ebikes

It feels like e-bikes powered by Bosch’s popular mid-drive electric motors have been around in just about every market for as long as many of us can remember. But there are still major markets getting their first taste of the highly-engineered drivetrains. Bosch’s mid-drive motors are now entering Taiwan, rolling in on Tern’s Vektron and Quick Haul e-bikes.

A new type of electric bicycle battery is gaining traction in the industry, potentially ushering in unprecedented levels of safety and security for riders. Get ready, because we’re quickly approaching the age of the potted e-bike battery.

Pedego, one of the earliest electric bike brands to enter the US market well over a decade ago, has announced one of its biggest new e-bike rollouts yet. The company launched three new models consisting of the Moto, Cargo, and Trike.

I recently took a trip to China to visit Yadea’s sprawling Anhui factory, which is just one of the company’s eight worldwide manufacturing centers. Together, they produced over 16 million electric vehicles last year, more than all of the big electric car manufacturers combined.

Since these pint-sized electric vehicles are so massively popular, I wanted to go there and try them myself and see what all the fuss was about. As it turns out, there’s a good reason why these are the best-selling little EVs in the world! And now that several of the models are coming to Europe and North America, Yadea’s lineup is looking even more interesting.

I recently took a trip to China, where I had the opportunity to visit one of Yadea’s several global factories used to produce a wide range of light electric vehicle models and styles. As the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, it was a chance to see how the most popular forms of EVs – namely e-bikes, e-scooters, and electric three-wheelers, are built in sophisticated factories featuring high-level quality control processes. The experience was thoroughly eye-opening, and blew my expectations away!

I’ve spent many years covering just about every awesome light electric vehicle that has come out of China, from e-bikes and e-scooters to more obscure rides like electric three-wheelers and more. After over a decade in the digital trenches, I’ve felt mighty overdue for a firsthand look at where these fun and functional personal electric vehicles come from. So I made the trip to China and snuck my way behind the scenes at a number of factories to check out some of the biggest and most important players in the industry.

It’s right there in the title. Having followed the electric bicycle industry for 15 years and running, I can pretty much guarantee you that there has never been a better time than right now to buy an e-bike. Here are the top three reasons why.

I test a lot of electric bicycles. It’s kind of my whole thing. People tell me I test more e-bikes than anyone else on the internet, but who’s counting, right? Yet here’s the thing: most of my e-bike testing involves just riding around on e-bikes to see how well they perform.

This time though, I got the chance to try something entirely different. That’s right, I chucked an e-bike battery from the new Velotric Discover 2 into a tub full of water just for the hell of it.

E-bikes simply aren’t niche anymore. The US has awoken to the fact that electric bikes can replace cars for many around-the-town trips and even on longer commutes. But what if you need to take multiple kids to school or want to drive your family around the neighborhood without using a car? That’s where an electric rickshaw can come in handy, and the SixThreeZero EVRYjourney Electric Tricycle Rickshaw is one heck of a great way to do it.

Sure, it’s a mouthful of a name, but it works so well that I will look past that long moniker. Plus, I’m probably just going to call it a rickshaw, for short.

VinFast, the Vietnamese automaker known for its portfolio of electric vehicles, has officially introduced its VF DrgnFly electric bike to the U.S. market. It’s a move that the company says further solidifies its presence in the global push toward sustainable mobility.

In what should no longer come as a surprise to anyone, Phoenix-based Lectric Ebikes has done it again. With today’s launch of the Lectric XPress, the maker of North America’s #1 best-selling electric bike just entered yet another e-bike category with a new model designed to crush the competition.

Juiced Bikes has never shied away from offering riders more speed and power. And with today’s unveiling of its new Juiced JetCurrent Pro, the brand is offering up more speed and power than ever in a brand new e-bike form factor.

Electric bicycles continue to surge in popularity across the United States, bringing with them a host of benefits but also, inevitably, a few concerns. Despite e-bikes racking up points from new commuters across the country for being lower-cost car alternatives that turn commutes and errand running into joyrides, these powerful new transportation tools aren’t without their detractors, too.

Concerns among some members of the public have ranged from safety issues of sharing roads with cars to the risk of battery fires. However, there exists a straightforward solution that could alleviate nearly any worry anyone has about electric bikes: investing in better cycling infrastructure.

Ride1Up, a San Diego-based electric bicycle maker known for an increasingly broad range of affordably-priced electric bikes, is trying to make its e-bikes even more accessible. The company just announced that effective immediately, it is cutting prices on nearly its entire lineup.

One of the beautiful things about the state of the electric bicycle industry currently being in the equivalent of the 1920s car market is that you’ve got around a hundred different e-bike companies all trying new and crazy things with sometimes wildly divergent design concepts. The recently-announced Heybike HERO is the purest embodiment of that idea, showcasing what happens when a company says “Let’s build a super lightweight carbon fiber frame but also stuff it full of suspension and heavy, high-power components.”

Believe it or not, there’s nothing new about major automakers and motorcycle companies trying and failing to build and sell electric bicycles. Despite millions upon millions of e-bikes being produced and sold each year by bicycle companies, automotive companies have spent decades failing to convert their design and manufacturing experience into e-bike success.

I’ve long championed the amazing benefits of electric bicycles in providing transportation autonomy to those who can’t afford a personal car and the massive expenses that come along with car ownership. A $1,000 e-bike can be the difference between a one-hour walk to work and a seven-minute ride to work. Now leading US e-bike maker Lectric Ebikes and the popular YouTuber Mr. Beast have teamed up to magnify the impact of a free e-bike 600 times.

Velotric has been on a winning streak lately, spending the last year or more rolling out a series of impressive new reasonably-priced electric bike models with features and performance that handily beat the competition in several key categories. And by all indications, the company has no plans to slow down. The latest new update to the Velotric line comes in today’s announcement of the Discover 2 commuter e-bike. And you better believe we’ve been testing one out in secret to give you our early impressions.

Gocycle, a premium British electric bike maker known for its lightweight commuter e-bikes featuring exotic materials and designs, is now setting its sights on the growing market of cargo e-bikes. And the company has just shared the first photos of its upcoming CXi and CX+ cargo electric bikes.

There’s no doubt that the issue of safely charging e-bikes is a growing topic of concern in the US. And while the media frenzy around relatively rare e-bike fires is often overblown, it doesn’t rule out a real risk associated with lithium-ion batteries. Now, a new charging solution designed in the US could provide an answer to the problem.

When my high-end electric bike was stolen last year, the intense combination of feelings ranging from violation to anger was hard to describe. But that is nothing compared to what one innovative electric bike maker is going through after $1M worth of unreleased new e-bikes was stolen in one fell swoop.