review

I’ve always enjoyed electric watersports devices, and have a long history with everything from electric surfboards to electric boats. But it’s the category of electric sea scooters that likely offers the most accessiblity to the average person, providing fast and fun water excitement without the larger upfront cost and complexity of larger vessels. The Sublue Vapor is the latest in a string of electric sea scooters I’ve tested over the years, and it’s the fanciest one yet.

There’s no real beating around the bush here; the Rattan Pinus is one borrowed vowel away from the king of all middle-school humor. But trying to put that aside for just a few moments, the bike itself is actually a really fun ride and pretty darn decent, too. It’s definitely far from a premium-level e-bike, but it’s interesting as a modest budget option!

The Aventura-X EV29 has much of the feel-good charm that comes along with nostalgic Vespa rides, yet without any of the exhaust noise, smell of gasoline, or oily rag on your workbench. I spent a few enjoyable weeks riding this fun little runabout and felt almost like I was cheating, getting the fun vibes without paying the normal entry price of muss and fuss that goes with classic ICE scooters.

Velotric continues to impress me with each new launch, and the Velotric Fold 1 has no plans to ruin that streak. Having spent some solid saddle time with the bike now, I can tell you that this is one of the best electric folders out there right now for e-bike shoppers on a budget.

All of Yadea’s latest full-suspension electric scooters are slick-looking machines. Nicely contoured cast frames, dual swingarms for the complete suspension package, and single-side supported wheels make the scooters look like they’re floating at just the right angle. But it’s the most powerful model of the bunch that packs the biggest surprise. Behind the cute exterior of the Yadea Elite Prime is a veritable wolf in sheep’s clothing, offering up to 1,500W of power in a scooter that looks like it belongs behind a leggy model in a Paris fashion shoot.

My dad has been looking at electric chainsaws for a while but hadn’t pulled the trigger on one, and so being the good son I am (especially since he lets me send weird Chinese electric vehicles to his property), I decided to buy one for him. There are a few electric chainsaws out there, but I’ve heard good things about Ego’s tools and so I decided to try one of those. A couple clicks on Amazon and a few days later, a shiny green Ego Power+ 18-inch 56 volt electric chainsaw showed up at the door.

I recently had the chance to check out the Meta 2024 electric bike, which fits the bill for what many people are searching for in a hybrid-style commuter electric bike. So could this be the ride you’re looking for? Let’s find out!

I love getting the chance to see and test new and innovative designs in the world of micromobility, especially since many of the repetitive designs we so often see turn out to be cookie-cutter rehashes of other models. But the designers of the Easybike G16 definitely went in a new direction, creating something innovative and comfortable for all types of riding.

At just 37 lb (16.8 kg), the Tenways CGO600 Pro is pretty darn lightweight for an electric bike. Of course, you give up a lot of the features and performance many riders have come to expect of chunkier e-bikes, but the tradeoff leaves us with a lightweight ride that is still punchy enough for most commutes.

Wallke’s electric bikes have never shied away from high-power motors or heavy duty frames. But with the Wallke X3 Max, the company doubled down to give us twice the motors for an all-wheel-drive ride.

In the e-bike world, we often joke that some of the beefier and more massive US-market electric bikes are more like small electric motorcycles. Well, a brand called Happyrun must have heard us and pulled the ol’ “hold my beer!” The result is the Happyrun Tank G100, which may wear a pair of bicycle pedals but is all motorcycle from the ankles up.

As much as I love the nicer and more refined electric bikes that use higher quality parts and better construction for years of worry-free riding, I understand how important the entry-level market is for making electric bicycles as accessible as possible. And e-bikes like the $799 Engwe L20 2.0 are putting more butts on seats than ever before, combining low prices with performance that will likely surprise you!

I’ve been on the hunt for an electric mountain bike that would give me much of the performance of the fancier, high-priced models, yet without their major downside: that higher price. The Velotric Summit 1 rolled in at the perfect time, and while the bike itself isn’t perfect, it’s darn near exactly what I’d want from an eMTB that focuses on keeping prices down.

I’ve always found the sub-$1k e-bike segment fascinating. The bikes aren’t always the best, but the good ones are usually good enough for most casual and/or recreational riders. And this is the group of e-bikes with the biggest potential for winning over new riders who haven’t fully committed to the idea of a pricier e-bike replacing a good chunk of car miles. The $899 Starrun R20 is the latest folding fat tire e-bike that seems ready to compete in this quickly crowding market. So does it have what it takes?

If you’ve been in the market for an electric scooter, you’ve probably already seen Apollo’s name alongside the list of usual suspects. But while the brand is best known for its more expensive flagship models, the new Apollo Go was launched earlier this year to reach a budget-minded price that would appeal to more riders.

When Gogoro rolled out its new high-performance electric scooter, the Pulse, the world got its first glimpse of an entirely new side of the company. Best known for its battery-swapping system and cute, brightly-colored scooters, the Pulse launched an edgy new look for Gogoro. But even more importantly, it also showed off an entire suite of new high-tech innovations.

And so when I received an invite to be the first Westerner to test ride the Pulse and share the experience with the world, I jumped on it. Every company seems to proclaim that their new e-scooter is like none other before, but only the Gogoro Pulse is one of the few that can truly mean it. This electric scooter marks a paradigm shift in what is possible for this form factor and with Gogoro’s swappable battery standard.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

I’d like to think that the only thing I need to live a car-free life is my bike and my enthusiasm. But it’s the extra gear that helps me stay as two-wheeled as possible. In this regular column, I take a deep dive into some of the coolest and most interesting gadgets and pieces of kit that make it possible to swap a car for an e-bike on a daily basis. This time, we’re checking out a fascinating smartphone-controlled keyless e-bike lock called the Linka Lasso.