame, designed and assembled in San Diego. Its Indiegogo campaign raised $1,186,014.

$1,186,014Raised on Indiegogo
331Backers
50 mphTop speed
100 miRange
See the CyberX campaign on Indiegogo ↗
Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.
Muhammad Ali · the line I trained by
Ali Horuz looking out over downtown San Diego
Ventures

Twenty years, one idea: make every mile count.

VIP Outdoor Media taught me the market. VIP Custom Cycles builds the vehicles. Xion Motors takes them electric. Power Chariots puts riders in them.

Now · Founder & CEO

Electric pedicabs and fleet packages for operators, cities and hospitality businesses.

For operators, cities and hotels
Explore Xion vehicles →
Since 2005 · Founder

VIP Outdoor Media

Branded transportation, sponsored shuttles and wrapped fleets. San Diego's largest pedicab company by 2009 and a Comic-Con fixture.

For brands, agencies and event organizers
Plan a branded campaign →
Fabrication

VIP Custom Cycles

Custom-fabricated pedicabs and specialty vehicles, designed and built for operators and brands.

For operators and brands needing custom vehicles
See custom builds →
Rides & tours

Power Chariots

Electric chariot rides and guided tours in downtown San Diego.

For locals and visitors downtown
Book a ride or tour →
Lately

Still building. Still riding.

Custom builds and campaigns from the last few seasons, from San Diego to Chicago and the open desert.

Ali Horuz and riders on a custom pink LED pedicab at night in San Diego
Custom LED pedicab · San Diego
Ali Horuz beside a Square-branded electric pedicab with the Chicago skyline behind
Square campaign · Chicago
Lime green custom electric chariot with LED screen panels lit up at night
Custom LED build · After dark
Ali Horuz driving a custom electric trike with a yellow canopy across the desert
Custom electric trike · On the playa
For investors

Xion Motors is raising.

Twenty years of operating, 1,000+ vehicles sold and a $1.18M crowdfunded product launch. If you invest in mobility, I'd like to talk.

Request the deck → Visit xionmotors.com
Trusted by networks & brands
CNNABCFOXHPHBOStarzUSA NetworkShowtime
Press & features

In the news.

Ali Horuz standing beside a pedicab on the San Diego waterfront
GoDaddy · Icons of Our Tribe

From $500 in his pocket to CEO of VIP Outdoor Media

How grit and perseverance turned a pedicab driver into the head of a branded transportation company.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Mike Rowe in the Somebody's Gotta Do It pedicab episode
CNN · Mike Rowe

Somebody's Gotta Do It: Secrets of the Pedicab

Watch on YouTube ↗
Ali Horuz speaking to an audience
Interview

Meet Ali Horuz of VIP Outdoor Media in Downtown

Row of branded VIP pedicabs
Member spotlight

New Member Spotlight: Ali Horuz, VIP Pedicabs

Ali Horuz in a tuxedo
Philanthropy

2019 Teddy Ball host

Group photo at Epic Mastermind 2018
Event

2018 Epic Mastermind highlight

Ali Horuz with a VIP pedicab Ali Horuz with a group at a community event Ali Horuz with his dog in San Diego Ali Horuz at a masquerade gala VIP Outdoor Media event in San Diego Ali Horuz with friends at an evening event
Notes

What I write about.

Follow on LinkedIn →
Mobility

The last mile is a business, not an afterthought

What two decades of fleets on San Diego streets teach about moving people short distances well.
Out-of-home

Advertising that moves through the crowd

Why brands pay for wrapped fleets and branded rides at events like Comic-Con.
Founding

Building scrappy, from $500 up

Lessons from starting with one bike and growing one ride at a time.
Community

Giving back to the city that gave me a start.

Since 2016

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Member of EO, the global peer network of business owners, since 2016.

2019

The Teddy Ball

Host of the 2019 Teddy Ball, a black-tie evening raising support for charitable causes in San Diego.

2018

Epic Mastermind

Shared the founder story with entrepreneurs at Epic Mastermind, from first pedicab to national fleet.

Get in touch

Send Ali a note.

Investors, partners, press or a project that needs moving. Send a note and I'll get back to you personally.

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