Micah Toll is an e-bike industry expert, personal electric vehicle enthusiast, battery nerd, and author of the Amazon #1 bestselling books DIY Lithium Batteries, DIY Solar Power, The Ultimate DIY Ebike Guide and The Electric Bike Manifesto.
The e-bikes that make up Micah’s current daily drivers are the $999 Lectric XP4, the $1,295 Ride1Up Roadster V3, and the $3,299 Priority Current. But it’s a pretty evolving list these days.
You can send Micah tips at Micah@electrek.co, or find him on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok.
Wheels, a popular electric bicycle-style e-scooter sharing platform announced last week that it was pulling its vehicles from service due to the coronavirus crisis sweeping the country. Now Wheels is back with a creative solution to keeping their shared vehicles safe and sanitized.
If you thought Xiaomi was all about cell phones and tablets, then think again. The company has promoted a number of budget-minded electric bicycles and even electric mopeds. And now Xiaomi is back with another e-moped in the form of the A1 and A1 Pro models.
Last year, Rad Power Bikes unveiled the RadRunner as a new form of utility bike that was light on features, helping it also remain light on customer’s wallets. Now the company is back with a second, more full-featured version known as the RadRunner Plus.
And as an added treat, Rad Power Bikes is offering a free accessory just for Electrek readers. Details below!
Mid-drive electric bicycles (e-bikes with a motor that powers the bike near the pedals in the center of the bike) have a number of advantages over typical hub motor e-bikes. However, price isn’t usually one of them. The more complicated motor and smoother operation of a mid-drive often jacks up the price. That is precisely the reason why I was excited to test out the Buzz E-bike, which is perhaps the most affordable mid-drive e-bike on the market today.
The coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact has affected nearly every area of commerce by now. Electric bicycle manufacturers, especially those located in China, certainly aren’t immune to the economic ripples caused by the crisis. But electric bicycle manufacturer FREY Bike has created a unique program to assist new and current customers alike.
For anyone who thinks electric motorcycles can’t tour, check this out. A Harley-Davidson LiveWire was just used to break the 24-hour distance record for an electric motorcycle.
The bike reportedly traveled 1,723 km (1,070 miles) in 23 hours and 48 minutes.
For months now, we’ve been following the leaks and teasers around Cleveland Cyclewerks’ upcoming new Falcon electric motorcycle. And today we’re finally getting the full scoop as the Ohio-based motorcycle company pulls the sheet off their first electric motorcycle.
Bragging rights are common in the world of long-distance motorcycle rides, such as the “Iron Butt” for anyone who completes a 1,000 mile (1,600 km) ride in 24 hours. But one man might have just earned himself the equivalent “Iron Ankles” after taking a standing electric scooter on a 24-hour cross-country-style trip in Florida.
On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I got my hands on the new Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle. Over my weeklong trip it became my ride everywhere. From winding down Mulholland Drive to cruising along Sunset Boulevard to weaving through traffic on the 101, the LiveWire and I got to know each other pretty well during our relatively short period of time together.
And during that time I learned a lot about the bike. It’s not perfect; the LiveWire surely has its deficiencies.
But it also has a number of redeeming qualities that make it seriously deserving of a second look. And that also gives me hope for how Harley-Davidson can play a leading role in the rapidly evolving electric motorcycle industry.
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I’m an electric motorcycle guy, through and through. Yet for some reason I still had to earn my motorcycle license by testing on a gas-powered Harley-Davidson. If the Super Soco TSx had been around then, though, perhaps I could have tested on a new breed of learner electric motorcycles.
[Update March 17: Lime has just announced that it is suspending its electric scooter sharing operations to encourage people to stay indoors as part of a social distancing policy. The countries with suspended Lime service include Italy, France, and Spain. Service is also being suspended in California and Washington State.]
Electric bicycles, electric scooters, and other personal electric vehicles have long been touted for their economic and environmental benefits. But now we’re seeing how these types of vehicles are being effectively employed as one more option to defend commuters from contracting and/or spreading coronavirus.
New York City’s ban of electric bicycles has been shelved to help support food delivery during the coronavirus crisis.
Beijing-based electric scooter manufacturer NIU has shown impressive growth quarter after quarter lately. The company’s Q4 financial report was just released, continuing the trend with all-time high sales and revenue figures.
As far as electric vehicles go, electric bicycles are famously energy-efficient. Most can easily travel 100 miles (160 km) on around $1 of electricity. But what if instead of paying for that electricity, you could capture it from the sun instead? That’s exactly what Richard Drumm did when he built a simple DIY electric bicycle solar-charging setup.
Santa Clara, California-based Vintage Electric has just released a new electric bicycle model known as the Cafe, and it is nearly as pretty as it is expensive.
NIU unveiled its upgraded NQi GTS Sport electric scooter at the EICMA 2019 Milan Motorcycle Show last November.
Now the company has just announced that orders are open for the new scooter. And the first customers in line are getting treated to a big discount as well.
You better think twice about tuning your electric bicycle for more speed or power, at least if you live in France. That offense is now punishable by law, and you won’t believe what the maximum sentence can be.
There’s nothing in the company’s name, CSC Motorcycles, that would hint at the awesome electric bicycles they recently designed and debuted. But CSC has spent the last couple years expanding from their traditional gas-powered motorcycle offerings into a range of light electric motorcycles (which I’ve also tested!), and now a pair of electric bicycles known as the CSC FT750 series.
And you didn’t think I was going to miss a chance to try out a pair of the newest electric bicycles in the US, did you?
The London-based startup Swytch Technology, known for its unique electric bicycle conversion kit, is a classic example of a crowdfunding success story. And now that the company has successfully entered production of its novel e-bike conversion kits, they are sticking with the crowd theme with the rollout of a new “crowd-shopping” strategy.
Swytch today announced that it will be pairing the new sales method with a steep 50% discount on its popular electric bicycle conversion kits.
Don’t get me wrong, I love big and powerful electric scooters. But I don’t really want to carry a 95 lb (43 kg) electric scooter onto the subway or the bus. That’s where lightweight electric scooters come in.
Today we’re going to have a good old-fashioned face-off between some of the most popular lightweight electric scooters under 30 lb (13.6 kg) to see which one could be right for your commute.
While some electric bicycles are getting stronger, heavier, and closer to electric motorcycles, others are focusing on reducing weight and retaining as much of the non-electric bike feel as possible. BULLS’ three new electric bicycles are likely to appeal to more traditional cyclists who prefer lightweight e-bikes with assist that complements a more traditional-styled pedal ride.
An electric moped in the truest sense of the word “moped,” the ONYX RCR is a beast of an electric motorbike. I’ve admired this bike for nearly two years now. I’ve covered the development and rollout of the ONYX RCR since the very beginning, starting with the company’s crowdfunding in the summer of 2018. Yet a chance to actually ride one had eluded me until now.
And so it was with a supreme sense of delayed gratification that I finally swung my leg over an ONYX RCR last week.
Electric mobility company Bird is rolling out its electric Scoot Moped in Austin, Texas today. Despite early sightings of the seated personal electric vehicles in Los Angeles last year, Bird is calling this the first official launch of the Scoot Moped.
At a time when nearly every US-based electric bicycle company imports their e-bikes from Asian factories, one California-based company proudly builds its e-bikes locally. Newport Beach-based Electric Bike Company invited me out to its factory south of Los Angeles to see for myself what goes into the process of building high quality, American-made electric beach cruisers.