I visited Ride1Up’s e-bike factory to find the secret behind good quality, low-cost e-bikes
I’ve been riding Ride1Up e-bikes since just about their first model. Over the many years since I first threw a leg over that bike, I’ve watched the company roll out an ever-increasing lineup of diverse e-bikes that all shared one common trend: great bang for your buck.
So when I was recently touring Asia to visit micromobility factories for a peek behind the curtain, I knew Ride1Up’s factory would be high on my list. They invited me out to join the company’s founder, Kevin Dugger, on a tour of the factory so I could see just how Ride1Up goes about ensuring they can keep the quality high and the prices low.
Like nearly every other e-bike company in the US, their bikes are produced in China. But you can get a wide range of quality across such a large country with vast manufacturing facilities. If you cheap out, you get cheap products. But if you design a production system with triple and quadruple quality-assurance inspections, you get well-made products that treat their owners right for years to come.
That’s the calculation Ride1Up made, and it’s paying dividends for the company in reducing customer issues and thus, customer complaints. And when you have as generous of a return policy as Ride1Up, you darn well better make sure people get their bikes in good shape and that those bikes last as long as riders expect them to.
My tour of Ride1Up’s factory took me straight onto the factory floor where parallel production lines were busy cranking out Ride1Up’s ultra-affordable $995 Portola folding e-bike on one side of the factory, and the company’s budget-priced $2,295 CF Racer1 carbon fiber road/gravel e-bike. And yes, when it comes to carbon fiber road and gravel e-bikes, 2 g’s is crazy low-priced.
To see a tour of the factory and learn the secrets behind making high-quality e-bikes, check out my video below. And don’t forget to keep reading below for even more detail!
Before parts get to either of those lines though, they first go through pre-check. Wheels are built up around motors and front hubs using automated lacing machines that then feed into automated checking robots to ensure they’re properly laced and tensioned.
Any wheel that doesn’t come out exactly right is shunted off to a side chute where a human inspector can evaluate it and send it back for reworking until it’s perfect.
The process combines both manual and automated tasks, drawing from the best of both types of resources.
Frames are inspected at this point too, having been sent in from another off-site welding and painting building (as Ride1Up’s factory is located in a lower-emissions area).
The frames are inspected for any paint knicks or imperfections, and any frames with issues are marked for repair before being sent off for assembly.
The rest of the frames move on to the assembly line.
Those pre-inspected frames are hoisted off to the initial assembly area by an elevated conveyor, where initial assembly will begin.
On the other side of the conveyer, a worker receives the frame and sets it up at its first station so that lights can be installed on the rear rack and internally run cables can be passed through the frame tubes.
Controllers are then installed into the frames, but only after being scanned into an intelligent management system that digitally pairs each component with the bike frame. This is used for accountability in the future. If a component is ever found to be defective, such as if a controller manufacturer reports back that a certain batch of 20 controllers has an issue, Ride1Up can instantly know which bikes may be affected and can trace that exact bike and controller to its owner, even months or years later.
For the Portola folding e-bikes, the frames are then ready to be loaded on the assembly line’s conveyor system, which slowly moves down the line to each worker’s station.
The first step is to install the pedal drivetrain, which includes the bottom bracket, chainring, cranks, and pedals. Next the folding hardware is installed, followed by the kickstand and the rear wheel with the motor. Each component is held on using specially treated hardware designed for corrosion resistance, with bolts having thread locker compound applied to ensure they don’t shake loose.
The handlebars are then mounted to the frames along with the front fork. With the handlebars mounted, the wiring, shifter cable, and brake hoses can all be routed up to the bars. Wire wraps are applied to make the wiring hardness look neat and tidy, and then a battery is installed. Just like the controller, major parts like the motor and battery are also scanned and recorded so that documentation exists for each e-bike to maintain a record of its entire parts list.
The tools used in each step are also regularly calibrated using sophisticated electronic tools, ensuring that if a bolt requires 10 Nm of torque to be applied, the torque wrench is truly outputting 10 Nm of torque.
Reaching the end of the automated conveyor system, the e-bikes are flipped onto their wheels and rolled over to a finishing station, where another worker indexes the shifter, calibrating it so that all of the gears shift crisply and without jumping.
On this day, the parallel line was assembling the carbon fiber CF Racer1 e-bike. Only the most experienced workers are put on this assembly line due to the higher tolerances of carbon fiber bike work. There also aren’t any power tools used on this line; all of the assembly steps are performed using precision hand tools to avoid applying too much stress to the carbon fiber frame.
The general steps are similar to those seen on the first assembly line, but performed with an even higher level of sophistication. Frames are first visually inspected to weed out any imperfections before being hoisted along a hanging conveyor system to the assembly line. From there, workers install the controllers, batteries, wheels, handlebars, shifter, pedal drivetrain, and any other hardware.
After reaching the end of the assembly line, the bikes are rolled off to their own finishing area, where the brake lines are bled and the shifter is calibrated.
Once fully-assembled, both bike models are rolled off into their own corrals, where they await visual inspection. Quality testers go over the bike to inspect dozens of points and ensure they are assembled correctly.
Any issues are marked and the bikes are rolled off into a side corral for remediation. The intelligent tracking system also correlates the issue to the worker who performed that task, allowing the factory to root out systematic issues by immediately addressing any mistakes that a worker might make. Workers with few or no mistakes also get monetary bonuses to their salary, providing further incentive for the bikes to be assembled perfectly the first time.
The approved bikes are then passed onto the next stage of ride testing.
At this point, none of the e-bikes have any saddles. That’s because they’re all ride-tested to ensure all functions are working properly, and these workers use the same seats that are switched from bike to bike. The actual saddle that ships with the e-bike is added just before packaging, ensuring that when a customer eventually opens their e-bike, theirs are the first cheeks to grace that saddle.
Once the bikes pass their ride testing, they are considered complete, though they aren’t yet ready for packaging.
Before the e-bikes can be packed up, they first must go through a series of third-party inspections. These outside contracted inspectors aren’t Ride1Up’s factory employees, but actually work somewhat antagonistically with them. Their job is to redo all of the inspections and find anything that was missed in the several previous rounds of inspections.
Because they are technically not Ride1Up’s factory employees and instead come from an outside inspection agency, they approach the inspections differently and are better positioned to find any issues that could have slipped through the previous several rounds of in-house inspections.
Only once the e-bikes pass third-party inspections are they considered ready for boxing up. At that point, they head to the last conveyor belt of their journey, which sends them along a packaging routine that has been meticulously refined by Ride1Up over several years. The company has applied the experience of shipping tens of thousands of e-bikes to find ways to best protect the bikes while also minimizing the amount of plastic and foam used in the process.
As I looked through the packaging steps, I couldn’t find any foam traditionally used in bicycle packaging, and the only plastic I saw were the cable ties and a single piece of soft plastic used to protect the fork.
Interestingly, there was still one final inspection point applied even after boxing up the e-bikes. The entire box is precision weighed, which ensures it comes out to the exact right weight.
If a single component or piece of packaging was forgotten, the box would be too light and the factory would know there was an issue.
It’s just the cherry on top of an entire system full of redundant safety and quality inspections performed before, during, and after the assembly process.
I’ve seen a lot of e-bike factories in my years covering the industry, but it’s rare to see this many spot checks and quality assurances built into so many different areas of the production and assembly process.
The tour was a fascinating look behind the curtain of how Ride1Up builds its e-bikes, and helps answer the question of how they can offer so much value.
As a direct-to-consumer company, they have to offer e-bikes that work well right out of the box. These e-bikes are being shipped largely to private customers, not bike shops and professional assemblers. So they have to be ready to roll, without the need for repairs, right from day one. Anything else would result in a costly return process for Ride1Up.
Over the years, they have refined their system for building quality e-bikes that are built to last while still offering a reasonable price point for riders.
I’ve long touted the company’s quality and performance from my own testing of their various e-bike models. But that was always merely the end of the story – riding the finished product. Now, having seen the assembly and quality inspections firsthand, I can finally vouch for their professionalism from the very start of the process.
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Last September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB-1271, which redefines and adds to several electric bicycle regulations in the state. Chief among them is a clarification of the three-class e-bike system, which is likely to now rule that many of the throttle-enabled electric bikes currently available and on the road in California will no longer be street legal.
As a refresher, California has long used the same three-class system employed by most states in the US to classify electric bicycles and ensure their road-legal status.
Class 1 e-bikes have been limited to 20 mph (32 km/h) on pedal assist, while Class 2 e-bikes can reach the same 20 mph speed but with a throttle (a hand-activated device to engage the motor without pedaling). Class 3 e-bikes have been permitted to reach faster speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h) on pedal assist, but can’t use a throttle to reach that speed. All three have been limited to a generally accepted “continuous power rating” of 750W, or one horsepower. That’s important, but more on that in a moment.
The main issue over the years with interpreting the three-class system is whether or not Class 3 e-bikes are permitted to have throttles installed at all, even if they don’t work above 20 mph. Most e-bike makers in the US interpret the law to mean that Class 3 e-bikes can have a handlebar-mounted throttle, but that it must cut out at 20 mph. After that point, the motor can help to achieve faster speeds of up to 28 mph, but only when the rider is pedaling.
California’s new clarification of the three-class system now codifies that Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes can not be capable of operating on motor power alone. In other words, a Class 1 or Class 3 e-bike can not have any functional hand throttle to power the motor without pedal input, regardless of the speed the throttle can help the bike reach. Throttles are still legal, but purely on e-bikes marketed and sold as Class 2 e-bikes.
The text of the law has now been updated to read that Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes are bicycles “equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, that is not capable of exclusively propelling the bicycle,” with one specific exception.
That exception is a throttle or walk button that powers the bike up to 3.7 mph. Why 3.7 mph? Likely because that is exactly 6 km/h, which is the regulation used in most EU countries that allow throttles to operate up to 6 km/h. That regulation exists because in such cases, the walking-speed throttle can essentially be used as a parking assist feature or to slowly roll the bike under its own power for repositioning purposes.
Under the new California law, Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes with throttles can only be powered by the throttle up to 3.7 mph. Class 2 e-bikes remain permitted to feature throttles that allow the e-bike to be exclusively powered by the throttle up to 20 mph.
The law also affects motor power ratings, removing some ambiguity in the way manufacturers have often rated electric bicycle motor power output. The new law removes the word “continuous” from the legal definition, instead defining an e-bike as a bicycle with operable pedals and “an electric motor that does not exceed 750 watts of power.”
In the past, most e-bike legal definitions in the US have limited electric bicycle motors to a maximum “continuous power” rating of 750W, or approximately one horsepower. The continuous power is the amount of power a motor can output indefinitely, without overheating. However, depending on their designs, electric motors are capable of outputting higher power for shorter periods of time. For example, many nominally 750W electric motors with sufficient thermal mass for effective cooling can output over 1,000W of power for several minutes or 1,500W for several seconds. This extra power is often useful when climbing hills or accelerating from a stop, scenarios that generally require only a few seconds or minutes of higher power.
The actual amount of power output by a nominally 750W motor depends on the motor’s design as well as the electronic limits programmed by the e-bike maker.
This is why it is common to see electric bicycles in the US advertised as featuring 750W motors that output several hundred watts higher of peak power. In practice, nearly all 750W nominally-rated e-bike motors found in the US output higher peak ratings.
The same game is played in Europe, albeit less openly, when it comes to the lower EU-defined e-bike power limit of 250W. Major German motor makers such as Bosch and Brose manufacture a range of e-bike motors rated at 250W, but that can be easily dynamometer-tested to reveal an output of several hundred watts higher under peak loading conditions.
The new California law is likely to create uncertainty in the US e-bike industry, where nearly all e-bike companies offer their products in many states and generally don’t produce multiple formats to comply with different state laws.
Unlike in Europe, the US e-bike market is dominated by throttle-controlled electric bicycles. And unlike Europeans, Americans largely operate e-bikes by throttle.
Of course, plenty of Class 1 throttle-less e-bikes exist and have been sold in the US, but sales figures clearly underscore the trend that throttle-enabled electric bikes are the predominant type of e-bikes in the US. Among those, Class 3 e-bikes capable of 28 mph (45 km/h) have proven incredibly popular, with riders often cruising at 20 mph (32 km/h) on throttle only when not accessing the higher top speed enabled by pedaling on most Class 3 e-bikes.
Under the new law, Class 3 electric bicycles capable of speeds up to 28 mph will no longer be able to feature a functional throttle. That means starting today, if a manufacturer wants to sell a Class 3 e-bike in California, it must come without a functional throttle. And if a rider in California wants to use a Class 3 e-bike on California roads and bike lanes, but it is found to have functional throttle, that rider could be on the hook for a non-compliant vehicle.
It is not clear whether previously manufactured e-bikes could be grandfathered in under the new law, similar to how pre-1985 cars in California aren’t required to have seatbelts.
Can e-bike makers still skirt around the new law?
Yes, they can.
The way the law is written, there is limited yet sufficient room for e-bike makers to wiggle around the letter of the law in California. Yes, retailers will no longer be able to market or sell a Class 3 e-bike with a functional throttle. But even today, most companies ship their 28 mph-capable electric bikes as Class 2 e-bikes that are limited to 750W and 20 mph, throttle included.
Riders who wish to reach higher speeds of up to 28 mph are then required to enter the settings menu of their e-bike and adjust the speed limiter up to a higher figure, usually maxing out at 28 mph.
Many of the most popular Class 3 e-bikes we think of in the US market are technically marketed as Class 2 e-bikes that are merely capable of having their pedal assist speed unlocked to 28 mph. This practice would technically meet the requirements of the new California law.
Technically, the new California law would not prevent the sale of user-modifiable Class 2 e-bikes as long as the throttle-enabled electric bike 1) is listed as Class 2 in its marketing, 2) could only be user-modified to reach speeds above 20 mph on pedal assist and not by throttle, and 3) the motor remained limited to 750W of power even after user modification. The bikes couldn’t be marketed by the manufacturer as Class 3 e-bikes if they have a throttle, but as long as they are marketed as Class 2 e-bikes, the language of the law as written does not prevent them from being sold with programming that allows them to be modified to reach speeds up to 20 mph on throttle and to reach speeds higher than 20 mph on pedal assist, provided that the motor power does not surpass 750W. Thus, the biggest immediate impact of this law on many manufacturers is that they would no longer be able to advertise their peak power ratings, and would need to hide behind a generic “750W” label.
That isn’t to say that the e-bike would still fit the legal definition of an electric bicycle in California after being “unlocked” for higher-speed pedal assist. It would no longer be a legal e-bike in California, since it can exceed 20 mph AND would have a functional throttle installed (even if the throttle is inactive above 20 mph). However, at that point, it would have become the rider’s responsibility to physically remove the throttle from the bike so that it again conforms to the new law as a now throttle-less Class 3 e-bike.
This is because the law only outlaws the sale of e-bikes that are intended to be unlocked to reach speeds above 20 mph with a throttle, or which are intended to be unlocked to power levels above 750W. As long as the e-bike’s throttle still cuts out at 20 mph and the motor doesn’t exceed 750W, the bike could technically be capable of being unlocked to travel at higher speeds (actually, even higher than 28 mph) purely on pedal assist and still be permitted for sale – even if it would no longer be considered legal for riding on public roads in its unlocked state.
Theoretically, manufacturers could also be compliant by adjusting their e-bikes’ firmware so that unlocking the 28 mph speed would also electronically remove throttle functionality above 3.7 mph, but this would likely be a no-go for most American e-bike shoppers who rely on occasional or frequent throttle use at speeds up to 20 mph. Practically speaking, most are likely to either advise their customers to remove their throttle in California if unlocking 28 mph speeds, or simply avoid addressing the issue altogether as the law then puts the onus on the rider.
To summarize, e-bike makers could legally sell throttle-enabled electric bikes that conform to Class 2 regulations, but that are user-modifiable to faster than 20 mph on pedal assist, and the bike would only become illegal under California law once that modification is performed, which has now become the responsibility of the rider.
I’m not saying this is right or fair. I’m merely saying that it doesn’t take an expensive law degree to see the cargo bike-sized gap in the language of this new law.
What does this mean for the industry?
Because the user-unlocking higher speed pedal assist loophole still exists for the sale of throttle e-bikes in California, this law will first impact the e-bikes that are capable of operating at more than 20 mph on throttle only. Some popular US-based electric bike brands, such as SUPER73, are well known for offering “off-road modes” that allow faster throttle operation, though this is more common among Asian-based electric bike brands. We’ve seen plenty of these types of e-bikes before, and while they are widely considered to be outside the three-class system, there is no shortage of options on the market.
The new law clearly outlaws such e-bikes from being sold in California, and riders of these out-of-class electric bikes will now find that their e-bike is no longer considered an e-bike under California law. The feature to reach more than 20 mph on throttle-only is likely to begin fading from future models as companies realize they need to comply with the laws in the largest e-bike market in the US.
The bigger question will be how this affects future legislation in other states or at the federal level, and if the user-unlocking workaround is addressed in the future. Additionally, whether or not this new law is actually enforced will also determine its impact in practice.
Of note, as these new e-bike regulations are currently being implemented, California law still allows anyone holding a basic Class C driver’s license, obtainable at age 16, to operate large cars, SUVs, and trucks weighing up to 26,000 lb (12,000 kg) on public roadways.
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Wisconsin’s first three EV fast charging stations using funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula program are now online.
The EV fast charging stations are in Ashland, Chippewa Falls, and Menominee, in western Wisconsin, which are rural areas that see a lot of visitors due to tourism and their location along key highway corridors.
As is required by the NEVI program, all three charging stations contain four ports with both CCS and J3400 connectors, and each station can deliver up to 150 kW per port.
NEVI-funded charging stations must also have 24-hour public accessibility and provide amenities like restrooms, food and beverages, and shelter, and must be sited within one travel mile of the Alternative Fuel Corridor.
The stations are located at local Kwik Trips, a Wisconsin-based gas station that serves 12 million customers weekly at more than 880 locations across six states, making the charging experience easy to find and increasing consumer trust.
“It’s great to see more states expanding the NEVI network and filling in coverage gaps for drivers and riders,” said Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. “EV charging often happens in communities. Whether it’s parents visiting their kids at college, families staying at their cabins, or people road-tripping on Interstate 94 for the holidays – expanding the network gives consumers accessible options to charge their vehicles.”
The stations are part of Kwik Trip’s Kwik Charge program, which will provide DC fast chargers to guests traveling throughout the Midwest. Kwik Trip has received $8.1 million in NEVI funds in Wisconsin to install chargers at 24 of its locations. The company is building an app using Driivz’s software so EV drivers can find Kwik Charge chargers and check charger availability and pricing.
Read more: Kwik Trip is installing DC fast chargers across the Midwest
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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Environment
The California grid ran on 100% renewables with no blackouts or cost rises for a record 98 days
A new study published in the journal Renewable Energy uses data from the state of California to demonstrate that no blackouts occurred when wind-water-solar electricity supply exceeded 100% of demand on the state’s main grid for a record 98 of 116 days from late winter to early summer 2024 for an average (maximum) of 4.84 (10.1) hours per day.
Compared to the same period in 2023, solar output in California is up 31%, wind power is up 8%, and batteries are up a staggering 105%. Batteries supplied up to 12% of nighttime demand by storing and redistributing excess solar energy.
And here’s the kicker: California’s high electricity prices aren’t because of wind, water, and solar energy. (That issue is primarily caused by utilities recovering the cost of wildfire mitigation, transmission and distribution investments, and net energy metering.)
In fact, researchers from Stanford, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, Berkeley found that states with higher shares of renewable energy tend to see lower electricity prices. The takeaway – and the data backs it up – is that a large grid dominated by wind, water, and solar is not only feasible, it’s also reliable.
The researchers concluded:
Despite the rapid growth and high penetration of [wind-water-solar] WWS, the spot price of electricity during the period dropped by more than 50% compared with the same period in the previous year, and no blackouts occurred, giving confidence that the addition of more solar, wind, and batteries should not be a cause for concern.
Mark Z. Jacobson, co-author of the paper and professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the atmosphere/energy program at Stanford University, explained in an email to Electrek:
This paper shows that the main grid in the world’s fifth-largest economy was able to provide more than 100% of the electricity that it used from only four clean renewable sources: solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal, for anywhere from five minutes to over 10 hours per day for 98 out of 116 days during late winter, all of spring, and early summer, as well as for 132 days during the entire year of 2024, without its grid failing.
The growth of solar, wind, and battery storage, in particular, resulted in fossil gas use dropping 40% during the 116-day period and 25% during the entire year. In comparison with 2023, solar, wind, and battery capacities increased significantly, with batteries doubling in capacity.
The paper also shows that high electricity prices in California have nothing to do with renewables; in fact, without renewables, prices would have been higher.
In fact, 10 of the 11 US states with higher fractions of their demand powered by renewables have among the lowest US electricity prices.
Instead, in California, the spot price of electricity dropped by over 50% during the period of interest between 2023 and 2024, indicating it was easier to match demand with supply with the increase in renewables and batteries in 2024.
Read more: New CA smart grid law will help solar and fix the grid by… simply replacing wires
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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