Micah Toll

Faster and farther – those are two of the most common requests from many e-bike riders who rely on their bikes for daily trips. The Lectric XP e-bike is already quite fast at 28 mph (45 km/h), but now it is going farther than ever thanks to a big battery upgrade launched today by the manufacturer.

In another example of reality sometimes being stranger than fiction, electric scooter and e-bike sharing company Bolt Mobility appears to have shut down operations in several US cities largely overnight. In doing so, it abandoned hundreds of thousands of dollars of light electric vehicles on the streets.

X Shore is one of several electric boat manufacturers helping to turn the tide on fossil fuel-based boating. The Swedish company’s X Shore Eelex 8000 is already a striking example of what can be done with an electric powertrain in a sleekly designed watercraft. But new teaser images released by the company show that “something new” is coming, and it might mean the Eelex 8000 is getting a sister.

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 electric bicycles from Trek, Fantic, and Optibike, plus interesting electric mobility stories covering new electric motorcycles, flying electric boats, and lots more.

One of the coolest things about the funky electric vehicles sprinkled around China’s largest online shopping platform is their small size. They often look like they were inspired by full-size vehicles, but then somehow shrunk in the wash. Though this week’s entry in the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column looks like it might have partially melted in the wash too.

That’s a win for us though, since now it gets to become the world’s smallest taco truck!

The first time I saw the Fantic ISSIMO electric bike on a trip to Milan last year, I instantly fell in love with the design. And now that the company is offering a 45 km/h (28 mph) version that maxes out the legally allowable speed, I’m even more head over heels for this eye-catching electric bike.

Portable power stations perform the same role as an old-fashioned gas-powered generator but in a cleaner and safer way. They have an on-board battery matched with an inverter to provide silent, clean, and exhaust-free electricity anywhere you can carry them. With so many options available these days, the trickiest part can be just choosing the right size. Having recently tested two of EBL’s power stations side by side (the EBL Voyager 1000 and EBL Voyager 330), I had the chance to see how and where I might fit different-sized power stations into my life.

Colorado-based Optibike is one of the oldest electric bicycle companies in the United States, and so they know a thing or two about building high-performance e-bikes. But the new Optibike R22 Everest seems to go above and beyond what anyone could have asked for, claiming to have enough battery to climb Mount Everest on a single charge.

There may not be any good charge spots at the summit, but that should be fine. It’s all downhill from there.

VinFast, a Vietnam-based electric vehicle manufacturer rapidly expanding its US and European operations, is set to bring its electric scooters to US riders.

Oregon-based Arcimoto, better known for its three-wheeled 75 mph (120 km/h) FUV electric vehicles, has shown off a new version of its Mean Lean Machine (MLM). The newest update to the still-under-development electric bike-class vehicle sees new suspension and other structural as well as functional upgrades.

Two of the most cited reasons for car commuters shunning smaller vehicles like bikes, scooters and motorcycles are safety and weather. But the Nimbus One with its fully-enclosed design and car-like safety features is trying to solve both of those issues at once.

If you’ve ever explored Trek’s electric bike families before, you’ll know that the companies offers nicely made yet high-priced e-bikes. You get what you pay for, though you pay handsomely. But now Trek has just released two e-bikes – the Dual Sport+ and the FX+ – that are helping bring down prices for everyday riders.

Last year I found an awesome-looking electric mini-truck on a Chinese shopping website and decided I simply had to have it. With a $2,000 sticker price, I figured it was risky, but that I wouldn’t lose the farm if the transaction went tires up. And so I embarked on one of the weirdest vehicle purchases of my life.

With rising fuel costs and shortages across Cuba, the island nation has turned to electric motorcycles en masse. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the streets of Havana.

Last month we featured an awesome DIY solar cargo trailer that an Electrek reader built for his electric bike. Just in case you needed any more proof that our readers are some of the handiest and most clever eco-DIYers on the planet, we’ve got another impressive solar-powered electric bike to show you. This time it does double duty as a school drop-off vehicle for the kids and a grocery getter.

Remember the good old days of your youth, taking road trips with your family and giving truckers the arm signal to blow their air horns? What if I told you that you could soon be blowing your very own air horn in your very own electric semitruck? It’s a real possibility, now that the great dollar store of the internet known as Alibaba is stocking electric tractor trailers!

And fortunately enough, this kind of thing is just odd enough to make it into this week’s rendition of the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week!

Electric mobility company OKAI has just launched its latest electric bicycle known as the OKAI Ranger – this is one electric bicycle that comes ready for action right out of the box.

When I’m planning on an afternoon at the park and want to bring some extra power with me, I opt for a smaller portable power station. But when I want to know that I’ve got a huge amount of capacity for powering large devices or holing up after a storm, I want one of the big boys. And the Pecron E3000 portable power station is one of the biggest of the boys.

In fact, it’s got so much capacity stuffed into its body that it even comes with a hand truck to roll it around.

Eurobike 2022, one of the largest bicycle trade shows in the world, took on a new life this year as it moved to a larger venue in Frankfurt, Germany. Electrek was on site to check out all the latest news and unveilings from the electric bike world.

We also want to thank Tern Bicycles for sponsoring our Eurobike coverage this year, which was perfect timing considering Tern’s two newest e-bike models were on full display at the event.

A new study released by electric scooter sharing company Dott shows that there’s a significant gender gap in the electric scooter market, and it’s exactly what you think it is: men greatly outnumber women in electric scooter ridership.

Jinhua, China-based FREY Bike has just launched its first-ever hub motor electric bike, introducing the lower-cost FREY Runner to the brand’s lineup.

In a deal purported to be worth US $55.1 million, EV Technology Group has agreed to purchase an additional 50% of MOKE International, which will boost its stake to 67.6% of the company. The deal is intended to rapidly expand MOKE International’s reach, producing and delivering more of its iconic classic MOKE-inspired electric vehicles.

The electric motorcycle market in the US will soon welcome a fascinating startup that plans to shake up the industry with a radical new electric motorcycle: the Ryvid Anthem. And the company is planning to do it at a price that won’t have riders running to the hills, but rather carving them.

What happens when you’re an electric bike manufacturer trying to solve the issue of urban congestion, but there’s too much traffic to deliver your solution effectively? As Swedish mobility company Vässla recently discovered, the answer is to go (even more) all in on e-bikes.