Ride1Up REVV1 FS review: How I hit 37 mph on an e-bike built like a motorbike
The Ride1Up REVV1 FS is a rare breed of e-bike. It’s not that the design is that unique. In fact, it’s obviously another SUPER73 imitation. But what makes it so unique is that it’s a really good SUPER73 imitation. And by that I mean it’s built more like a moped or motorcycle than like an electric bicycle, which translates into an amazingly good ride.
Now don’t get me wrong here: This is not an electric motorcycle.
The purists out there will try to claim that it is. And I understand their argument. But it’s based on the misinformed premise that anyone can take this 20 mph electric bicycle out of the box and turn it into a crazy powerful speed machine. And while that’s true with many other e-bikes, it’s not true for the Ride1Up REVV1. To actually unlock it outside of Class 2 (20 mph) mode into Off-Road mode, you’ve got to contact the company to request the unlocking procedure that includes multiple passwords used at several steps.
It’s not something that a kid is going to figure out, and it allows Ride1Up to control who gets Off-Road mode while giving them one more chance to remind you that it’s for use outside of public streets.
Even when left in 20 mph Class 2 mode, the REVV1 is an awesome electric bicycle that offers an incredible ride. But when you unleash the beast, it gets so much better. I tested out both types of riding, which you can see in my video review below. Keep on reading after the video to see the rest of my written review.
Ride1Up REVV1 FS video review
Ride1Up REVV1 FS tech specs
- Motor: Bafang 750W continuous hub motor
- Top speed: 20 mph (32 km/h) stock, but I hit 37 mph (59.5 km/h) in off-road mode
- Range: 30-60 miles (48-96 km)
- Battery: 52V 20Ah (1,040 Wh)
- Weight: 93 lb. (42 kg)
- Tires: CST Scout eMoped All-surface Tires, 20″x4.0″
- Brakes: 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes
- Front suspension: Dual-crown 120mm air fork, preload and rebound adjust with lockout
- Rear suspension: DNM AOY-38RC, rebound, air pressure adjust and lockout
- Extras: Long bench seat, included fenders, large LED headlight with hi/lo beams and tail/brake light, turn signals, horn, LCD display, kickstand
Out-of-the-box riding
Just from looking at it, the Ride1Up REVV1 is obviously a beast. But many e-bikes talk tough. The REVV1 walks the walk, too.
The bike’s CST Scout moped tires combined with that front and rear suspension let riders carve hard into curves and hit larger obstacles than you’d expect to be comfortable.
The long bench seat actually feels really nice under you and is thicker than it looked when I first covered the bike’s unveiling. It’s also made from nicer material than I had imagined, giving it a real fabric upholstery that feels good under you. There’s no cheap imitation leather or plastic-feeling vinyl here. This feels like a motorcycle saddle.
Regarding suspension, I will note that the rear suspension felt a bit stiff for me, but I’m a light rider at 150 lb. (68 kg). I kept it on the lowest setting and that felt better for me, but heavier riders can crank up the suspension to fit their weight and ride style, which is a big improvement over non-adjustable suspension on other e-bikes.
The components used on the bike also inspire confidence, from the high-power four-piston hydraulic disc brakes and the quality-feeling brake levers.
The whole bike just has a solid and planted feeling to it. Many cheaper moped-style e-bikes feel more like a moped-shaped electric bicycle, in that they feel like a collection of weaker bolted-together parts. But the Ride1Up REVV1 FS feels like a purpose-built, solid, refined design that gives me motorcycle-quality vibes. It feels planted underneath me. There’s no rattling. There’s no flex (other than a nice give of suspension and a soft seat). There’s just a solid feel to it. I don’t know how else to describe the feel without telling you to just sit on it. But trust me, you can simply tell the difference between a cheap e-bike and a solid one within a few revolutions of the tires. And the difference here is astounding. As someone who rides high-power electric motorcycles, this e-bike gives me that feeling.
But what about pedaling?
Ha! Forget about it!
Okay, it’s not that bad. You can pedal the bike. But it’s not comfortable. Your knees travel up quite high. The cadence-based pedal assist sensor doesn’t do you any favors either with its laggy response. As much as I love this bike for its throttle riding, I can say it’s not a pleasure on pedal assist. It works as a pedal bike, but it’s far from ideal.
If you ran out of battery and needed to pedal home, you could do it. It’s possible. It won’t be fun. But you can physically make it happen.
For the 99.9% of time that you’ve got charge though, you’ll probably just be throttling around. That’s the most fun way to ride a bike like this.
Again, the purists may rip their hair out over this. An e-bike that can’t be pedaled comfortably?! But then again, the purists probably stopped reading this review a while ago. If you’re still here, it’s likely because you appreciate that this is an e-bike for having fun. Other e-bikes are great for exercise. There are other models for taking kids to daycare. And other models exist for cargo duty. The REVV1 isn’t for any of that. This is for getting around fast and having fun.
Speaking of both, let’s talk about Off-Road mode.
What happens when you unlock the REVV1 FS?
This is where things get really interesting.
Unlike many e-bikes that come with higher power and higher speed modes that simply require playing around in the settings menu for a few minutes to unlock, you’re not going to figure out how to unlock the REVV1 on its own. It comes as a 20 mph (32 km/h) e-bike out of the box and that’s all you get.
That’s also likely enough to fulfill stricter e-bike laws that would disqualify 20 mph e-bikes from Class 2 status if they can be easily unlocked by the rider to achieve higher performance.
In this case, Ride1Up holds the keys to the power and speed that wouldn’t be legal on public roads in many states. So you have to ask them really nice for permission (and instructions) to get to the good stuff. Theoretically once enough people are granted the instructions, the secret unlocking procedure could get out there into the public domain. But I think the goal is to make the process complicated enough that the average person (and especially the average kid) can’t figure it out on their own.
Once you’re welcomed into the walled garden though, you’re in. And you’ll love it.
The 28A controller is unlocked, giving you access to nearly 1,500W of power.
I took the bike to a non-public road so I could test the speed on a long stretch of tarmac.
As you already know from the title of this review, the highest number I saw on the speedometer was 37 mph (59.5 km/h). And in fact that was the same figure I saw on a GPS speedometer I also used, just to make sure I was keeping Ride1UP honest. For the record, I was also wearing my full moto gear, including my motorcycle helmet, armored jacket, leather gloves, and boots. Sure, I put myself on the line for you guys to test this stuff. But my wife still wants me to come home at the end of the day.
In fact, the top speed might even be a bit higher than what I saw. I didn’t do a full tuck and I was even at around 75% battery charge. A 100% charge will give the highest speed, but I burned off part of the charge just riding to the test location. I tried to save as much as I could, but I just couldn’t resist going fast on the way there. I tried to stay at 20 mph, but I kept looking down and realizing I had gotten to 30+ mph without realizing it.
And that’s a testament to just how well the bike rides. That rubber feels good on the asphalt, the suspension takes up any road vibration, and the entire bike is nicely balanced. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to shake itself to bits, which I’ve experience on other e-bikes at high speeds. And so you can be cruising along at over 30 mph while still thinking you’re at a leisurely 20 mph.
Basically, this is an e-bike that can easily handle going twice as fast as its out-of-the-box programmed speed, meaning it’s overbuilt. And for a lot of people, overbuilt is exactly how a vehicle should be built.
The e-bike/e-moto gray area
I’ve talked before about how electric bikes can be a nice gateway drug into the world of electric motorcycles, especially when the power and quality walks up the ladder like in the Ride1Up REVV1 FS.
There are light electric motorcycle models like the SONDORS Metacycle that fall somewhere in the gray area, though the Metacycle is more on the motorcycle end of the spectrum. The REVV1 FS feels like another gap filler, though this time more on the electric bicycle end of the spectrum. It’s an e-bike, but it simply feels closer to the experience of riding an electric motorcycle. And that’s a rarity in this industry.
When you add in the turn signals, the motorcycle-style saddle, the quality rubber to keep your wheels down when you’re riding hard, and of course that adjustable suspension, you end up with a bike that offers motorcycle-style riding at a price point closer to e-bikes. $2,395 is a fair price for such a capable machine.
If I could make one change, I’d have asked for mirrors. When I’m riding fast, I want to be able to look over my shoulder without doing a full head turn. And so a nice set of mirrors would have been some great gear to include.
But as it stands, it’s hard for me to complain too hard. Sure, the bike sucks at pedaling. But it was never really meant for that. As a fun urban bike for zipping around like a motorcycle that doesn’t have to pay for registration, parking, insurance, or licensing, the Ride1Up REVV1 is a solid entry.
Of all the SUPER73 imitations out there, this is the one to get if you can’t afford a real full-suspension SUPER73. It’s not quite at S73 level, and I’ve pushed those bikes hard, but it’s pretty darn close for a lot less cash.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will remove “safety monitors” from the passenger seats of Tesla’s Robotaxi vehicles in “about three weeks,” which would mean we’d see completely driverless Teslas in the Austin area potentially by the end of the year – if that timeline sticks.
Tesla has been working on a system that would allow vehicles to drive themselves, which has been in “beta” release for over a decade now. It calls this system “Full Self-Driving,” despite the fact that the system does not currently drive itself.
That has not stopped Musk from consistently promising more and more of the system, despite its stagnating capabilities. Over the course of the last decade, Musk has consistently promised driverless vehicles within the coming year, with deadlines consistently passing by without achieving that goal.
One of those promises has been the creation of a driverless taxi network, which Tesla used to call “Tesla Network” and is now calling “Robotaxi.” The idea originally came with the promise that owners could use their cars to make money by running them as taxis, but that hasn’t panned out.
Tesla did roll out its own version of a taxi network, though, in Austin, in June of this year. While it’s done a few cool things, the cars each have a “safety monitor” in the passenger seat who can take control at any time, which means the cars aren’t truly “driverless” since there is an operator, they’ve just been moved to the passenger seat.
In the time since Robotaxi’s rollout, it’s made quite a few mistakes and had a high crash rate. But Tesla also delivered one fully unoccupied vehicle from the factory to a local buyer, which was a cool (and, as yet, still unique) stunt.
Throughout the year, Musk has claimed loudly that the system would improve rapidly, stating that by the end of the year Robotaxis would be available to half of the US population (they are not) and that Tesla’s fleet would grow by more than 10x by the end of the year (it has not).
But now we have another bold prediction from Musk, stating that the safety monitors will be out of a job by the end of the year.
During a videoconference at a hackathon event for xAI, one of Musk’s other companies (which he is trying to get Tesla shareholders to bail out), Musk was asked a question about the barriers to unsupervised full self-driving. Musk answered:
Unsupervised is pretty much solved at this point. There will be Tesla Robotaxis operating in Austin with no one in them, not even anyone in the passenger seat, in about three weeks. I think it’s pretty much a solved problem, we’re just going through validation right now.
The “three weeks” timeline is familiar to longtime Tesla followers. Over the years, Musk has often promised fixes or software updates in “two weeks,” and they often take longer than that.
Three weeks is a lot closer than the “next year” promise that we’ve heard so many times for full autonomy, but given its proximity to the oft-inaccurate two-week timeline, we’re not sure these vehicles will actually be ready in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Nevertheless, it’s a closer timeline than Musk has usually given, so there may be truly driverless Teslas operating sometime soon™.
Also, reading the statement more closely, it sounds like they won’t necessarily remove safety operators from every vehicle, but some vehicles. This could be similar to the singular driverless vehicle delivery that Tesla did – a PR stunt, rather than a full rollout. We’ll have to wait and see.
Tesla’s main competitor in the robotaxi space is Waymo, which has been operating truly driverless vehicles for several years now. The company has also been operating autonomous, driverless vehicles in Austin since March of this year.
Musk went on to talk about future improvements to Tesla’s software and hardware in his answer.
The company is currently on hardware previously deemed HW4, though to cash in on the AI stock market bubble, it now refers to that system as AI4. He said that AI5 will be 10-40 times better than HW4 and go into volume production in 2027, with AI6 coming soon after.
Musk’s mention of future hardware improvements neglects one important aspect of these improvements, which is that for every hardware improvement Tesla puts into its fleet, the more vehicles it will have to upgrade later.
Tesla long promised that its vehicles had all the hardware for self-driving, which means it’s going to have to upgrade a lot of cars – and there are court cases around the world seeking to force the company to do so. Together, these lawsuits and other potential challenges could mean billions of dollars in liabilities for the company.
Musk then closed his statements by claiming that “our” goal is to “to understand the meaning of life and… propagate consciousness out to the stars,” which is not Tesla’s goal. Tesla’s actual goal is to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. He may have been referring to xAI’s goal, but given the answer was about Tesla, perhaps he was confused (or perhaps he doesn’t care about Tesla anymore, and isn’t a good CEO for the company as a result…)
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VW’s retro-tastic minivan hasn’t been the sales success the company might have wanted, and a lot of that has to do with the van’s sky high price tag. Now, VW is asking: will a $10,000 discount be enough to create some buzz for the ID.Buzz?
Volkswagen is offering $7,500 in Retail Customer Bonus cash this month – up from the $2,500 the company offered its Black Friday customers – that, along with an additional $2,500 unadvertised dealer cash incentive that CarsDirect is reporting absolutely, definitely exists, adds up to a stout $10,000 total discount on the all-electric VW ID.Buzz … and that’s before you start haggling with your dealer over the MSRP.
It’s a lot
As much as I like the the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, its starting MSRP around $61,545 (incl. destination) puts it at nearly twice what you’d probably expect a minivan to cost if the last time you shopped for one was at a Dodge store. Still, that hefty price tag is some $20,000 higher than the baseline Toyota Sienna hybrid or Honda Odyssey.
That 50% higher price is a lot to swallow even if you do buy into the nostalgia. Still, the ID.Buzz is capable enough, and with ~230 miles of range and 282 hp on offer from its battery/electric motor combo – plus Supercharger access – it’s at least able to keep up with the minivan competition.
So, while that $10,000 discount isn’t going to turn the ID.Buzz into the second coming of the affordable, family-hauling Caravan, it does bring VW’s electric people-mover a little closer to earth. In fact, with a $50K price tag, it’s right in line with the average transaction price of a new vehicles. So, if nothing else, that reduced price could finally gives electric minivan buyers something to buzz about (I tried so hard to work that in, you guys).
If you’ve been shopping for a family-hauler and dig the retro vibe over something like the (excellent) Kia EV9, click through the link below and set up a test drive at your local VW dealer.
SOURCE: CarsDirect; images via VW.
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Peterbilt has jumped into the MD truck ring with the launch three new medium-duty electric trucks that deliver zero-emissions power, ultra-fast 350 kW charging, and proven, versatile platforms for delivery, utility service, and vocational upfitting.
The new Peterbilt 536EV, 537EV, and 548EV medium-duty trucks slot into the same versatile medium-duty segments the company’s fleets already know, but swap diesel power for latest PACCAR ePowertrain, with up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of torque available at 0 rpm. That big motor draws power from a variety of LFP battery packs and be fitted with ePTO options rated for either 25 kW (two-battery option) or 150 kW (three-battery option), making them suitable for that can be sized for daily delivery routes, urban utility work, and municipal fleets looking to cut both emissions and maintenance costs.
What’s more, the new Peterbilt’s flexible architecture allows for integration with existing PACCAR suspension bits to make 4×2 and 6×4 configurations, and any wheelbase of 163 inches or longer, and up to 82,000 lbs. gross combined weight ratings possible.
“[The new trucks are] optimized for the demands of the medium duty segment, the next generation of Peterbilt electric vehicles deliver excellent efficiency, rapid charging and versatile configurations elevating customer productivity across a wide range of applications,” said Erik Johnson, Peterbilt assistant general manager, Sales & Marketing.
In addition to all those goodies, the PACCAR EV tech continues to be top-notch, with the previously-mentioned 350 kW charging, regenerative braking, and industry-leading ergonomics.
Peterbilt’s new MDEVs ship with a blue accented crown and grille for a distinctive exterior look, as well as EV-exclusive panels on the side of the hood. The interior design features laser-etched trim panels on the EV-exclusive Magneto Gray interior, just in case the driver in the quiet, smooth, and stink-free cabin forgets they’re in an electric truck.
Electrek’s Take
Ignore the headlines. The death of the commercial EV market simply hasn’t happened, and won’t happen any time soon.
If you believe the engineers and analysts at MAN Trucks and Orange EV (and, you should), an EV like this can pay for itself in reduced fuel and maintenance costs even without incentives, then you should already know what I’m about to say: the future of trucking is 100% electric.
SOURCE | IMAGES: PACCAR.
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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