Bike shop brands are finally giving e-bike riders what they want: throttles
To grossly oversimplify the e-bike market in the US, there are two types of electric bikes: those with hand throttles and those without. Traditional higher-end bike shop brands have long eschewed throttle-enable electric bikes, opting instead for pedal assist designs that only provide helping motor power when the rider also pedals. On the other hand, direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-bike companies have long embraced throttle e-bikes. As D2C brands scoop up more of the growing market, traditional bicycle brands are starting to take note.
Direct-to-consumer brands usually don’t have retail shops, and instead these D2C companies mostly sell bikes online that are shipped directly to riders. Brands like these, such as Rad Power Bikes, Lectric Ebikes, Ride1Up, Aventon, and others primarily target riders who weren’t traditionally cyclists but rather have taken to two-wheels thanks to the advent of easier-to-ride electric bikes.
Without the dealership markup, these D2C electric bikes are usually significantly cheaper than bike shop prices. And because they target riders who don’t come from the traditional bike shop culture, they also have one key difference: throttles.
Throttles e-bikes outsell pedal-assist-only e-bikes by a handy margin in the US. Many riders use their throttles to climb hills without the effort of pedaling, or to get rolling more easily from a stop, especially when there’s heavy cargo or a child on the bike’s rear rack. Other riders use throttles 100% of the time, treating their pedals like footrests and riding the bike like a mini-moped to cruise effortlessly to school or work. Still others find a happy balance, throttling when tired and using pedal assist when they want to get exercise or feel like a more involved part of the ride.
Traditional bicycle brands (think big names like Giant, Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, etc.) have long avoided throttles for several reasons, though key among them has been a prevailing perception among old-school cyclists that “throttles are cheating”. But now many of these very companies have finally come to a realization that riders aren’t competing; they’re commuting. And the addition of a hand throttle on an e-bike helps accomplish the very goal of that bike: getting more people out of cars and onto efficient two-wheeled vehicles.
Of course, the fact that throttle-less electric bikes have hit those companies in their pocketbooks has likely helped drive that case home even more clearly. There are simply more e-bike customers in North America looking for lower to mid-priced electric bikes with throttles than looking at $5,000 throttle-less electric bikes, no matter how sophisticated their engineering may be.
So now many of these same brands that have avoided throttles and more moderately-priced electric bikes in general are suddenly rushing to create more affordable throttle-enabled bikes. However, to avoid alienating their traditional cyclist communities or muddying their higher-end brand names, they’re often doing so under new sub-brands.
Take Giant Group, for example. Giant has long been a quality name brand in North American bike shops, but last year the company’s parent Giant Group created a new brand known as Momentum to offer more affordable e-bikes. This week the company launched its first throttle-enabled electric bike and is doing so under the Momentum brand. The new Momentum Cito E+ doesn’t only include a throttle but also features many of the hallmarks of today’s leading budget-priced electric bikes such as moto-inspired saddles and smaller-diameter fat tires.
The utility-oriented electric bike looks like nothing we’ve seen from Giant Group before, and that’s for a reason. The company appears to be jumping with both feet into current utility e-bikes trends.
As Giant Group’s Chief Branding Officer Phoebe Liu explained:
“The Cito E+’s impressive range and grip throttle gives riders the ability to go further than ever before—which is both energy saving and fun. Our design team purpose-built the bike to be a total utility solution that integrates motorcycle design and best-in-class technologies. Whether heading to work, getting groceries or exploring the outdoors, the Cito E+ offers a natural riding experience.”
Note the chunkier frame, lower saddle position, powerful 750W motor with 80Nm of torque, and fully upright riding stance – all features we rarely see from leading bike store brands. In fact, it looks like Giant Group took a page out of Rad Power Bikes’ playbook, notably the page with the RadRunner 3 Plus on it.
But unlike most budget brands, Momentum also brought higher quality components to the design, such as four-piston hydraulic disc brakes, a microSHIFT Acolyte 8-speed drivetrain, and combined torque and cadence sensors for smoother pedal assist. The company also included much higher performance than we normally see from bike shop brands, such as a large 780Wh battery and the ability to user-select between 20 mph and 28 mph speed limits (32 and 45 km/h).
At the same time though, Momentum tried to play it safe with the throttle, which is still new territory for the brand. Not only did they color it Poison Dart Frog red to presumably remind riders that that’s the dangerous end of the handlebars, but the throttle also only engages once the rider has reached at least 3.5 mph (5 km/h). I’d argue that removes a key benefit of the throttle – being able to get started from a stop – but at least the included torque sensor helps riders get smoother and quicker pedal assist from a stop.
This utility design is proving to be a common strategy for bike shop brands seeking to expand into the more popular and higher sales volume budget category.
Specialized made a similar move when it launched its more affordable Globe brand, starting with the Globe Haul ST as a similarly-styled short-tail cargo bike with utility properties.
In a now familiar strategy, Globe’s utility e-bike uses higher spec components than most budget brands, and most critically – it comes with a throttle.
And Specialized isn’t alone. Trek Bicycle Company also launched its first throttle-enabled electric bike, this time under its more budget-focused Electra brand. The new Electra Ponto Go! also uses the liberty granted to it when freed from its parent company’s conservative engineers to play with a moto-inspired design that generously grants riders a throttle for peak fun.
As more bike shop brands awaken to the massive money raked in by leading throttle-enabled budget electric bikes, an increasing number of similarly-styled e-bikes is all but a foregone conclusion.
That doesn’t mean Giant, Specialized, Trek, and others will stop selling $10,000 e-bikes. But their catalogs of $2,000-$3,500 e-bikes is likely to grow thicker each year.
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Japanese equipment giant Kubota brought 22 new or updated machines to the 2025 bauma expo earlier this year, but tucked away in the corners was a new retrofit kit that can help existing customers decarbonize more quickly, and more affordably.
No matter how badly a fleet may want to electrify, harsh economic realities and the greater up-front costs typically associated with battery electric remain high hurdles to overcome, but new retrofit options from major manufacturers are popping up to help lower those obstacles.
The latest equipment maker to put its name on the retrofit list is Kubota, who says its kit can be installed by a trained dealer in a single day.
That’s right! By this time tomorrow, your diesel-powered Kubota KX019 or U27-4 excavator (shown) could be fitted with an 18 or 20 kWh li-ion battery pack and electric drive motors and ready to get to work in a low-noise or low-vibration work environment where emissions are a strict no-no. Think indoor precision demolition or historic archeological excavation.
Then, if necessary, it can go right back to diesel power.
From diesel to electric and back again
If that sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve talked about a similarly flexible power solution from ZQUIP. The battery packs and diesel engines are much larger in that application, but the basic sales pitch remains the same: electric when it benefits your operation, diesel it doesn’t.
Kubota says its modular retrofit kits is a response to the increasing global demand for sustainable alternatives by focusing on making machinery that’s flexible and repairable enough to be “reusable,” and offer construction fleet managers a longer operational lifespan, superior ROI (return on investment), and lower TCO (total cost of ownership) than the competition.
Kubota’s solution also notably reduces maintenance costs and operational overheads. With no engine and associated components, servicing time and expenses are considerably reduced, saving customers both time and money. Additionally, with electricity costing far less than fossil fuels, it offers a highly economical advantage.
International Rental News reports that other changes to the excavators include a more modern cab controls with a digital instrument cluster, a 60 mm wider undercarriage for more stability, and an independent travel circuit allows operators to use the boom, dipper, bucket, and auxiliary functions without an impact on tracking performance.
Kubota’s new kit, first shown at last year’s Hillhead exhibition in the UK, will officially be on sale this summer – any day now, in fact – though pricing has yet to be announced.
Electrek’s Take
If you’re wondering how it is that we’re still talking about bauma 2025 a full quarter after the show wrapped up, then I haven’t done a good enough job of explaining how positively massive the show was. Check out this Quick Charge episode (above) then let us know what you think of Kubota’s modular power kits in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kubota, via International Rental News.
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Elon Musk isn’t happy about Trump passing the Big Beautiful Bill and killing off the $7,500 EV tax credit – but there’s a lot more bad news for Tesla baked into the BBB. We’ve got all that and more on today’s budget-busting episode of Quick Charge!
We also present ongoing coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix and dive into some two wheeled reports on the new electric Honda Ruckus e:Zoomer, the latest BMW electric two-wheeler, and more!
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Environment
FERC: Solar + wind made up 96% of new US power generating capacity in first third of 2025
Solar and wind accounted for almost 96% of new US electrical generating capacity added in the first third of 2025. In April, solar provided 87% of new capacity, making it the 20th consecutive month solar has taken the lead, according to data belatedly posted on July 1 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
Solar’s new generating capacity in April 2025 and YTD
In its latest monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update” report (with data through April 30, 2025), FERC says 50 “units” of solar totaling 2,284 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in April, accounting for 86.7% of all new generating capacity added during the month.
In addition, the 9,451 MW of solar added during the first four months of 2025 was 77.7% of the new generation placed into service.
Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity added each month for 20 consecutive months, from September 2023 to April 2025.
Solar + wind were >95% of new capacity in 1st third of 2025
Between January and April 2025, new wind provided 2,183 MW of capacity additions, accounting for 18.0% of new additions in the first third.
In the same period, the combination of solar and wind was 95.7% of new capacity while natural gas (511 MW) provided just 4.2%; the remaining 0.1% came from oil (11 MW).
Solar + wind are >22% of US utility-scale generating capacity
The installed capacities of solar (11.0%) and wind (11.8%) are now each more than a tenth of the US total. Together, they make up almost one-fourth (22.8%) of the US’s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.
Moreover, at least 25-30% of US solar capacity is in small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to more than a quarter of the US total.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.7%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 31.8% share of total US utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now about one-third of total US generating capacity.
Solar is on track to become No. 2 source of US generating capacity
FERC reports that net “high probability” additions of solar between May 2025 and April 2028 total 90,158 MW – an amount almost four times the forecast net “high probability” additions for wind (22,793 MW), the second-fastest growing resource. Notably, both three-year projections are higher than those provided just a month earlier.
FERC also foresees net growth for hydropower (596 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) but a decrease of 123 MW in biomass capacity.
Taken together, the net new “high probability” capacity additions by all renewable energy sources over the next three years – i.e., the bulk of the Trump administration’s remaining time in office – would total 113,516 MW.
FERC doesn’t include any nuclear capacity in its three-year forecast, while coal and oil are projected to contract by 24,373 MW and 1,915 MW, respectively. Natural gas capacity would expand by 5,730 MW.
Thus, adjusting for the different capacity factors of gas (59.7%), wind (34.3%), and utility-scale solar (23.4%), electricity generated by the projected new solar capacity to be added in the coming three years should be at least six times greater than that produced by the new natural gas capacity, while the electrical output by new wind capacity would be more than double that by gas.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, by May 1, 2028, solar will account for one-sixth (16.6%) of US installed utility-scale generating capacity. Wind would provide an additional one-eighth (12.6%) of the total. That would make each greater than coal (12.2%) and substantially more than nuclear power or hydropower (7.3% and 7.2%, respectively).
In fact, assuming current growth rates continue, the installed capacity of utility-scale solar is likely to surpass that of either coal or wind within two years, placing solar in second place for installed generating capacity, behind only natural gas.
Renewables + small-scale solar may overtake natural gas within 3 years
The mix of all utility-scale (ie, >1 MW) renewables is now adding about two percentage points each year to its share of generating capacity. At that pace, by May 1, 2028, renewables would account for 37.7% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – rapidly approaching that of natural gas (40.1%). Solar and wind would constitute more than three-quarters of installed renewable energy capacity. If those trend lines continue, utility-scale renewable energy capacity should surpass that of natural gas in 2029 or sooner.
However, as noted, FERC’s data do not account for the capacity of small-scale solar systems. If that’s factored in, within three years, total US solar capacity could exceed 300 GW. In turn, the mix of all renewables would then be about 40% of total installed capacity while the share of natural gas would drop to about 38%.
Moreover, FERC reports that there may actually be as much as 224,426 MW of net new solar additions in the current three-year pipeline in addition to 69,530 MW of new wind, 9,072 MW of new hydropower, 202 MW of new geothermal, and 39 MW of new biomass. By contrast, net new natural gas capacity potentially in the three-year pipeline totals just 26,818 MW. Consequently, renewables’ share could be even greater by mid-spring 2028.
“The Trump Administration’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ … poses a clear threat to solar and wind in the years to come,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director, Ken Bossong. “Nonetheless, FERC’s latest data and forecasts suggest cleaner and lower-cost renewable energy sources may still dominate and surpass nuclear power, coal, and natural gas.”
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