Velotric Packer review: Why this cargo electric bike deserves to carry your kids

Published

10 months ago

August 14, 2023

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One of the coolest things about electric cargo bikes is their ability to carry a passenger. Or two passengers. Or in the case of my testing with the Velotric Packer 1, three passengers in addition to myself. The bike is brimming with cool features, but its heavy hauling ability and reasonable price are what really make this thing shine!

This is one of those e-bikes that you’re going to want to watch in action. Check it out below in my video review. Then keep scrolling for my detailed thoughts on this cargo e-bike.

Velotric Packer 1 Video Review

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Velotric Packer 1 tech specs

Motor: 750W (1,200W peak) rear-geared hub motor
Top speed: 20 mph (32 km/h) or 25 mph (40 km/h) when unlcoked
Range: Up to 52 miles (84 km)
Battery: 48V 15Ah (692 Wh)
Weight: 75 lb (34 kg)
Payload capacity: 440 lb (200 kg)
Tires: 26 x 2.4″ (front) and 20 x 3.0″ (rear)
Brakes: 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes with 180 mm rotors
Extras: Suspension fork, LED display, smartphone app integration, LED headlight, tail/brake light, Y-kickstand, Shimano 8-speed drivetrain, included fenders and long rear rack platform, Apple FindMy integration for location tracking, mounting points for front and rear rack accessories, UL-certified for battery, and entire e-bike system

Built to be used

The Velotric Packer 1 isn’t some cheap, showy cargo e-bike. This bike is built to be used. From a rear rack rated for 176 lb (80 kg) to a wide range of accessories, the Packer is meant to carry some serious gear, passengers, or both.

I added the running boards for foot rests and put my two nephews, ages 9 and 11, on back for some carpool duty. It rides differently with the extra weight and takes a couple minutes to get used to, but it’s a great way to shuttle kids around.

I added the “Child Safety Balustrade” on back – what I called the kid cage – to add a third passenger. The two boys could be trusted to hang on (and they both made use of the spare handlebars in back for a secure ride), but my five year old niece is a handful, and so I wanted to be sure she was held in some sort of… cage. With the addition of a third kid, the bike is slightly slower to respond, but you get used to the new weight dynamic just the same. The biggest issue is simply keeping it straight up while stopped and not letting the bike start to lean too far until you’re riding. Once you’re rolling again though, feel free to drag four knees in the turns.

You’ll want to see just how well it rides with four people on it in my video review above.

If you don’t want to carry kids, you can swap out the passenger accessories for cargo accessories.

Velotric has really nice baskets and racks that are designed to make it easy to haul all sorts of odd bits and pieces back there. The basket liners are a tough fabric and look really nice. They remind me of the ones from Radio Flyer, which until now were the nicest baskets I’d seen on an e-bike.

I’m guessing Velotric uses the same suppliers, since these are just as nice. The small zippered pocket is a nice touch in case you want to toss some smaller things in back but don’t want them bouncing around with the rest of your gear.

There’s also a cool center storage box that comes with a lock, though I wouldn’t trust the lock to protect your wallet. It’s not really the lock that’s the problem, but rather the fact that a dollar store pocket knife could cut right through the sidewall of the box. So think of it more as enclosed storage, not super secure locking storage. I’d use it to carry things, but I wouldn’t leave my wallet locked in there for a week.

But there’s more to this e-bike than just its ability to carry lots of people or things back there. The bike is just really nicely designed.

That Y-kickstand keeps it super stable. The low step-through makes it easy to mount when it is loaded up in the rear. The hydraulic brakes are punchy and powerful, largely thanks to the quad-piston design that provides more stopping power than the dual-piston hydraulic brakes on many other e-bikes. In my opinion brakes are more important on a cargo e-bike than any other type of e-bike, and you can rest easy knowing that extra poundage you’ll be carrying will barely stress these powerful stoppers.

The mis-matched tires are a great design too. The front wheel uses a 24″ tire which is a standard size yet cuts a nice balance between large 26″ tires and smaller 20″ tires. The rear opts for that 20″ size, which lets you keep your cargo lower and get a more stable ride. With a big tire up front to roll over obstacles and a small tire in back for a lower center of gravity, you get the best of both worlds. The rear is also a wider 3″ tire, giving you more cushion in the back.

And don’t get me started on the Apple FindMy integration! I love this feature more than I probably should, but I just think it’s too cool. I can add my bike to my iPhone as one of my devices, then it’s always being tracked. If it goes missing due to some lowlife that can’t keep his hands off someone else’s stuff, I can track down its location. The cops likely won’t do much, but I can invite a few of my larger friends to flank me on a search and rescue mission for my bike.

Plenty of power

For a bike designed to haul big loads, you don’t want an underpowered drivetrain. The Velotric Packer 1 has a 750W continuous rated motor that puts out around 1,200W of peak power. That’s more than most people need on a daily basis, but will be a welcome relief when you occasionally carry heavy loads or tackle a big hill.

As a Class 2 e-bike, the Packer comes out of the box with a 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limit. You can actually unlock the bike to 25 mph (40 km/h), which will be nice for those that do long straightaway riding, such as a lengthy commute on the side of a road. But for daily bike lane use, I find 20 mph to be plenty.

With a 692 Wh battery, the Velotric Packer has what I would call average battery capacity. If they had matched some other cargo e-bikes with a larger 840 Wh battery, I’d be singing their praises. As it stands, 692 Wh of battery capacity is still quite nice. That’s plenty for most people, but it’s fast riders and heavy haulers that will likely wish they had a bit more battery on occasion. For the average rider though, you’ll probably never go far enough to use the entire battery in one trip. While the company claims over 50 miles (80 km) of range, that’s on low power pedal assist. High power throttle riding can easily cut that figure in half. But then again, most of us don’t ride 25 miles a day, so you’ll probably be fine.

Speaking of the battery, it’s UL-listed for safety. In fact, the entire e-bike drive system is UL-listed as well. As fire concerns are becoming a more pressing issue among cheap e-bikes with poor quality batteries, having a UL sticker on your battery offers peace of mind that the pack is built to higher quality standards.

A few nice additions

If I could make two additions, they’d be to the steering and the drivetrain. There’s no spring on the steering column, which is nice to have for parking and maneuvering your bike while standing around it. In the cases where you’re pushing the bike around your garage or in a parking area, the spring found on many cargo bikes’ steering columns helps keep the bars straight. Since the bike is so long, you can’t push from the back and still reach the bars with your hand to straighten it out like a normal bike.

Secondly, a torque sensor would have been an amazing addition to make the pedal assist feel even more comfortable. I can put up with lag, especially for the modest sale price of $1,899, but a torque sensor would have elevated the Velotric Packer 1 to elite status, in my opinion. Even so though, I still hold this e-bike near the top of my budget cargo bike list.

I would definitely recommend this e-bike to family and friends searching for a long tail cargo bike with great features like location tracking. As an added bonus, it even comes in a fun sky blue color (in addition to the slightly less fun gray color). What’s not to like?! All told, this is a great option for pretty much any family or any rider that simply needs to haul something on a nice looking, slickly designed e-bike.

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I just swapped a Tesla Model 3 for a Model Y and Elon Musk’s brutal layoffs ruined the experience

Published

2 hours ago

May 27, 2024

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I just swapped a Tesla Model 3 for a Model Y and Elon Musk's brutal layoffs ruined the experience

I turned in a 2021 Tesla Model 3 and leased a 2024 Model Y, and I learned firsthand how badly Tesla’s layoffs have affected morale and customer service.

My firsthand experience of Tesla layoffs

My husband and I wanted to work with Tesla’s new South Burlington, Vermont, Tesla Center because it’s an easy 1 hour 20 minutes drive away. However, it’s not handling lease returns or new car deliveries yet.

The fledgling team at South Burlington doesn’t know when lease returns or new car deliveries will start. They told me, “Could be weeks, could be months.” The customer service team in Las Vegas didn’t know either. Kinda makes you wonder, who does actually know?

Anyway, we had to do the thing that Vermonters have had to do for years, which is drive five hours south to the Tesla Center in Paramus, New Jersey. That’s because New Hampshire doesn’t have a Tesla Center, and Massachusetts doesn’t allow out-of-state car pickups.

But first, I had to go through the leasing process on the Tesla app. Spoiler: It wasn’t good.

The app first suggested a delivery date that we simply couldn’t attend – driving to New Jersey and back in a day is a 12-hour day. So I repeatedly called Tesla customer service to make alternate arrangements, and no one answered the phone. My favorite part was the robo recording voice that said, “We care about you” then said goodbye. What a time suck.

Tesla then canceled our car because we couldn’t confirm the delivery date on the app (or speak to a human on the phone, or by email or text, because the company is now short-staffed).

Pre-layoffs, I was working with an ownership loyalty advisor based in Fremont, but that person stopped replying to me when the cuts started. In desperation, I sent that person multiple emails and texts. (Everyone in this article is anonymous to protect their privacy – and their jobs.) The loyalty advisor finally surfaced via text, apologized, and put the Model Y back into our account.

I restarted the leasing process and filled out the finance application on the app. It sat unapproved for days. So I called Tesla again and this time got a Las Vegas-based customer service rep on the phone. That person said that “it didn’t go through for whatever reason” and asked me to resubmit my application from scratch. That was a pain but whatever.

My finance application then sat unapproved, for days, right up to the night before we were due to pick the Model Y up in Paramus. The customer service rep said that finance is short-staffed and overwhelmed with applications, thanks to the new 0.99% APR financing offer on Model Ys. The rep in Las Vegas advised that we call Paramus in the morning and tell them we can’t come because finance hadn’t approved our leasing application.

I woke up early the next morning to see in the app that Tesla Finance had approved our application overnight. I clicked on “accept” and was repeatedly rewarded with a 500 error message. I just. Couldn’t. Complete. The transaction. [Silent scream.]

Since we had approval, we quickly took off for New Jersey. We were in Massachusetts when the Las Vegas customer service rep called me in response to my text pleas for help. I told that person that approval had gone through at 1:30 am and they said, “Yeah, they’re having to work really long hours to keep up, they’re overwhelmed.”

The customer service rep pushed my lease terms acceptance through, with my permission, and then I finally – finally! – finished the leasing process on the app. A snippet of a convo the rep and I had:

Me: Have layoffs left you all short-staffed? Has it affected morale?

Tesla customer service rep: [silence] Um… this is a recorded line.

Me: So I’m just going to take that as a yes.

Rep: [nervous giggle]

We arrived for our 3 pm appointment. The Tesla Center reps were completely open about how layoffs have affected them and wanted me to share what they said:

We were left alone here [no layoffs] because we’re a major distribution center. But Springfield [NJ] got wiped out. Sometimes some of us go down there to help them.

We want you to share that everyone’s morale is low. We are overworked and understaffed, and we feel sad for our friends who were our colleagues who lost their jobs. This has been really, really bad.

The in-person Model 3/Model Y swap was seamless and the person who helped us do that was great. In fact, every person – once I could get them on the phone – was helpful and knowledgeable. There just aren’t enough of them.

Electrek’s Take

I made the decision to once again spend my hard-earned money at Tesla. Elon’s layoffs made the entire process stressful and unpleasant because there weren’t enough people to assist. These layoffs have not only affected morale, they’ve seriously harmed customer service quality, and thus the customer experience.

The Tesla staff we dealt with are professionals that have been thrown into a situation where they’re basically trying to spin gold out of straw. It’s not their fault.

It should have felt celebratory, picking up the Model Y, like it did three years ago with the Model 3. I then wrote about my wonderful experience, and to my delight, Elon retweeted my story. This time, I feel exhausted, sad, and disappointed.

I told my Electrek colleagues about my experience. Jamie reminded me of his recent post where he pointed out that Elon is “currently trying to convince shareholders to give him $55 billion – enough to pay the 14,000+ employees he’s laid off six-figure salaries for ~40 years.”

Fred initially expressed concern that people underestimate the impact of the layoffs. So I asked him to elaborate on his thoughts. He explained:

Layoffs are always brutal, but Tesla’s latest round of layoffs were especially brutal.

Some employees drove long commutes to work to realize their credentials were revoked, some worked entire shifts only to get home to realize that they had received a personal email telling them they had been fired midway or even prior to their shifts. Some were fired to make an example of their team and boss for pushing back against further layoffs.

For those who remain, those laid off were their friends who were treated like that. It shakes your belief in your employer. That’s when company morale takes a real hit.

Then, your friends find other jobs and they let you know about them, where they can still contribute to the mission to accelerate sustainable energy with better conditions and no pigeon CEO. That creates another hit to morale, and an extended exodus of talent.

More than once in this chaotic process I thought about abandoning Tesla and leasing an EV from another automaker. The only reason I stuck with the Model Y is because I was already in pretty deep, the Model Y is a great deal right now, and, well, I love driving Teslas. I’m really down about it all, but I’m not out. Yet.

Read more:

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Environment

The battle over Elon Musk’s Tesla comp package heats up

Published

4 hours ago

May 27, 2024

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The battle over Elon Musk's Tesla comp package heats up

The battle over Elon Musk’s compensation package is heating up as a big advisory firm is recommending shareholders vote against it, and Musk fans are resorting to scare tactics.

Over the last few weeks, Tesla shareholders have been voting on several new proposals put forward by the board.

The two main proposals that the board is trying to get through are a new vote on Musk’s 2018 CEO compensation package and moving Tesla’s state of incorporation to Texas.

The two are closely related as Tesla’s board and Musk have blamed the fact that they lost a lawsuit invalidating the 2018 compensation package on the fact that the lawsuit happened in Delware, where Tesla is incorporated.

Tesla incorporated in Delaware, like many other American companies, because the states has laws extremely favorable to corporations. However, Musk believes, without any evidence, that the judge’s decision was politically motivated and believes that Tesla would have better luck in Texas.

And Tesla will need better luck because the new shareholder’s vote on the compensation package doesn’t automatically invalidate the judge’s decision to rescind the package and more legal challenges are expected. Tesla’s own lawyers admit it’s basically a poll.

Regardless, Tesla has been pushing hard for shareholders to revote in favor the package and the move to Texas.

As we previously reported, the company’s board launched a website and even started buying ads to push the vote in that direction.

The shareholder battle is starting to heat up. We recently reported on a major pension fund that has announced that it will vote against it and encouraged other shareholders to do the same.

Now Glass Lewis, a major shareholder advisory firm whose clients include a significant part of major institutional investors, announced that they are also recommending to vote against it, which they also did in 2018, and shareholders still approved the move.

On the other hand, Musk’s army of fans are resorting to scare tactics to push the vote in his direction.

We recently reported on Musk’s reiterating his threat to not build AI products at Tesla unless he has 25% control over the company.

It was confirmed today that Musk’s new AI startup, xAI, has raised $6 billion a new series B round at a $24 billion valuation.

Some of his biggest sycophants, like unofficial chief propagandist Omar Qazi, are now pushing the idea that if they don’t decide to give Musk everything he wants, he will go after Tesla’s AI efforts through its newly funded xAI:

Environment

Save $1,098 on the EGO Power+ Z6 riding mower with extra batteries, Aventon’s pink Level.2 e-bike, VEVOR EV charger, more

Published

7 hours ago

May 27, 2024

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Save ,098 on the EGO Power+ Z6 riding mower with extra batteries, Aventon's pink Level.2 e-bike, VEVOR EV charger, more

Memorial Day is here, which means all the amazing deals we’ve covered over the last one to two weeks will be ending soon. Kicking off this week’s Green Deals (and leading the end of our Memorial Day sales coverage) is the EGO Power+ 56V 42-inch Z6 Zero-Turn Riding Mower with four 10.0Ah batteries and an extra two 5.0Ah batteries for $4,999. It is joined by the Himalayan Pink Aventon Level.2 Commuter Step-Through e-bike at $1,499, as well as the VEVOR 40A Level 2 Portable EV Charger for $128. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals that are still alive and well.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

With its Memorial Day sale on its final day, Amazon is now preparing for Father’s Day needs by offering the EGO POWER+ 56V 42-inch Z6 Zero Turn Riding Mower with four 10.0Ah batteries and an extra two 5.0Ah batteries for $4,999 shipped. With this bundle usually going for $6,097, this is the lowest price we have seen to date, with only two previous discounts to speak of. You can find the mower with its normal battery amount currently discounted to the same rate, meaning you’re getting two extra batteries for no added cost while already saving you $1,098. You can also find a similar bundle on the Z6 riding mower with four 12.0Ah batteries and an e-steer wheel at $5,499, down from $6,597.

The Z6 riding mower comes stocked with four 10.0Ah batteries that allows it to cover up to 2 acres of land on a single charge (which can be slightly extended with the extra two batteries). Its four independent brushless motors are housed within the 42-inch weather-resistant steel cutting deck, equivalent to a 22-horsepower engine, allowing it to move at up to 8 MPH. You’ll have 10 cutting heights to choose from here, ranging from 1.5 inches to 4.5 inches, three different driving modes, as well as 3-in-1 functionality for mulching, bagging, or side-discharges. It also sports some premium features like the 32 LED lights laid out on its front, sides, and rear for those early morning or late evening jobs – and even Bluetooth connectivity and a USB charging port for devices.

More EGO Power+ discounts:

Himalayan Pink Aventon Level.2 commuter step-through e-bike within post for EGO Power+ Z6 zero-turn riding mower

Aventon’s Himalayan Pink Level.2 Commuter Step-Through e-bike now $1,499

As part of its Memorial Day sale, Best Buy is offering the Aventon Himalayan Pink Level.2 Commuter Step-Through e-bike for $1,499 shipped. Regularly fetching $1,949, in 2023 we saw this particular model drop farthest during Black Friday sales, where it was brought down to $1,499. With this colorway no longer being offered from Aventon directly, we’ve mainly seen it included in Best Buy flash sales since the start of the new year, with today’s deal coming in as a $450 markdown that returns costs to the third-lowest price we have tracked – not only matching Black Friday rates, but also matching Aventon’s current Memorial Day rate. It’s also among some of the Electrek favorites, which you can read about in our launch review or by heading below.

This flagship commuter e-bike comes ready to carry you wherever needed around town with its 500W rear-hub motor (750W peak) paired alongside a fully-integrated 14.0Ah battery that provides a 60-mile travel range on a single charge. Using only its throttle you’ll top off at 20 MPH, but when utilizing the five different levels of pedal assistance, that limit is bumped up to 28 MPH.

It also comes with a rear-mounted rack for carrying along cargo as well as front and rear fenders to protect the bike from any adverse elements during your journey. It features integrated head and taillights, with the rear lights offering a brake light function, and you’ll find a handy backlit LCD display attached to the handlebars that gives you real-time status of all the important metrics: speed, travel distance, pedal assistance settings, and battery levels.

As I stated before, this lowered price currently matches Aventon’s Memorial Day sale rate, albeit there is one tradeoff worth noting – by sacrificing the colorway, you’ll receive a free extra battery from Aventon’s direct sale that doubles the e-bike’s mileage from 60 miles to 120 miles!

VEVOR’s 40A Level 2 Portable EV Charger with NEMA 14-50 plug at new $128 low

Alongside its Memorial Day sales, Amazon is offering the VEVOR Level 2 Portable EV Charger with NEMA 14-50 Plug for $128.24 shipped, after clipping the on-page 10% off coupon. Already down from its $200 price tag, it entered the new year at $150 before steadily rising at small rates until April, when we finally started seeing some short-lived price cuts before once more rising back up. Today’s deal comes in to shake up the stagnation as a combined 36% markdown off the going rate that gives you $72 in savings and drops costs to a new all-time low.

This portable 40A level 2 EV charger can be stowed away in your vehicle (or kept out for regular use thanks to the included accessory parts) for quick and effortless charging solutions whenever you find yourself far from any official charging stations. It features an LED display that conveys in-time information, as well as a smart chip that provides protection against lightning, leakage, grounding, over voltage, under voltage, over charge, over current, and overheating. You’ll also be able to fully monitor and control the device through your smartphone, letting you even schedule charging for 1 to 12 hours, with options to take advantage of off-peak hours. It is compatible with vehicles and plug-in hybrids that comply with the J1772 standard, requiring only a NEMA 14-50 outlet to plug the charger into.

Spring e-bike deals!

Super73 RX Electric Motorbike: $2,600 (Reg. $3,695)
Aventon Ramblas Mountain e-bike: $2,399 (Reg. $2,699)
Lectric ONE Long-Range e-bike with $220 in free gear (pre-order): $2,199 (Reg. $2,419)
Juiced JetCurrent Pro Foldable e-bike (pre-order): $2,099 (Reg. $2,799)
Lectric ONE e-bike with $220 in free gear: $1,999 (Reg. $2,219)
Hover-1 Altai Pro R750 e-bike: $1,816 (Reg. $3,000)
Aventon Abound Cargo e-bike with $494 in free accessories: $1,599 (Reg. $2,199)
Rad Power RadRunner Plus Utility e-bike with free extra battery: $1,599 (Reg. $1,799)
Lectric XPress 750 High-Step e-bike with extra battery (pre-order): $1,299 (Reg. $1,799)
Lectric XPress 750 Step-Thru e-bike with extra battery (pre-order): $1,299 (Reg. $1,799)
Rad Power RadExpand 5 Folding e-bike with free extra battery: $1,249 (Reg. $1,599)
Rad Power RadRover 6 Plus e-bike: $1,099 (Reg. $1,599)
Schwinn Ridgewood Electric Mountain Bike: $800 (Reg. $1,500)
Aventon Soltera.2 e-bike: $799 (Reg. $999)
Schwinn Ingersoll Electric Hybrid Bike: $700 (Reg. $1,500)
Schwinn Mendocino Hybrid Electric Cruiser Bike: $699 (Reg. $1,700)

Aventon Pace 500.3 e-bikes being sat on by three women, within post for EGO Power+ Z6 zero-turn riding mower

Other new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.