This guy built a six-seater electric bike for $150, and it absolutely rips
I’ve always enjoyed multi-seater electric bikes, which bring passenger-carrying utility to small-format, easy-to-produce vehicles. But I never thought I’d see the concept taken this far. At least not until I stumbled upon a six-seater electric bike that has me all kinds of jealous.
It’s no surprise where this custom e-bike originated. If you want to see the most creative and ingenious transportation solutions in the world, you have to head over to Asia.
The Chinese often get a lot of credit for some of the more wacky vehicles popping up on Alibaba, but India usually takes the cake with some of the coolest auto and motorcycle innovation on the planet. And that’s exactly where this impressive six-seater bike comes from, where it was hand-built by Ashhad Abdullah from Lohra in eastern India.
Abdullah seems to have caught my recent Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week entry for a three-seater electric bike and said “Hold my lassi.”
Instead of a three-seater, Abdullah doubled the capacity to six seats. His stretch-limousine electric bike looks like it wears a scooter fork on front complete with drum brake, off-road lighting kit, and even a motorcycle horn. The rear seems to hold a hub motor wheel in a swingarm supported by dual coilover shocks. There’s a battery box mounted just in front of the swingarm, though how much capacity he’s rocking seems to be a mystery.
Bridging the two ends of the bike is a bespoke ladder frame with six seats, six handlebars, and six pairs of foot pegs.
There’s no word on the turning radius, but we’d wager it’s somewhere around the width of the state of Bihar.
Abdullah created the custom-designed bike after climbing fuel prices made petrol-powered motorcycles less appealing. In total, he says the bike cost him around 12,000 INR (US $150) to build.
It gets a range of around 150 km (93 miles) and costs around 10 INR (US $0.12) to recharge.
I’m not sure if this is technically an e-bike, at least by electric bicycle standards. It certainly looks like a tandem-style bicycle setup with bicycle seats, but the lack of pedals means it would be classified more like an electric scooter or motorcycle.
But whatever you call it, the six-seater bike has received a warm reception around the world.
The novel creation went viral on Twitter after a video of it in action was reposted by Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group, one of the largest automakers in India (and similar in size to GM).
It’s unlikely we’d see an awesome ride like this in the West, where safety regulations and an unhealthy aversion to two wheels would likely make this six-seater dead on arrival.
I’ll admit that it’s hard for me to argue with the safety concerns, especially when seeing six helmet-less heads and a few bare feet as well.
There are some good alternatives available in the US, at least if you’re alright with just two-seater e-bikes. But with options like a $999 Lectric XP 3.0 or a $1,499 RadRunner helping put more riders on smaller electric vehicles, the chances for sharing the fun on e-bikes are growing, even in laggard countries like the US.
We may never get six bodies on one bike, but even two would be a good start!
via: TimesNowNews
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Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. and Square Inc., listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Block shares jumped in extended trading on Thursday after the fintech company increased its forecast for the year.
Here is how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG.
- Earnings per share: 62 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected
Block doesn’t report a revenue figure, but said gross profit rose 14% from a year earlier to $2.54 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.46 billion for the quarter. Gross payment volume increased 10% to $64.25 billion.
Block raised its guidance for full-year gross profit to $10.17 billion, representing 14% growth from a year earlier. In its prior earnings report, Block said gross profit for the year would come in at $9.96 billion.
The company expects full-year adjusted operating income of $2.03 billion, or a 20% margin. For the third quarter, the company expects gross profit to grow 16% from a year ago to $2.6 billion, with an operating margin of 18%.
Square payment volume in the quarter grew 10% from a year earlier.
Block faces growing competition from rivals such as Toast and Fiserv‘s Clover, though its Square business still gained share during the quarter in areas such as retail and food and beverage.
Block shares were down 10% this year as of Thursday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up 10%. Last month, Block was added to the S&P 500.
— CNBC’s Robert Hum contributed to this report.
Environment
The new Chevy Bolt EV will get cheaper LFP batteries from China’s CATL, at least for now
Until GM builds its own, the new Chevy Bolt EV will use lower-cost LFP batteries from China’s CATL. GM will temporarily lean on CATL to power its most affordable electric vehicle.
The new Chevy Bolt EV will use batteries from China
The new Chevy Bolt EV is set to begin rolling off the production line at GM’s assembly plant in Fairfax, Kansas, later this year.
GM’s CEO Mary Barra promises the new EV will arrive with “substantial improvements,” including longer range, faster charging, and a stylish new look. It will also be the company’s first EV based on the Ultium platform to launch with LFP batteries in North America.
Although the batteries were initially expected to be made in-house, it appears that GM will import them from China, at least for the next few years.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims GM will import LFP batteries from CATL to power the new Chevy Bolt EV over the next two years.
According to sources close to the matter, GM will rely on CATL for batteries until it begins producing more affordable EV batteries in collaboration with LG Energy Solutions in 2027.
“To stay competitive, GM will temporarily source these packs from similar suppliers to power our most affordable EV model,” a company spokesperson said. The statement added that “For several years, other US automakers have depended on foreign suppliers for LFP battery sourcing and licensing.”
Ford is licensing technology from CATL to produce LFP batteries in Michigan, which will power its next-generation electric vehicles.
Given Trump’s new tariff and trade policies, GM will face hefty import costs from China. According to Sam Abuelsamid from auto research firm Telemetry, combined with other cost-cutting measures, “the new Bolt with Chinese batteries may still be marginally profitable or “close enough.” He added that “It may be that the economics work for GM to do this on a temporary basis.”
Just over a week ago, Chevy offered a sneak peek at the new Bolt EV with the first teaser images. It’s scheduled to enter production later this year and will arrive at US dealerships in 2026.
Although GM has yet to announce prices and specs, the new Bolt EV is expected to start at around $30,000 with a range of around 300 miles. It will also be the second GM electric vehicle, following the Cadillac Optiq-V, with a built-in NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers.
Electrek’s Take
Chinese battery makers, including CATL and BYD, are dominating the global market with lower-cost and more advanced tech.
According to new data from SNE Research, CATL and BYD widened their lead in the first half of 2025. CATL held the top spot with a 37.9% market share while BYD was second at 17.8%.
The combined market share of South Korean battery makers, LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI, fell to 16.4%, a 5.4% decline from the first half of 2024.
Although the deal may work out in GM’s favor, it still highlights the significant gap between US auto and battery makers and their Chinese counterparts.
Meanwhile, GM’s current most affordable electric model, the Chevy Equinox EV, is expected to be among the top three best-selling EVs in the US this year, behind the Tesla Model Y and Model 3. GM calls it “America’s most affordable 315+ range EV” with starting prices under $35,000.
Will the new Bolt EV see the same demand? With prices expected to start at around $30,000, it will be one of the lowest-priced electric vehicles in the US.
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Despite a full lineup of electric models rolling out, Cadillac now plans to keep offering at least one popular gas-powered SUV.
Cadillac XT5 SUV will keep a gas engine in the US
GM’s luxury brand was supposed to go all-electric by the end of the decade. Although it already walked back its commitment last year, Cadillac has now confirmed which popular gas SUV will stick around a while longer.
The Cadillac XT5, the brand’s best-selling vehicle outside of the Escalade, will continue to be sold in North America.
The news was first reported by The Detroit Free Press, which cited a recent memo from GM to UAW workers. Although Cadillac had planned to end XT5 production at the end of the year, GM informed workers that it will continue to be built until the end of 2026.
The current Cadillac XT5 will continue to be sold until the 2027 model year arrives in the US, which will still feature a gas engine.
It could arrive as a potential hybrid, similar to the XT5 sold in China, which features a 2.0L turbocharged engine combined with a 48V electric motor. No fully electric version was mentioned.
GM will continue Cadillac XT5 production in Spring Hill, Tennessee, alongside the Lyriq and Vistiq electric SUVs.
Cadillac claims to be the leading luxury EV brand in the US with a full lineup of electric SUVs. However, that doesn’t include Tesla. The luxury brand now offers the entry-level Optiq, mid-size Lyriq, three-row Vistiq, and even larger Escalade IQ and IQL electric models.
In the first half of the year, nearly 25% of Cadillac vehicles sold in the US were electric. The XT5 was Cadillac’s second-best-selling vehicle, with over 12,700 units sold. The Escalade was its top seller with over 24,300 models sold through June.
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