FLIT first ride: This is the folding electric bike Brompton should have built
At the Micromobility Europe conference in Amsterdam last week, I got my first look at (and first ride on) the new folding electric bike known as FLIT. As it turns out, there’s a new ultra-compact British folding e-bike in town.
When it comes to UK-based folding bikes, most people already know of Brompton. The super-tiny folding bike riding on little 16-inch wheels has been the darling of the compact folding bike space for decades.
Brompton’s folding bikes are iconic, combining classic bicycle design with modern engineering principles to create the perfect tiny folder. It’s a bike that packs up compactly and then opens back up to ride pretty darn well, at least for a 16-inch narrow-tire bike.
But when Brompton joined the modern era and electrified their bikes, the same design decisions that made the original bike so effective were also a hindrance to advanced e-bike components. That resulted in a bike that looked like it was wearing an eBay conversion kit with a battery in a shopping bag, not to mention a front wheel motor that limited power and traction.
Enter FLIT: another British folding bike, but this time designed from the outset for electric drive.
Because the company started with electrification in mind, they designed the bike with a wide enough central frame tube to support the 36V 6.4Ah battery hidden away inside the tube. A custom-designed battery shell allows the battery to be easily removed for charging by first sliding out the seat tube.
Next, the use of a rear motor instead of a front motor also allows for much more peppy acceleration. The 250W motor may only be rated for 35 Nm of torque, but in my test ride of the bike, I was impressed with just how potent that power felt. Surely the inclusion of a torque sensor helped, but the rear wheel drive is key to being able to dump all of the available power as quickly as possible.
By comparison, Brompton’s front motor has reduced traction and can spin the tire in loose terrain or when climbing hills, meaning Brompton engineers had to dial back the power ramping to slow down the application of torque, minimizing that tire slip effect.
FLIT had to make some of their own sacrifices as well, underlying the fact that folding bikes are often rolling compromises.
For example, the optional fender set includes a super funky rear mudguard that telescopes and folds in three pieces. It’s certainly odd, but the advantage is that it allows the folded bike to roll on its rear wheel instead of small plastic roller, which is better for pushing the bike around on uneven ground like bricks or cobblestones.
And the bike is also single-speed, lacking the internally geared hub you’ll find on Brompton’s folders. Many commuters appreciate the option to switch gears, which is extra helpful on inclines. On the other hand, the single-speed design removes a potential failure point as well as a maintenance concern, plus it reduces the overall weight of the bike.
At just 14 kg (30.8) lb, the aluminum bike is fairly light for lifting, but that rolling feature is nice for longer pushes, such as along subway platforms and through train stations.
FLIT’s current model, the FLIT M2, is on sale for £1,999, with that promotional pricing marking down from an MSRP of £2,499 ahead of deliveries beginning later this year.
It’s probably not a bike that I would buy for myself, mostly because I enjoy the higher power of North American e-bikes and the comfort of fat tires (though the FLIT does have elastomer-based rear suspension). But if I did regularly need a small folder as a regular car or train commuter, this would absolutely be on my list. However, my wife rides a 250W folding e-bike to work every day, so perhaps this would be on her list.
And sorry, Brompton. I don’t mean to take potshots at you. You’ve got a great folder, and have for decades. But this is what happens when you design a bike from the ground up with electrification in mind.
But that’s the beauty of today’s e-bike market, which has more options than we can count. Different strokes for different folks!
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Tesla (TSLA) released its financial results and shareholders’ letter for the second quarter (Q2) 2025 after market close today.
We are updating this post with all the details from the financial results, shareholders’ letter, and the conference call later tonight. Refresh for the latest information.
Tesla Q2 2025 earnings expectations
As we reported in our Tesla Q2 2025 earnings preview yesterday, the Wall Street consensus for this quarter was $22.279 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.40 per share.
The expectations had been significantly downgraded over the last month, as analysts were surprised by Tesla’s announcement of much lower deliveries than expected in the first quarter.
How did Tesla do compared to expectations?
Tesla Q2 2025 financial results
After the market closed today, Tesla released its financial results for the first quarter and confirmed that it delivered on expectations with earnings of $0.40 per share (non-GAAP), and it exceeded revenue expectations with $22.496 billion during the last quarter.
Tesla’s earnings per share are down 23% year-over-year amid a booming EV market.
Operating income decreased 42% year-over-year to now less than $1 billion, and almost half of it came from regulatory credits.
Tesla’s cash on hand has decreased this quarter for the first time in years. The company lost about $200 million of its giant war chest – now sitting at $36.8 billion.
We will be posting our follow-up posts here about the earnings and conference call to expand on the most important points (refresh the page to see the most recent posts):
Here’s Tesla’s Q2 2025 shareholder presentation in full:
Here’s Tesla’s conference call for the Q2 2025 results:
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Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, which CEO Elon Musk claims is ahead of the industry and will sell in the trillions of dollars, failed while serving popcorn on the first day of Tesla’s new diner launch.
Musk has been touting Optimus as a revolutionary product that will generate “trillions of dollars” per year for Tesla.
It’s the latest pivot that the CEO has led Tesla into, as electric vehicle sales are declining, and it is becoming increasingly clear that its self-driving effort is unlikely to be profitable anytime soon.
The company needs new revenue streams to justify a $1 trillion valuation, given its declining revenue and earnings.
However, we have been reporting on how the program appears to be in shambles lately.
Last month, Tesla’s head of the program, Milan Kovac, left the company just a few months after being promoted to vice-president.
Earlier this month, we learned that Tesla paused production to perform some much-needed upgrades to the current version of the robot, as it is reportedly currently only able to move some batteries within Tesla’s workshop at a rate lower than that of human workers.
That’s despite Tesla claiming for months that the robot is already performing useful work within its factories and plans to ramp up production to 100,000 units per month next year, with the goal of starting to sell the robot.
Aside from gullible Tesla shareholders, not many people believe this narrative. The main issue is that Tesla is not seen as having a lead in humanoid robots, which is still a nascent industry, and its previous demonstrations have been misleading.
For example, Tesla was less than forthcoming about its robots being teleoperated by humans during its ‘We, Robot’ event last year.
The launch of its new diner in Los Angeles was the latest occasion to showcase Optimus. Tesla had an Optimus robot serve popcorn to customers.
Again, Tesla employees at the event confirmed to attendees that the robot was teleoperated, which makes the demonstration unimpressive to start with, but the disappointment doesn’t stop there.
The robot was seen frozen and stopped operating during the first day of the Tesla diner launch.
Attendees were told that the robot lost connection.
Electrek’s Take
To be clear, Tesla can only get the Optimus robot to serve popcorn for a short period before it fails, even with the use of human teleoperation.
Yet, Musk claims that Tesla will make 100,000 of these next year and sell them to customers.
It makes no sense. It’s similar to Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin, which requires teleoperation and a human safety monitor with a finger on a kill switch at all times.
That said, I honestly believe that Tesla will be able to scale Optimus faster than its robotaxi service. However, they will both scale much slower than Tesla shareholders currently believe and the competition is already ahead of both.
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BYD officially launched the Atto 1 in Indonesia on Wednesday. Starting at just $12,000 (IDR 195 million), the Atto 1 is now one of the most affordable EVs on the market.
BYD launches the Atto 1 entry-level EV
The Atto 1 is a rebadged version of BYD’s top-selling electric car in China, the Seagull EV. BYD’s smallest and most affordable EV is sold under the names Dolphin Mini and Dolphin Surf in other overseas markets.
BYD introduced the Atto 1 at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) on Wednesday, priced from IDR 195 million, or about $12,000.
The new entry-level EV is available in two trims: Standard Range Dynamic and Long Range Premium. Powered by a 30.08 kWh BYD Blade battery, the standard range Atto 1 Dynamic offers a NEDC range of 300 km (186 miles).
Upgrading to the Premium model costs IDR 235 million ($14,500), but it’s equipped with a bigger 38.88 kWh battery, providing an NEDC range of 380 km (236 miles).
The interior resembles that of other BYD brand vehicles, featuring a minimalist, high-tech smart cockpit. It features a 10.1″ intelligent touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a 7″ digital driver’s instrument display.
Meanwhile, the Long Range Premium version comes with an added wireless charging pad and a tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel.
At 3,959 mm long, 1,720 mm wide, and 1,590 mm tall, the Atto 1 is smaller than a Toyota Yaris, but slightly bigger than the Kia Picanto.
“This launch in Indonesia marks the first release of the Atto 1 in ASEAN, and the car is now available for pre-order,” BYD Indonesia’s operations director, Nathan Sun, said at the event.
The Atto 1 is BYD’s third electric vehicle to arrive in Indonesia, and the brand’s most affordable yet. BYD also sells the Seal, starting at IDR 629 million, Atto 3 SUV (IDR 515 million), and Dolphin (IDR 425 million).
Indonesia is the largest auto market in Southeast Asia, and EV sales are picking up with new government policies supporting local production. In the first half of the year, the EV market share doubled to 10% from 5% in the same period last year.
Earlier today, Toyota, which controls around 30% of the Indonesian auto market, announced plans to begin building EVs locally by the end of 2025.
Source: JakartaGlobe, BYD Indonesia
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