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23 Things We Want Manufacturers to STOP Doing On E-Bikes

As e-bike reviewers for Electric Bike Report, my fellow office-mates and I have the extreme joy and privilege of testing bikes of all sizes, styles, and speeds. From big, beefy fat tire bikes to nimble, lightweight city bikes to functional, folding bikes and beyond, this broad base grants us a unique perspective on the industry. More specifically, what works – and what does not. In this article, I will discuss the 23 general and specific things we want manufacturers to stop doing on e-bikes.

Like any other field, the e-bike industry is constantly evolving as technology becomes more affordable and new brands/technologies appear. It is a regular occurrence for a new bike to redefine what is possible at a certain price point. Once this innovation occurs, competitors must keep up with the changing times or risk becoming old news.

As such, many of the changes we wished to witness two years ago have already come to pass. Likewise, 12-24 months in the future, any number of the points discussed in this article might naturally become irrelevant without our efforts to address them.

As industry advocates, however, we take pride in helping to direct the flow of progress. The following perspectives are based both on our personal experiences as well as the opinions of our readers and viewers.

Our goal with this article is not to debase any particular bike or brand, but to encourage broad, beneficial growth in a direction that improves the ride experience for all users. By making e-bikes more enjoyable and appealing, we hope to encourage more motorists to ditch two of their wheels and take up pedaling.

E-Bike Future: Are Charging Stations or Battery Swaps The Public E-Bike Future

Both options are being tried in pilot programs; which is better?

As e-bikes gain acceptance here in the U.S., riders and communities are facing the limitations of typical e-bike batteries. Range anxiety isn’t a phenomenon limited to electric vehicles (EVs). How to increase e-bike range is a consideration for all e-bike users, though businesses, particularly restaurants, depending on e-bikes to make deliveries, face the most pressing need.

Once a rider has exhausted the charge in their e-bike’s battery, few people face any option than to park their e-bike and recharge it, a process that can take anywhere from three to eight hours, depending on the size of the battery and how quickly the charger can deliver power to the battery—a large battery and a 2-amp charger could require the whole night to replenish the battery.

Clearly, that’s not practical for businesses that may make more than 100 deliveries in a day or riders with long commutes, so cities have begun to examine two different strategies for building infrastructure to meet the needs of e-bike riders.

One option is to follow the example of charging stations such as Tesla’s superchargers, positioning them where e-bike riders are likely to be found. The other option is to offer battery swap stations in similar high-traffic areas. Both have advantages and disadvantages and we’re going to take a dive into what those are.

Charging stations

The simplest option for cities to support e-bike recharging is to offer charging stations. While there are a number of designs for these, with many already in use in Europe and Asia, these typically share the following features: There is a secure rack to which the rider can lock their e-bike and that rack includes an outlet the rider can plug their charger into.

By simply providing a grounded 110V outlet that the rider can plug their charger into, cities can sidestep the issue of the many different charger designs on the market. They provide the power and a secure place to park the e-bike while it charges, and the rest is up to the rider.

The benefit to this approach is that it is brand-neutral and the least-expensive option, which increases the likelihood that a city could install a number of stations around the community.

The downside to this approach is that riders are inconvenienced by needing to bring their chargers with them when they ride, which means they need a basket, pannier or backpack. Worse, unless the charging station is in a secure location, someone could steal the charger and imagine the nightmare someone would face if they returned to their bike after working a full day only to find no charger, a dead battery and a long ride home. Hello Lyft.

Battery swapping stations

With battery swapping stations, a rider can simply ride up to the station, insert their dead battery and pull out a fresh battery. At least, that’s how it works in broad strokes. With most systems, a rider needs either an account or a credit card.

The obvious upside to this system as compared to charging stations is that there’s no waiting on the part of the rider and no risk of theft. For someone making deliveries by e-bike, the advantages are obvious.

The downsides to this approach come in two different ways: compatibility and cost. On the cost front, charging stations are substantially more expensive for a city to provide, which would likely limit the number that might be installed. Limiting their installation will likely slow their adoption.

The compatibility issue presents just as significant a hurdle. Most batteries feature a brand-specific, proprietary design that limits interchangeability. Battery swapping for popular OEM systems such as Bosch, Shimano or Yamaha will cover only a fraction of the batteries in use.

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What’s in the market

The good news regarding the charging vs. battery swap debate is that both of these solutions are being pursued by both established companies and startups.

Bike rack and trainer manufacturer Saris has introduced a charging station as part of their infrastructure product line that allows the user to lock their charger inside the charging box so that only cord runs from the charging box to the e-bike, solving one aspect of e-bike charging security.

New York City is testing its first charging station, with an eye to add more in the future.

Spelsberg, based in Germany, makes a charging station that incorporates a charger so that riders don’t need to bring their charger along, but its connectors only work with Bosch or Shimano systems so far.

On the battery swap front, Popwheels has launched a battery swapping cabinet which is being installed in a variety of locations around New York. They claim compatibility with 90 percent of the e-bike batteries being used by delivery workers, but they work with just three models from Arrow and two models from Fly, leaving out most brands on the market.

Yamaha has launched a business in the Netherlands and Germany called Enyring that will provide battery swapping.

Swobbee is another e-bike charging station that can charge eight different types of batteries, but currently those batteries don’t work with any of the more popular e-bike brands or systems on the market.

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Electric Bike Report’s take

In theory, being able to swap batteries is what will make for the most attractive solution for riders. It’s quick and most solutions promise to be relatively inexpensive. The problem is that so far it doesn’t appear that any of the battery swap station designs can come close to providing a solution that would work for more than a small minority of brands.

Until there is greater standardization of connectors, battery swapping stations are a better idea than they are a technology. Charging stations, on the other hand, provide a much more flexible solution and provided that charging stations can keep the charger secure, as in the Saris design, cities seem more likely to implement these as a solution due to their lower cost and greater compatibility.

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An E-Bike That Doesn’t Have a Battery?

Pi-Pop uses supercapacitors as the energy source for its e-bike.

Pi-Pop, a French company based in Orleans, has introduced an e-bike with no battery. Yes, you read right. This is the first e-bike that lacks a battery. Instead of a battery, Pi-Pop is using supercapacitors to store energy that can be discharged on demand. Pi-Pop is not the only company working with supercapacitors.

The supercapacitors are housed in a module mounted to the side of the rear rack, so, in a manner of speaking, it does have a battery. The housing is notably smaller than that of a typical e-bike battery, though. That’s backed up by the Pi-Pop’s weight: just 47 lbs. (21.5kg).

Pi-Pop’s concept works from the same basic concept as regenerative braking. Rather than plugging in the e-bike to charge it up, the supercapacitors charge as you ride. Pi-Pop says that their e-bike will charge on flats, while descending and when braking. They even claim that you can arrive home from a ride with the same level of charge in the supercapacitors as when you left.

Supercapacitors are an interesting technology to use for storing energy. They have several obvious selling points. First, there’s no lithium. Second, they can last 10-15 years, rather than three to five years. Third, they are very energy dense, meaning that 250Wh of supercapacitor storage will weigh less than a 250Wh lithium-ion battery.

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There’s no doubt that using supercapacitors to power an e-bike motor is an intriguing concept and Pi-Pop will soon be joined by other companies using this technology.

That said, it’s important to bear in mind that there’s no free lunch. The only time it is possible to charge the supercapacitors without seeing a reduction in either speed or momentum is while braking. In order to charge the supercapacitors while pedaling, some of the energy the rider generates as they pedal will have to be diverted to the supercapacitors. Let’s say that a rider is producing 100W as they pedal along at 10 mph. Now, let’s say that 10 percent of the energy they are producing—10W—is diverted to the supercapacitors. That means that they are going to lose 10 percent of their speed. They are now going 9 mph, and after pedaling at 9 mph for an hour, they will have stored 10Wh in the capacitor.

Charging on a downhill means going slower and not coasting as far as a more traditional e-bike. What that does is simply distribute the energy expended to different points in the trip: Go slower on a descent in exchange for a little help on a hill.

Marketing claims aside, a supercapacitor is the same as a lithium-ion battery in that it can only discharge as much energy as goes into it. That it can’t discharge more energy than you put into it isn’t a knock. If they are as energy-dense as it seems, this is a technology that deserves to be further developed. A lighter e-bike has no downsides.

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Apidura Expedition Charging Pack Review, 2024

Touring by bike has come back into fashion, after a couple of decades where it was less hip than the flu. And with its return, touring has expanded in some exciting and original ways. One of those new turns on touring is doing it with an e-bike. In our review of the Apidura Expedition Charging Pack we will look at how this pack is designed to strap onto an e-bike and carry a spare battery or the charger.

The bag itself is made from a laminate material called Hexalon that is made to Apidura’s specs. The material is both waterproof and dustproof, making it perfect for carrying electronics. And because it features a dry-bag-style rolldown opening, it can securely carry both batteries and chargers that measure between 8.1 in. (20.5cm) and 11.8 in. (30cm) and are as tall as 2.8 in. (7cm). Total carrying capacity measures 1.6L (98 cu. in.).

The contents of the Apidura Expedition Charging Pack are protected with PU foam, better known as memory foam. Additionally, padded ribs run lengthwise along the Expedition Charging Pack both helping to give the bag shape and to insulate the bike frame from the bag’s contents—and vice versa. The bag attaches to the frame via a single Velcro strap that is silicone-coated to keep it from moving while riding.

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Because an e-bike frame’s dimensions will determine whether or not a given bag fits, Apidura created a remarkable sizing tool in which a potential buyer takes or uploads a photo of their e-bike and it will show which bags fit. With a price below $100, this pack does an impressive job of balancing cost versus safely carrying an e-bike battery and/or charger.

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That’s right, ANOTHER Bamboo E-Bike

At just 33 lbs., the Diodra S3 is one of the lightest e-bikes on the planet.

Bamboo e-bikes are growing in number. They still seem a curiosity more than a category, but there can be little doubt that there are more choices today for someone who might want an e-bike made with, um, recyclable materials. Diodra, a Romanian e-mobility company, has announced what they claim is the world’s lightest bamboo e-bikes.

We can’t say we are aware of what the previous lightest bamboo e-bike’s weight was, or even what that bamboo e-bike was, but at 33 lbs. (15kg), we don’t need to make much of an effort to concede Diodra’s claim about the S3. A 33-lb. e-bike is light by any standard, bamboo or otherwise.

The frame isn’t 100 percent bamboo, but we think that doesn’t disqualify them from the claim. The laminated bamboo is bonded to an aluminum head tube and seat tube, which makes sense considering that the headset and bottom bracket bearings need a precision fit in order to work correctly.

Diodra says that the bamboo is weatherproofed with a two-component coating as well as three layers of varnish. The company touts the bamboo’s vibration-damping qualities, which, when combined with aluminum inserts, does dampen nearly all vibration.

The website is short on details, but we know this much: It features a 250W motor that will be limited to 25kph in Europe (15 mph) but will offer a Class 1 top speed of 20 mph here in the U.S. They estimate a range of 63 mi. (100km) with its 300Wh battery and if you’re wondering why you don’t see a battery, that’s because it is contained within the hub along with the motor.

It also features a Gates belt option instead of a chain, and employs a single-speed drivetrain, which is part of how it achieved such a low weight. Rather than a cadence sensor, it includes a torque sensor, which will make for a more natural and dynamic riding experience.

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Diodra has introduced S3 at a price of $2382 (€2199); that represents a $758 (€700) discount from the retail price of $3140 (€2899).

The Diodra S3 is a very attractive design and it uses bamboo in an innovative way. This isn’t an e-bike that you would want to store outside, though, despite how well the wood is protected.

Diodra believes in their design to the tune of a five-year warranty on the frame, plus a two-year warranty on everything else.

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Yamaha Expands E-Bike Production With New Facility In France

With an increasing number of brands spec’ing Yamaha drive units on their e-bikes, Yamaha has begun producing drive units in France. Not only will this new facility increase production for the company, it will also cut lead times to OE customers.

The French factory was previously known as MBK Industrie. It had already been producing several Yamaha models including the MT-125 motorcycle and XMAX scooter. Production in this facility will be devoted to the PWseries S2 motor which is used in a variety of e-bikes, including eMTBs.

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“The opening of this new production line in Europe had been in our plans for the future for some time already,” said Olivier Prévost, president and CEO, Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. “For YMME it means that it heightens its vital role within the Yamaha operations and also that it underlines once more its status as a Yamaha multi-products manufacturing site. And, last but not least, producing locally in Europe contributes to leaving a more sustainable footprint within our operations, which remains a key target for Yamaha at global level, and is providing a competitive advantage in an industrial environment where we give more and more importance to the sustainability and flexibility in the supply chain.”

“Whether it is for our traditional business or electric mobility, the role of YMME is important to better serve the European markets and to respond swiftly to the ever-changing needs of customers,” added Clement Villet, director land mobility, Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.. “In that respect, with the opening of the drive unit assembly line we will be able to supply our e-bikes OEM customers swiftly and with shorter lead times, contributing to a more agile and reactive production planning.”

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$450 Credit Off E-Bikes In Colorado: No Forms Needed

Getting the discount off a new e-bike is as simple as … purchasing an e-bike.

The State of Colorado began offering a e-bike discount program on April 1. The program is a tax credit, and to qualify you must be a resident of the state, and you must purchase from an approved retailer, but Colorado made the program as simple and streamlined for buyers as possible. From the perspective of the buyer there are only two steps:

1. Buy an e-bike
2. Get $450 off the price

The program is not without criticism, though. The list of approved retailers isn’t especially long, though it is growing in length. Currently, it includes 47 brick-and-mortar retailers and four online retailers, including Ride1UP, Vvolt and Priority Cycles.

The biggest criticism has come from the retailers themselves. Colorado is asking the retailers to bear the cost of the discounts for a full year. That means a participating retailer who sells an e-bike sold today must wait until they file their 2024 taxes to see that reimbursement. Selling 1000 e-bikes means having $450,000 in revenue they can’t access.

The program is administered by the Colorado Energy Office. Sarah Thorne, the senior program manager running the rebate program said that they anticipated a slow start to the program in 2024 due to the long wait for rebates, but that in 2025 she anticipates that they will offer quarterly reimbursements to participating retailers.

“We anticipated for 2024, it would be a fairly slow rollout and we wouldn’t have a large participation from retailers,” Thorne said. “Once quarterly reimbursements start in 2025, we should see a much larger uptake.”

The list of approved retailers can be found here.

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There’s a concern on the part of retailers that they will lose out on sales to rural customers due to the direct-to-consumer brands, such as Ride1UP. The truth is, they’ve been losing sales to those brands ever since consumer-direct bike purchasing began. The real issue is that having so much revenue tied up in a tax rebate could pinch a bike shop’s operations.

The state is working with two banks, ANB Bank and Colorado Enterprise Fund, to offer loans to shops to help bridge the gap between the sale and the reimbursement. It’s a step in the right direction, but loans come with interest, which means that ultimately retailers will end up paying a portion of that $450 rebate to the bank.

Statistics have shown that most households in the U.S. would struggle to cover an unexpected expense. Purchasing an e-bike means a fair bit of planning for most of us. One of the great features to this program from Colorado is that it is not means-tested; middle-class families can take part. Unlike Denver’s program, which allows for a finite number of participants, the Colorado program does not limit the number of participants.

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Lectric & Mr. Beast Donate E-Bikes to 600 People

Lectric eBikes has teamed up with Mr. Beast’s philanthropic arm, Beast Philanthropy, to give e-bikes to people across the U.S. in need. To be considered, Lectric and Mr. Beast asked people to submit a video making their case for why they should receive one.

Apparently, after Mr. Beast put out a call for submissions through social media, they were inundated with videos. How big was the response? They had to screen thousands of videos just to narrow the applicants down to the 600 ultimate recipients. While some of the e-bikes were delivered by hand, there were so many recipients around the U.S. that they had to ship many of them.

“Lectric Ebikes time and time again steps up to the plate, asks for very little, and helps us help as many people as possible. In this video, they gave us $600,000 worth of bikes! If you ever were curious if a brand actually likes helping people and wants to do good, you shouldn’t have to wonder that about Lectric Ebikes. If there ever was a brand you should support, it’s them,” said Mr. Beast.

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In covering the e-bike market, we talk a lot about “affordability” and define it as the low end of a four-figure purchase. We’re not insensitive to the reality that a $1000 purchase can strain many households. Lectric is a brand we’ve been happy to praise because few brands approach their balance of reliability and low cost. And we’ve been gratified to see them embracing UL certification for their e-bikes as a way to move the e-bike industry forward here in the U.S.

Philanthropy is a terrific way to build goodwill in a community, but it also gives potential buyers another reassurance: Any brand that can give away $600,000 in e-bikes isn’t just successful, they are enjoying a level of stability that many brands struggle to reach, giving consumers one more reason to place their faith in them.

Check out Mr. Beast’s video for yourself.

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Aeroe Spider Racks Review

We are seeing more and more e-bikes with two-battery systems or single batteries with capacities north of 900Wh—enough to allow most anyone to ride from sunup to sundown. Once an e-bike vanquishes range anxiety, for some of us our thoughts turn to going on a bike tour. The Aeroe Spider Rack is one of the freshest ideas we’ve come across in bike touring since, well, ever.

The Aeroe Spider Rack features a modular design that allows the user a surprising degree of flexibility for carrying loads. Let’s start with the basics in our Aeroe Spider Rack review.

This rack mounts to the seatstays of a bike via four straps—two per side—in a design that should result in minimal rocking of the rack. This means that even if someone’s e-bike did not include mounts for a rear rack, they can use this rack. All of the installation and adjustment uses a single, 5mm, Allen wrench, making setup remarkably easy.

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Each rack comes with one cradle with tiedown straps. Up to two additional cradles can be purchased to mount on the rack. With one cradle, the top position makes the most sense; with two, one per side makes sense and with three all three locations would be used. Each cradle can be positioned to point in a number of different orientations in order to accommodate the frame design and the rider’s pedal stroke so that it leaves room for the rider’s heels to pass.

One of the challenges of a traditional bike rack is that while they do feature three mounting locations just as the Aeroe Spider Rack does, they don’t usually offer much adjustability in positioning of the bags and on top of that there’s the fact that the rider must purchase specialized bike bags like a set of panniers or a rack trunk. With the Aeroe Spider Rack if you already own a drybag or stuff sack (or two), you need not purchase anything else.

That said, we went with two of their 8L dry bags as ours are quite large and more suitable to being tossed in a canoe or kayak.

The cradle mounts—the part that attaches to the rack itself, not the part the bag is strapped to—can be turned 360 degrees in 15-degree increments, which gives the user a flexibility that is exceptional. The cradle mount can also be rotated to account for the angle of the seatstays, a feature most traditional racks can struggle to accommodate.

The advantage to Aeroe’s dry bags is that they come with a reinforced panel with two cutouts so that the cradle straps can be passed through, helping to ensure that the dry bags can slip out of the cradle if the straps aren’t sufficiently tight. That is, so long as the straps are buckled, there’s no losing a bag.

The rack plus one cradle is relatively lightweight: 979g (2.1 lbs.); a second cradle with straps adds 338g (11.9 oz.). The 8L drybags each weigh 233g (8 oz.).

The one weakness we’ve identified with the Aeroe Spider Rack is that its weight rating is 16kg (35 lbs.) That’s not huge, but it’s plenty for someone contemplating an inn-to-inn tour. One concern we hold is that the mounts and straps may damage the finish of the e-bike. We suggest wrapping the seatstays where the mounts will sit with tape to avoid scuffing the finish.

Bike touring has traditionally demanded a significant investment; the rider must purchase panniers, maybe a rack trunk and handlebar bag as their price of admission. What we love about the Aeroe Spider Rack is that a rider could purchase the rack alone and give touring a try before making a bigger purchase.

Using an e-bike to do loaded touring is genius. We’re fans of anything that lowers the barrier to entry.

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SixThreeZero EVRY Journey Tricycle Review

Fun colors and plenty of range, the EVRYjourney hits several good notes, but its design and v-brake will limit its use case.

Sixthreezero EVRYjourney Electric Tricycle Review

E-trikes are one of those things that people don’t think they need….until they do. Life has a funny way of sneaking up on all of us like that. The electric bike world has noticed too, dedicating the last few years to bridging the gap between e-bikes and accessible mobility. They’re specifically catering to seniors and individuals who may have mobility challenges.

After all, e-trikes just make sense. Hauling supplies, even taking the dog along – e-trikes with their baskets and stability make tackling those tasks a whole lot easier. They also offer advantages like easy mounting and dismounting, and of course, that reassuring stability of a 3-wheel design. Practical touches, such as large cargo baskets, sweeten the deal for those seeking a little extra help in everyday life.

The EVRY Journey Tricycle is going to be best for specific use cases. Think getting about the local neighborhood and enjoying fresh air a bit more if mobility issues have kept you mostly home-bound now. The motor is gentle and modest making it easy to ride in a straight line, and the sizing and geometry will be gentle on riders (especially taller ones). Certain parts of the design like the larger-than-most 26″ tires mean it won’t be as easy to turn at speed or when hauling heavier payloads in the back, and the v-brakes are meant for lighter-duty usage as well – something for stopping a trike like this at under 10 miles per hour.

The EVRY Journey isn’t as general-purpose as perhaps the Easy Transit 750W we reviewed, but it doesn’t have to be either. If you’re wanting to see the neighborhood and stretch your legs some, that’s maybe the trike’s sweet spot.

For all of our thoughts make sure to read the rest of the EVRY Journey review.

23 Things We Want Manufacturers to STOP Doing On E-Bikes

E-Bike Future: Are Charging Stations or Battery Swaps The Public E-Bike Future