Micah Toll

Electric bicycle incentive programs have grown considerably over the last few years, and Washington State is one of the most recent to lay the groundwork for yet another program designed to reduce the cost of this alternative transportation for lower-income commuters. But the state is also going about it in a unique way, by using funding raised from its emissions taxes.

So many of the fun electric go-karts I’ve found while window-shopping on Alibaba have been of the child-sized variety. To be fair, I’m not opposed to folding my body in ways it shouldn’t in service of a good time, but it’d be nice to get the same experience while maintaining full blood flow to the extremities.

That’s where today’s find comes in, as a full-size electric go-kart that adults can enjoy, too! It’s both awesome and weird, but perhaps for once, this week’s honoree of the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week is more of the former and less of the latter!

JackRabbit, the maker of pint-sized electric microbikes, is back with a new product designed to quickly recharge their batteries from pure, uncut photons mainlined into an e-bike directly from the sun. In true independent charging form, the Solar Charging Kit from JackRabbit keeps riders rolling even when there’s not a convenient AC outlet in sight.

There’s riding in style, and then there’s over 80 Dallas Cowboys all cruising around on the same electric motorcycles. Thanks to a generous gift from team quarterback Dak Prescott, that’s exactly what the football team will be doing on over 80 new CAKE Makka electric mopeds.

The Tauranga, New Zealand-based electric motorcycle maker UBCO has entered receivership, marking dim prospects for the mobility company that had only recently announced a major partnership with Australia Post.

As electric trail bikes like Sur Rons and Talarias gain popularity among off-road enthusiasts, a growing conflict is emerging on mountain bike trails. These powerful machines, capable of speeds and torque far beyond that of a traditional mountain bike, are raising concerns among trail users, land managers, and environmental advocates.

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes proposed e-bike restrictions in New York and Oregon, Super73 lowering the performance of its e-bikes, a review of the Tenways CGO600 Pro-C electric bike, new sodium-ion batteries coming from Yadea, Heybike unveiling its first mid-drive e-bike, and more.

A new bill submitted to the Oregon Legislative Assembly seeks to ban street-legal Class 3 electric bicycles from bike lanes in the state.

LiveWire, the electric motorcycle brand spun out of Harley-Davidson, has just announced its latest electric motorcycle model. The new LiveWire S2 Alpinista is built on the same platform as the brand’s last two models, leveraging the Arrow platform as a versatile foundation for several diverse bikes.

The US electric bike industry has already seen a regulation-heavy start to 2025. Now, New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s potential new restrictions on fast and exceedingly heavy electric bikes could add to the proposed and enacted legislation we’ve seen lately.

Even if you’re not knee-deep into electric bikes like many of us, you very likely may have heard of the e-bike brand SUPER73. The company’s motorcycle culture-inspired electric bikes have proven incredibly popular among teens and young adults, but the heyday of fast and questionably (or clearly) illegal e-bike modes seems to be coming to an end for the brand.

Earlier this month, California enacted new regulations for electric bikes that resulted in stricter speed limits on e-bikes with throttles. At the time, it was unclear how electric bike makers would respond to the new regulations, but we’re now starting to see at least one manufacturer pushing to bring its existing e-bikes owned by California residents into compliance.

Yadea, which has claimed the title of the world’s largest electric vehicle maker for seven years running, has just announced a new electric motorbike powered by the company’s innovative HuaYu sodium-ion battery technology.

Last month, I had the chance to visit Los Angeles and attend Micromobility America, a yearly industry tradeshow focusing on e-bikes, e-scooters, and other small-format vehicles. To get around the city for a few days, I borrowed a VMAX VX2 Extreme from VMAX’s Los Angeles distribution center and it made all the difference in navigating a city that is notoriously hard to get around.

Heybike is well-known as an entry-level electric bike brand, so what is this company doing building a mid-drive e-bike that is leaps and bounds above anything they’ve produced before? That’s exactly what I wanted to find out – and why I decided to become the first to ride this newly introduced e-bike.

Bosch eBike Systems plans to announce something new at CES 2025, perhaps related to advances in its electric bicycle battery technology. A cryptic teaser video gives a taste of what’s to come.

As powerful electric motorbikes such as those from brands like Sur Ron and Talaria become more popular, especially with teens, police departments in the US are increasingly cracking down on their use on public roads.

What would you get if you created the illegitimate love child of a Mercedes G-Wagon and a Brinks armored truck (and perhaps if the Mercedes chain-smoked through the pregnancy)? I think you’d wind up with something like the wacky-looking electric cart that has earned the dubious honor of being named this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week!

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes new laws and regulations in California regarding electric bicycles, the return of ONYX and the company’s electric mopeds, a review of the Xtracycle Hopper, Russian soldiers on electric scooters, and more.

California has led the nation in electric bicycle adoption, helping more people than ever before switch away from cars and toward smaller and more efficient transportation alternatives. However, the proliferation of electric bicycles has also led to a major uptick in higher-power models that have flouted established e-bike laws, often being used on public roads and bike paths to the chagrin of many local residents.

A new law that came into effect this week has now further clarified which electric bicycles are street-legal and which fall afoul of regulations.

In yet another example of ordinary micromobility vehicles being drafted into military use in Russia’s yearslong attack on Ukraine, a new video has emerged showing a failed Russian assault led partially on electric scooters.

Last September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB-1271, which redefines and adds to several electric bicycle regulations in the state. Chief among them is a clarification of the three-class e-bike system, which is likely to now rule that many of the throttle-enabled electric bikes currently available and on the road in California will no longer be street legal.

In an end-of-the-year miracle to close out 2024, the often-lauded ONYX moped maker has announced its return after shutting down operations earlier this year. The company’s return kicks off with the release of 100 limited edition electric mopeds.

I was recently in China on yet another trip to tour the factories and showrooms of several leading micromobility companies, and I’ll have more to share with you on that trip soon. But first, while I was getting ready to fly out of the Shanghai airport, I stumbled upon the coolest little motorized carry-on suitcase that functions like a seated electric scooter. I ended up buying it on the spot.

Here’s what happened next when I tried to take it 8,000 km (5,000 miles) home.