The 10 most important things to know about adult electric tricycles. Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. And today I'm going to tell you the 10 most important things to know about adult electric tricycles. All right, so electric tricycles are becoming very popular. Three-wheel e-bikes are great for those who may have stability issues or balance issues but still want to be out there riding. And there's a lot of options to choose from. We've got all these e-trikes right here. A whole different variety of them. There are lots of things to know about electric tricycles if you're out there looking to purchase one, but I've got 10 of the most important things to know about e-trikes if you are shopping and in the market. So let's get into it. All right, number one. Now, these are not in a top 10 sort of list. I'm just going to give you, the 10 things to know about adult electric tricycles. All right, number one. This is a pretty obvious one. There are many different motor sizes available. Now, for an e-bike in the state of California. Every state is different, but a general concept is for it to be classified as an electric bicycle or tricycle that can use the bike lane and is legal to be out there classified as a bicycle. The motor has to be below 750 watts. Typically with an electric tricycle, you'll see sizes ranging from 250 to 750 watts. Now, bigger is not always better. We have a whole variety here. We have 750 watts here and here. We have 500 watts. We also have 250 watts. So if you're out there shopping and you're wondering what motor size is right for you, a lot of it depends on a couple of things. Number one, what type of terrain are you going to be riding? Number two, how much do you weigh or how much do you plan to carry on your e-trike when you go out for rides? Because that will impact how large of a motor you need. Now, if you're going to do mostly flat ground riding and honestly, maybe you're scared of a little bit of electric tricycles and the power, then you can opt for something with 250 watts like the EvryJourney here. It's great... classic-looking trike with a 250-watt motor. And that little bit of power gives you the assistance. You can still get up to speeds of 15 miles an hour.
For more information, please visit Future Electric Vehicles.
Now, if you're going to take on really big hills a lot all the time, and let's say you're 200 pounds plus, you want to opt for maybe a 750-watt e-trike. With that kind of power, it's going to make going up and down the hills pretty easy. You'll also have the option of using a throttle or pedal assist, which we'll get into in one of our other top ten items. So 750 watts is really good if you are going to take on a lot of hills. Now on flat ground, the 750-watt isn't that important because of the fact that most trikes are going to be capped at around 16 miles an hour. So the motor isn't going to allow the rider to go above 16 miles an hour. That extra power, like I said, is going to come in handy if you're a heavier rider or you do a lot of hills. And the 500-watt is sort of a good middle range between the two of them. Good for hills, good for flat ground and, you know, a very versatile size. You have to determine what's most important to you. How much do you weigh? How much are you going to bring with you and what type of terrain you're going to be riding on? Now, segueing into our number two, motor size will have an impact on price. Generally speaking, larger motors are going to equate to a more expensive electric tricycle. So that's something for you to consider as well. Now, not always the case because the battery also largely impacts the price of an electric tricycle. But the motor generally, if you have a bigger motor, you'll have a bigger battery, which will increase the price. As an example, when you look at all of our e-trikes here, our 250-watt is closer to $1,000. When you get up into our 750-watt, our Rickshaw, more like $3,000, and then everything in between. So again, that's why it's really important as a rider to be mindful of your needs so you don't spend more money than you need to for the type of riding that you are going to do. All right. The third thing I want to say, which ties into the motor also, and I said it in the first one, was there are lots of different motors. But thirdly, bigger is not always better. Now, I know performance testing a bigger motor is going to get you up hills faster. We do a lot of riders who have stability issues and are also getting back into biking and they're opting for a trike versus a two-wheel bike. And many of them are scared of the power of an electric tricycle. I touched on this in the first point. I want to touch on it again because many people who take an e-trike ride for the first time are surprised by how powerful even the 250-watt is. So it's important that you know what you'll be comfortable with before you jump in. But don't just think you need to have a 750-watt. Think about your needs the power you want and what you'll also be comfortable with. Okay, moving into the number four thing you should know. Battery sizes are going to range on electric trikes as well. Now, seems obvious, but another thing to point out, typically when you have bigger motors, you'll see bigger batteries. Now, that's not always the case, but because a bigger motor will require more battery power or will use more battery power, most times brands or manufacturers will put a bigger battery to ensure you can get a decent range out of the bigger motor.
If you have 750-watt e-trikes with a smaller battery, the range is going to be minimized. So now with those bigger batteries, again, you are going to see an increased price. So I'll go back to touching on what I just said about motors with batteries. You don't always need a huge battery. If you're going to do rides under ten miles, a ten amp hour battery is more than fine. Now, when you start to get into wanting to do like 20 miles and above, that's when you want to get, you know, larger batteries. Now, with that said, though, like on our evryjourney as an example, it's a 10.4 amp hour battery. We have lots of riders talking about how they've gone more than 20 miles with their e-trike. So the terrain has a big impact on it as well. So I think you have to think about many different things, which are your budget, your needs, the distance you're going to ride, and then you can make an educated battery choice. So you're going to probably look at the battery in combination with the motor and figure out. Also what's going to be best for you. Now, you also want to take a look at the terrain you're going to be doing because that's going to impact your battery range as well. But just know, as a general rule of thumb, the larger the battery, the more the cost of the e-trike will go up. Now, that's not always true if it's a low-quality battery, there are a lot of manufacturers that can minimize the cost by using low-quality battery manufacturers. All right. Number five, this kind of segues into both the battery and the motor, which is the range of your e-trike is going to be heavily dependent on the terrain you ride, your body weight, and also how you use the electric assist. Now, the range and publicized range of e-trikes is just that it's a range. It's also an estimation. The range you get is going to depend on where you're riding. Are you riding on a lot of hills? Are you riding on a lot of flat ground? Flat ground is going to give you more range. If you take on a lot of hills, you're going to get less range. The other thing that impacts it is the weight of the rider. Heavier riders will get less range because the motor and battery will have to work harder, thus draining it quicker. Now, In addition to that, how you use the assistance with the assistance on most e-bikes, there are five different levels to use when you pedal. If you have it at the highest level, it will drain the battery quicker. If you have it at the lowest level, you get more range out of the battery. So just know when you see published estimations of range for each trike that it's going to vary based on how you use your trike. The same is true for gas cars.
Gas cars can estimate the range, but how you use it depends on the actual range you get. Do you use the air conditioning a lot? Are you taking on a lot of hills? Are you driving in hot conditions? All of those things will have a very large impact. All right. Number six, getting into there's how the assistance on each trike works or what are the options for the assistance. Now, typically on an electric tricycle, you have two ways of using the electric assistance. What's called pedal assist or the throttle. Now, the pedal assist works when the motor is turned on. As you pedal, the motor will kick in and give you assistance while you're pedaling. Typically, you have five levels of assistance. One, two, three, four, five. Level one is the least, level five is the most. And you can move or change those assistance levels at any point during your ride. Now, also a lot of e-trikes come with throttles, either a push thumb throttle or a twist throttle. Now, as you engage that throttle, the e-trike will move without you pedaling at all. You can also find e-trikes that don't have the throttle. To be classified as an electric bicycle, it will have to have the pedal assist option. The throttles are sort of an added bonus that is included on electric bicycles. You can choose if you want both or just assistance. I will say many electric trikes don't come without a throttle at this point. You'd have to find a specific brand. We offer throttles on all of our e-trikes because it's a nice feature to have if at some point you want to give your legs a break or also a lot of people like it to get their rides going. So if you're starting, you kind of ease in with the throttle, then you can get your legs going. Also, you can engage the throttle a little bit while you pedal. Sometimes that helps just get people's legs moving and building muscle that maybe are getting back into cycling after a long time having not done it. All right, the number seven thing you should know about adult electric tricycles is there are lots of frame types and geometries. And you can see by all five of these I have here. There are classic cruiser look, there are two front wheels, there's a rickshaw, there's recumbent, there's folding. And so again, the selection and assortment of the types that are available out there range drastically. And again, it's one of those things. And we have other YouTube videos if you want to learn more about each specific type. And I go into different reasons and what each one is good for. But you have to figure out what's going to suit you best and then match up the correct e-trike to your riding needs. Now, again, there are good ones for just cruising around a neighborhood. This one can bring passengers. This recumbent one is great for, you know, those who may have trouble getting on and off folding ones that you can take with you. Or the Two Front Wheels have nimble and stable steering if you want something a little bit zippy as an e-trike. So tons of assortment tons of selections find the right one that's best for your body type and riding needs. All right. Moving into number eight, we're going to talk about price. The price can vary drastically on e-trikes from about a thousand dollars all the way up to I've seen up to ten thousand dollars. Now like I said before, what drives the price? Battery, motor.
But also the design and the uniqueness of the product impact it a lot. So like our rickshaw as an example, it requires special production processes, and special molds make it a little bit more expensive. It also has a very large motor, a very large battery, something like the recumbent each right here, our Simple Glide, same kind of thing. It has a very unique, special mold production that drives the cost up. Now, when you look at things one to one, typically, like I said, bigger motors, and bigger batteries are going to equate to a higher price. The other thing that also dictates price is the warranty of the company and the return policy of the company. Now, it's something a lot of consumers don't think about, but if you want to buy from a brand that's going to stand behind their product, it does mean typically the product will be a little bit more expensive. Not to say that companies with inexpensive e-trikes won't stand behind their product. But what I find is that a little bit more money means the company is going to invest in taking care of the customer a little bit more and ensuring that they can stand behind it and send out warranty parts and repair parts as needed. All right. That was number eight. Now, moving to number nine, there are typically two types of wheel arrangements. I'll talk about tires and configuration. There are two types of e-trikes you typically will hear, which are conventional or tadpole and reverse trike. This is a reverse trike with two wheels in the front. These are all conventional with two wheels in the rear. Now, the reverse e-trike with the tadpole style is not as common. Typically, you'll find that more on a recumbent sort of lay-down trike. We're one of the first to come out with the reverse trike and the two wheels in front. Now, there's a big difference between the two of these with the reverse trike and the two wheels in front. It's got a different steering system that tilts and moves. So the rider does have to keep the wheels straight. That's what differs from a conventional trike where you can sit on there and balance completely. Without doing anything on the reverse trike. This one, because of the tilting steering, the rider will have to keep the wheel straight, but you'll have the assistance of having two wheels up front that can keep the trike balance better. Now, if you're looking to have a trike but still go a little bit faster, the reverse trike with the tilting steering is the best option. But if you're more concerned about absolute stability and not having to do anything to keep that three-wheel bike balanced, then a conventional trike is a better option for you. So two different types of e-trikes that you'll find out there if you have any questions about any of these at all, you can comment below we can get into it as well. All right. Now that brings us to number 10 and our final. Sorry, I'm losing track here. Our final thing to know about e-trikes and I think one of the most important goes back to the company or the brand, which is to make sure whoever you buy your e-trike from can supply you with the parts that you may need in the future. Now, it seems obvious, but e-trikes are a big investment right you're gonna spend anywhere from a thousand to two thousand three thousand dollars if something should go wrong down the line, and you're gonna want to get a part to fix that e-trike, whether it's a battery or a motor.
At sixthreezero, we stock all the replacement parts to ensure that we can facilitate your riding for years to come. So you could just buy a replacement part should you need it or a replacement battery in the future, as opposed to having to buy a completely new electric tricycle. Now, I say that because not all brands have the parts on hand and they don't necessarily have a warranty department. But again, if it's going to be a big investment for you, you want to ensure you can get those parts and for most e-trikes, a lot of, or for most of the parts on e-trikes of any brand, there are a lot of more proprietary you can buy different e-bike batteries out there, but you have to ensure you can find the right connection. You may not always be able to do that. So you want to ensure that you can buy it from the brand you got it from to ensure, I just said, ensure three times, but just to make sure that you can get the battery again to keep riding. Now, the one, thing you'll probably have to replace at some point in the lifetime of your e-trike is going to be the battery. It might be in three years, two years, it might be in five years, could be in 10 years. At sixthreezero, we've been in business for 19 years. We plan to be around for the next 50 years and we stock all the batteries like I said. So just ensure the brand and the company you're working with have the parts you may need in the future. All right those are my 10 things to know about adult electric tricycles. If you have any other questions at all, like I said, reach out to us at or call us at 310-982-. We also offer a 30-day test ride on your e-trike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we offer a one-year warranty on everything. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of it in parts and labor. And lastly, join our Facebook group, sixthreezero Pedalers. There are thousands of members in there. You can talk to existing members before you purchase so you can get comfortable that you made the right choice. Then when you have yours, post in the group, and make friends. It's a lot of fun. Lastly, download our app. You can track your rides there and compete on our leaderboard. That is a lot of fun as well. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.
You found a manufacturer with an amazing price, but something feels off. Choosing the wrong supplier could mean receiving poor-quality products, fake specifications, or even losing your entire investment.
The biggest mistake is chasing the lowest unit price without considering the manufacturer's experience, the product's suitability for your market, and the total landed cost. A cheap price often hides poor quality, fake specs, and a lack of export support, leading to much higher costs later.
At AGL-Trike, we often speak with buyers who come to us after a bad experience elsewhere. They learn the hard way that a 5-10% price difference on paper can mean a 100% loss in reality. The electric tricycle industry is fairly transparent on pricing, so when a price seems too good to be true, it usually is. Finding a reliable partner is far more important than saving a few dollars on the unit. Let's break down the most common—and costly—mistakes we see new importers make.
You saw an electric tuk-tuk that is a bestseller in Asia. You assume it will be a hit in your country, so you place a large order without doing any local research.
A huge mistake is buying a "popular" model without confirming it solves a local problem. Your market's roads, regulations, weather, and customer needs—not another country's trends—must determine the right vehicle, whether it's for cargo, passengers, or farming.
A good manufacturer doesn't just sell you a product; they act as a partner. When a new client contacts us, one of the first things we ask is, "Tell me about your market. Are there a lot of hills? What is the main job for the tricycle?" We know that selling you a trike that fails or doesn't sell is bad for both of us. An inexperienced supplier will just take your order for any model, no questions asked, because they don't know the difference. You must be the expert on your market. Don't assume a vehicle designed for the flat, paved streets of one city will work on the unpaved, hilly roads in your rural region. You need to match the product to the local terrain, the typical load capacity required, and what your end-users can afford.
For more information, please visit electric tricycle manufacturer.
You're trying to lower the cost, so you select the cheapest motor and battery options. The supplier agrees without any questions, and you feel like you got a great deal.
Failing to understand what key components do is a recipe for disaster. Cheaper parts directly lead to poor performance, short lifespan, and unhappy customers. An untrustworthy supplier will gladly let you choose undersized parts to win the order.
This is where "cheap" becomes dangerous. Let me share a real story. We had a new client from Mauritius who came to us after being burned by another supplier. He had ordered trikes with a "W" motor. But when the vehicles struggled with small loads, he investigated. The motor was physically the size of a 500W motor. He was sold a lie. The same supplier used low-grade tires that wore out in months and battery packs with recycled cells that died quickly. He saved 10% on the initial price but ended up with a container of useless machines.
Always remember:
The manufacturer's website looks professional, and they communicate well in English. You assume they are experienced exporters and place your order without further checks.
Many Chinese factories only sell domestically; they have no idea how to properly pack a container, handle customs documents, or comply with international shipping rules. You must verify their export license, past shipping records, and relevant certifications (e.g., CE, ISO).
A factory that can't prove its export experience is a huge red flag. Exporting is complex. It involves specific packing methods to prevent damage, accurate paperwork (like the Bill of Lading and Packing List) for customs, and ensuring the product complies with your country's regulations. An inexperienced factory can cause massive delays at the port, leading to storage fees or even having your shipment rejected. Before you send any money, ask for proof. Request photos of them loading containers for other clients. Ask for their export certifications. Even better, schedule a live video call for a factory tour. With modern technology, there is no excuse for not seeing the facility and asking questions in real-time. This simple step can save you from a massive headache.
You get an FOB (Free On Board) price of $1,000 per unit from the factory. You multiply it by the number of units and assume that's your total cost for the inventory.
The FOB unit price is just the beginning of your expenses. The biggest financial mistake is not calculating the Total Landed Cost, which includes shipping, marine insurance, customs duties, port fees, and local transport. This can add 30-50% or more to your total cost.
New importers get excited by a low factory price and forget about the long journey the product takes to get to their warehouse. An experienced manufacturer can help you with this. We can provide you with the exact CBM (cubic meters) and weight for your order, which your freight forwarder needs to give you an accurate shipping quote. We can also provide the correct HS Code to help you estimate your customs duties. An unprofessional supplier will give you vague estimates or incorrect data, leaving you with surprise bills that destroy your profit margin. Before you commit to an order, you must have a clear estimate for every single cost involved in getting the product from the factory floor to your front door. The small 5% you "saved" on the FOB price can easily disappear with one unexpected shipping charge.
Choosing a manufacturer is a partnership. Prioritize trust, proven experience, and a product that truly fits your market over a deceptively low price, and you will build a successful, long-term business.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website cheap long range electric scooter.