New low-cost electric cargo bike promises 200+ mile range and fast charging
Which would you rather have, a fast-charging e-bike or one with 217 miles (350 km) of range? With the new Engwe LE20 electric cargo bike, apparently you can have both.
It’s a bold claim, but Engwe says that its newest cargo e-bike has significantly more range than just about any other e-bike out there.
The base model comes with a single 48V 19.2 Wh battery with 921 Wh of capacity, but riders can opt for the double battery option, which Engwe says offers that massive 217 mile range.
Is it legit? Well, a quick math check shows that those figures work out to around 8 Wh/mile or 5 Wh/km, which is right around the most efficient a typical e-bike can be when operated on low-power pedal assist. So the answer is, “Theoretically, yes, but most people won’t ever see that much range.”
Even so, that’s way more battery than you’ll find on most e-bikes these days, and even if riders end up getting a third of that range, that’s still farther than just about anyone needs to ride their cargo e-bike in most situations.
The newly released LE20 is designed specifically for cargo transport and long-range performance and claims to offer “fast-charging technology”, allowing for quicker recharge times to keep riders on the move.
In reality, that means the bike ships with a higher-power 8-amp charging brick that offers a claimed 2-3 hour recharge time. While not exactly revolutionary, it’s still a nice upgrade for those who don’t want to wait 4-6 hours for their e-bike battery to recharge.
The Engwe LE20 is said to offer a 440 lb (200 kg) weight capacity, enabling multiple riders or heavy cargo to be carried on the bike. A 1,300W peak-rated rear hub motor ensures the bike can operate with that much weight and still offer good performance. For the European version of the bike, the rear hub motor is swapped out for a 100 Nm mid-drive motor. Electric bikes in most of the EU are limited to 250W of power, and so higher-power electric bikes like this generally hide the true power output of the motor and instead report torque figures, which are not regulated and can be used to imply just how powerful the e-bike is without explicitly stating wattage figures that wouldn’t be allowed.
Other components spotted on the bike include hydraulic disc brakes, LED lighting including turn signals, a front suspension fork, and rear wheel guards to prevent cargo or passengers’ feet from getting caught in the spokes.
Now available for pre-order in the US, the LE20 comes with an early-bird price of US $1,499. The EU version will become available for order on October 8th and feature an introductory price of €1,699.
Cargo e-bikes have increasingly become a preferred alternative for last-mile deliveries and personal transportation, especially in urban environments where traffic congestion and emissions reduction are priorities.
ENGWE’s LE20 seems poised to cater to this market by offering a combination of high capacity, extended range, and quick charging—features that are vital for commercial users and highly sought after by private consumers.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
Those numbers represent more than 50% growth in EV registrations – far beyond the expected 12% first-quarter increase nationally being projected by Cox Automotive. (!)
What’s going on in Illinois?
While President Trump and Elmo were running for re-election, they campaigned on the threat promise of canceling the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Along with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker made countermoves – launching a $4,000 rebate for new electric cars and up to $1,500 for the purchase of a new electric motorcycle.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
We covered the launch of those incentives when the program was announced at Chicago Drives Electric last year, but the message here is simple: incentives work.
SOURCES: Chicago Business, Ray Cunningham; featured image by the author.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.
We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.
SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
As “extreme” weather events become more commonplace, the demand for reliable and portable energy continues to rise. In response to that growing demand for dependable off-grid power, Volvo has developed the new PU500 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) designed to take electrical power when it’s needed most.
Designed to be deployable in a number of environments at a moment’s notice, the Volvo Energy PU500 BESS is equipped with approximately 500 kWh of usable battery capacity (up to 540 kWh total). More than enough juice, in other words, to power a remote construction site, disaster response effort, or even a music festival – anything that needs access to reliable electricity beyond a grid connection.
That’s great, but what sets the PU500 apart from other battery storage solutions is its integrated 240 kW DC fast charger.
“With an integrated CCS2 charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all brands of electric equipment, trucks, and passenger cars,” says Niklas Thulin, Head of BESS Product Offer at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that no matter what type of electric vehicle or machinery you rely on, the PU500 can provide the power you need, making it a truly flexible solution for any grid constrained site or location.”
The integrated charger in the PU500 has the impressive ability to charge a heavy equipment asset (be that an electric semi truck or something like a wheel loader) in under two hours. Its on-board capacity allows to fully recharge up to 3 electric HD trucks or 20 electric cars per day, making it an incredibly versatile disaster response asset.
Electrek’s Take
As we often say over at The Heavy Equipment Podcast, “just because you’re working for the power company doesn’t mean you have power,” and there are hundreds of scenarios where the extra power provided by something like the new PU500 would be useful. Its ability to be palletized and easily moved or swapped out of a larger BESS array, too, just add to its flexibility.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway