HeyBike Cityrun review: A decent urban e-bike that desperately wants to compete on price
HeyBike has built a name for itself over the last year or two with a growing number of low-cost electric bikes. And while the brand can’t hope to compete on reputation with the US market’s major players, it sure can compete on price. Meet the $1,299 HeyBike Cityrun electric bike.
You may be surprised by just what you get from the HeyBike Cityrun.
It doesn’t come with the name recognition of other famous city e-bikes, but it has some pretty darn nice features for the price.
Components like hydraulic disc brakes, turn signals, hydraulic suspension, and a sturdy rear rack add value to the bike by offering features normally reserved for higher-dollar e-bikes or held back as add-on accessories by other brands.
Take a look at my video review below to get an up-close look at my test-riding experience on the HeyBike Cityrun. Then keep scrolling for my complete writeup.
HeyBike Cityrun video review
HeyBike Cityrun tech specs
- Motor: 500W geared rear hub motor
- Top speed: 20 mph (32 km/h)
- Range: 30-55 miles (48-88 km)
- Battery: 48V 15Ah (720 Wh)
- Weight: 62 lb (28 kg)
- Weight capacity: 350 lb. (159 kg)
- Tires: 26 x 2.5″
- Brakes: 180 mm rotor disc brakes
- Extras: LCD display, LED lighting with automatic headlight and turn signals, strong rear rack, Shimano 7-speed drivetrain, included fenders, app compatibility
- Price: $1,299 on Amazon or also $1,299 on HeyBike’s site
Can’t complain with the value!
Compared to some other major city-inspired electric bikes out there, the HeyBike Cityrun has a lot to offer.
Many of the components on the bike are a cut above what I’d except at this price range.
It’s not strange to see suspension on a $1,299 e-bike, but the bike’s decent hydraulic suspension fork is a bit of a surprise when many other brands use cheaper spring forks.
Disc brakes are pretty much standard on almost all e-bikes these days outside of a few lightweight exceptions, but you’ll usually see mechanical disc brakes at this price point. The Cityrun ups the ante with hydraulic disc brakes that provide higher stopping power with less hand fatigue.
They’re also a maintenance boon, in the sense that you don’t really have to do any maintenance on them. Regular mechanical disc brakes will eventually need adjustments as the cables stretch over time, but the hydraulic fluid in juice brakes like these keeps them perfectly tuned until you’ve finally worn down the brake pads.
The commuter trifecta of LED lighting (with automatic headlight), included fenders, and a robust rear rack (with 120 lb. or 54 kg weight rating) are great to see, especially since many companies hold back racks and fenders behind a paywall (and some don’t even include lights!). But the HeyBike Cityrun adds a fourth member to my usual commuter trifecta, including a horn as well.
Technically there’s a fifth member too if you count the turn signals, though I tend to think turn signals on e-bikes are a bit of a gimmick since they are usually so close together that drivers and other cyclists often don’t realize they are turn signals. I still use hand signals, which are much clearer.
One other note about the horn: It’s kind of nice to have it, but I don’t like that it completely replaced a bell. I think it is still important to have a bike bell on e-bikes because pedestrians are fairly well trained to recognize a bike bell’s signature sound. An electric bike horn is foreign to most people, but everyone knows the “ding ding” of a bike bell means get out of the way if you don’t want to take a handlebar to the kidney.
Chargers are often an overlooked component on many e-bikes since we take for granted that they all come with any old charger. But the HeyBike Cityrun includes a higher-power 4A charger that will reduce charge times to around four hours, which is faster than most e-bikes.
The decently large 48V 15Ah battery offers 720 Wh of capacity, which should get you around 30 miles (48 km) or so of throttle-only riding if you’re moving quickly, or a bit more if you’re throttling around at less than the bike’s 20 mph (32 km/h) top speed.
They claim a 55-mile (89 km) range, which may be possible on the lightest pedal assist level, but most people aren’t going to keep the bike in a low enough power level to find out.
The 500W rear motor strikes a nice balance between power and efficiency. It’s got decent pickup, but it’s not so powerful that it drains the battery quickly. A good 30+ miles of honest range (and more if you’re riding slower) is respectable.
At 62 lb. (28 kg), this certainly isn’t a lightweight e-bike, though it also supports a healthy 350 lb. (159 kg) payload capacity. But you’re getting lots of nice features that have the unfortunate side effect of adding weight. Heavy parts like the rack, suspension fork, 7-speed transmission, large battery, and decently peppy motor don’t help the e-bike out on the scale, but they do make it a nicer bike to ride.
And you even get some other features that don’t add much weight at all, such as a Bluetooth connection to allow use with the HeyBike app that tracks rides and lets you monitor your bike’s stats.
So while the HeyBike Cityrun isn’t the nicest e-bike out there, its $1,299 price is a surprisingly fair offering for such a well-outfitted electric bike. There are lighter and more powerful options in the market, but the bang-for-your-buck is strong with this offering. I can find faults on the HeyBike Cityrun, but I can’t fault them too hard at this price.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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