The dangers of low-cost electric bikes: What you’re really getting for $500
There’s a reason the phrase “you get what you pay for” has stuck around for so long – because it’s usually true. And when it comes to electric bikes, that old saying might be more important than ever.
Sure, everyone wants a deal. Prices are increasing, workers are treated worse than ever, and the immediate future of the economy seems to depend at least partially on how well a golf game goes this weekend. So I don’t blame anyone for wanting to find a bargain when it comes time to shop for the best alternative to buying an expensive car.
The problem is that a lot of people don’t realize what they’re sacrificing for those low prices, and the fact that automotive media seems to have finally woken up to electric bikes is only making that worse with dangerous expectations that don’t align with reality.
Now, add in the fact that these days, it’s easier than ever to find an e-bike online for under $600. Scroll through Amazon, Walmart, or even eBay, and you’ll see a flood of lesser-known electric bikes with flashy listings, bold promises, and suspiciously low prices. At first glance, they can seem like a great deal – especially if you’re just dipping your toe into the world of e-bikes and don’t want to spend over a grand. But here’s the truth: that bargain-bin e-bike might cost you a whole lot more in the long run, whether it’s in repairs, hospital bills, or just frustration.
Now I’m not saying you need to spend a fortune. Sure, if you have several thousand dollars on hand then I’d put you on a beautifully made Priority e-bike for city commuting or an ultra-rugged Tern for carrying cargo and children. But most of us aren’t looking to spend $3,000 on an electric bicycle, and that’s ok. You can still get a decent e-bike for a lot less, but scrimping too much can lead to a whole host of future problems.
Let’s start with what may be the most serious issue: battery safety. The battery is the heart of any electric bike, and it’s also the component most likely to cause real danger if it’s poorly made. Many of these ultra-budget e-bikes aren’t certified to UL 2849 (e-bike systems) or UL 2271 (lithium-ion battery) safety standards. That’s a big red flag.
UL certification means a battery has been rigorously tested for things like short-circuit protection, thermal runaway resistance, water ingress, and more. When you skip those safety tests to cut costs, you’re gambling with something that literally sits between your legs. That’s not an area I’d want to take that chance on.
Fires caused by uncertified or damaged e-bike batteries have become a growing concern, especially in dense urban areas. While they are still rare occurrences in the broader e-bike market, they are almost exclusively caused by non-certified batteries. Cities like New York have already moved to ban the sale of e-bikes without UL-listed batteries for precisely this reason. And while these fires are rare relative to the number of bikes out there, they tend to involve the cheapest models on the market – often the ones with questionable quality control and little to no brand accountability.
But battery issues are just the beginning. The rest of the bike matters too, and that’s where a lot of these low-cost options fall apart… literally. Most $400 to $600 e-bikes are built with generic components from unknown suppliers, slapped together in factories that don’t perform long-term frame durability testing or ensure consistent torque specs on assembly lines.
I’ve personally bought bikes in this price range (you know, for science) that arrived with brakes that weren’t fully connected, bolts that weren’t tightened, and wheels out of true right out of the box.
These bikes often use plastic components, pot-metal crank arms, cheap suspension forks that do nothing but squeak, and undersized brake rotors that struggle to stop a 65 lb (30 kg) e-bike, let alone one with a rider onboard. That’s not just an annoyance – it’s a serious safety issue.
E-bikes move faster and carry more weight than traditional bicycles, which means every component needs to work harder. If the brakes fade, the wheels wobble, or the frame starts to flex in ways it shouldn’t, you’re putting your safety at risk. We’ve seen e-bikes break in half before, and it isn’t pretty.
Then there’s the ride quality. Cheap e-bikes often use unbranded motors and basic square wave controllers that provide jerky acceleration, sluggish pedal assist, and otherwise poor performance. The battery may say “48V 10Ah” but only deliver half that in real-world use. Range claims are frequently exaggerated (though to be fair, much of the industry is guilty there), and there’s often no support line to call if something goes wrong. Once the bike arrives at your door, you’re on your own.
All of this isn’t to say that every low-cost e-bike is a death trap. There are exceptions. Lectric’s XP Lite 2.0 is an excellent example of a sub-$800 e-bike that punches way above its weight class. It comes from a reputable company, includes safety-focused features, is UL-compliant, and has a real US-based support team behind it. Lectric isn’t alone, as there are also good entry-level options with solid reputations and better-than-average quality bikes out there, though much of the industry would agree that Lectric is leading considerably in that regard. But keep in mind that bikes like the XP Lite 2.0 are the outliers – not the norm.
And while $800 isn’t exactly a hard and fast rule, I’ve rarely seen something below that figure that I’d be comfortable putting my mom on.
The biggest problem is that it’s hard for new buyers to tell the difference. When every product listing looks polished and every spec sheet claims 40 miles (65 km) of range and “powerful 500W motor,” it’s easy to get lured into a bad purchase.
But an e-bike isn’t a blender. It’s a transportation vehicle. You’re trusting it to carry you at 20+ mph (32+ km/h) through traffic, down hills, and across intersections. Saving a few hundred bucks at checkout probably isn’t worth it if the bike can’t stop properly… or worse, catches fire in your garage.
If your budget is tight, that’s understandable. But rather than buying the cheapest e-bike you can find today, consider saving a bit longer, buying used from a reputable brand on places like Facebook Marketplace or Cragislist, or looking for refurbished models with some kind of warranty. And whatever you do, make sure the battery is certified, the brand has real customer support, and you’re not putting your safety in the hands of a mystery vendor with a generic Gmail address.
Electric bikes are incredible tools for transportation, fun, and freedom. But when they’re made with the wrong priorities – cutting cost at all costs – they stop being tools and start being liabilities. Do your homework, buy from a reputable company, and don’t let the price tag blind you to what really matters: your safety.
Read more: Want to see a list of GOOD yet inexpensive e-bikes? Here are the best we’ve tested under $1,000
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New car buyers like to talk about the latest tech and resale value, but most people don’t buy new cars. The used car market is 3x bigger than new, and if you’re content to let the last guy take that big depreciation hit by scoring a great deal on a reliable, low-mile used car you could save thousands on your next EV.
I know what you’re thinking: these posts are always weird because they’re disproportionally impacted by the COVID-era supply chain disruptions, and the obscene dealer mark-ups that came along with them.
But looking into the data shows trends that are much closer to the kind of think you’d expect to see before COVID, with high-end luxury models like S-Class Mercedes that trade on being new and shiny taking massive depreciation hits and more mainstream offerings from brands like Toyota and Honda that trade on economy and reliability holding strong.
That usual luxury brand hit seems like it’s being compounded over at Tesla, where Elon Musk’s highly publicized political leanings have polarized support for the brand, and alienated a huge portion of the market. Demand for new and used Tesla vehicles has plummeted, and iSeeCars reports that the Tesla Model S suffered the biggest percentage price drop of all makes and models over the last twelve months, showing the pioneering electric sedan’s average price in June 2025 at $46,700, nearly 16%, or $8,800 lower than it was 12 just months earlier.
This isn’t a post about Tesla, though (not intentionally, at least). Instead, it’s about those EVs that have lost the most value since they were first sold new five-ish years ago. So, if you’re looking for a great deal on a pre-loved EV, you could do a lot worse than the list, below, presented in order from biggest “loss” of value.
Top 10 fastest-depreciating EVs
| Make & Model | MSRP | Avg. 5 yrs | >Difference | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Audi Q8 e-tron | $74,400 | $20,958 | -$53,442 | -71.9% |
| 2 | Jaguar I-Pace | $72,000 | $20,047 | -$51,953 | -72.2% |
| 3 | Tesla Model S | $74,990 | $27,835 | -$47,155 | -62.9% |
| 4 | Nissan Leaf (SV Plus) | $36,190 | $13,000 | -$23,190 | -64.1% |
| 5 | Tesla Model X | $79,990 | $32,940 | -$47,050 | -58.8% |
| 6 | Mercedes EQS | $104,400 | $41,121 | -$63,279 | -60.6% |
| 7 | Tesla Model Y | $44,990 | $23,775 | -$21,215 | -47.2% |
| 8 | Hyundai Kona Electric | $32,675 | $13,860 | -$18,815 | -57.6% |
| 9 | Tesla Model 3 | $38,990 | $20,950 | -$18,040 | -46.3% |
| 10 | Porsche Taycan | $99,400 | $48,445 | -$50,955 | -51.3% |
| 11 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | $39,995 | $21,600 | -$18,395 | -46.0% |
Disclaimer: the models and pricing shown, above, were sourced from CarsDirect, Carscoops, iSeeCars, USNews, and Yahoo!Finance. These deals may not be available in every market, and the standard “with approved credit” fine print should be considered implied. Check with your local dealer(s) for more information.
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The Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin is a new beach town cruiser that captures the elegance, glamour, and relaxed vibe of the French Riviera. More significantly, the updated EV also heralds Stellantis’ plans to double EV production at its Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco.
Closer to a Mercury Villager Nautica or Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson than a new model on its own, the new Topolino Vilebrequin features colors and fabrics inspired by the French surfwear brand, and is based on the Dolcevita version of Stellantis’ electric microcar. With its open sides, a soft rollback roof, and turtle-tastic fabric prints, it’s ready to whisk you off on a carefree summer adventure in France or Italy – which are, coincidentally, the only two markets the “collector’s edition” Vilebrequin Topolino is currently available in.
“This encounter between the Fiat Topolino and our iconic sea turtle gave rise to a high-quality, lower-impact, and perfectly whimsical design,” says Roland Herlory, CEO of Vilebrequin. “(It is) the definitive summer toy, and the perfect witness to sun-soaked memories still to come.”
Like the standard Topolino, the new Vilebrequin model remains electronically limited to a top speed of 45 kph (just under 30 mph), and is equipped with a 5.5 kWh battery pack that ensures up to 75 km (about 45 miles) of electric range. Prices start at €13,490 ($15,810), and if you don’t want one you’re dead inside.
Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin
The Vilebrequin Topolino is just the latest version of Stellantis’ electric microcar platform that underpins the Citroën Ami, Opel Rocks-e, and Fiat Topolino. Annual production of the little EVs has grown from 20,000 units and is reportedly on track for 70,000 in 2025.
Now, Mopar Insiders is reporting that number is about to get even bigger. Stellantis’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, Samir Cherfan, announced plans to more than double the production capacity at the company’s Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco, from some 230,000 vehicles per year to more than 530,000.
The factory was opened in 2019, and the planned €1.2 billion ($1.4B) expansion is expected to add around 3,100 new jobs to the factory’s employee roster.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Stellantis.
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Electric bikes are a menace. They go almost as fast as a car (if the car is parking), they’re whisper quiet (which makes them impossible to hear over the podcast playing in your headphones), and worst of all, they’re increasingly ridden by teenagers.
By now, we’ve all seen the headlines. Cities are cracking down. Lawmakers are holding emergency hearings. Parents are demanding bans. “Something must be done,” they cry at local city council meetings before driving back home in 5,000 lb SUVs.
And it’s true – some e-bike riders don’t follow the rules. Some ride too fast. Some are inexperienced. These are real problems that deserve real solutions. But if you think electric bikes are the biggest threat on our roads, just wait until you hear about the slightly more common, slightly more deadly vehicle we’ve been quietly tolerating for the last hundred years.
They’re called cars. And unlike e-bikes, they actually kill people. A lot of people. Over 40,000 people die in car crashes in the US every year. Thousands more are permanently injured. Entire neighborhoods are carved up by high-speed traffic. Kids can’t walk to school safely. But don’t worry – someone saw a teenager run a stop sign on an e-bike, so the real crisis must be those darn batteries on two wheels.
It’s amazing how worked up people get over a few dozen e-bike crashes when many of us step over a sidewalk memorial for a car crash victim on the way to the grocery store. We’ve been so thoroughly conditioned to accept car violence as part of modern life that the idea of regulating them sounds unthinkable. But regulating e-bikes? Now that’s urgent.
To be clear, this isn’t about ignoring the risks that come with new technology. E-bikes are faster than regular bikes. They’re heavier, too. And they require education and enforcement like any other mode of transport capable of injuring someone, be it the rider or a pedestrian bystander. But the scale of the problem is what matters – and the scale here is completely lopsided. Let’s take New York City, for example. It’s got more e-bike usage than anywhere else in the US, and there are still only an average of two pedestrians per year killed by an e-bike accident. That number for cars? Around 100 per year in NYC. It’s not complicated math – cars are 50x more lethal in the city.
And yet, the person on the e-bike is the one getting the stink eye.
We’ve become so numb to the everyday destruction caused by automobiles that it barely registers anymore. Drunk driving? Distracted driving? Speeding through neighborhoods? It’s just background noise. But the moment someone on an e-bike blows through a stop sign at 16 mph, it’s front-page news and a city council emergency.
Here’s an idea: If we want safer streets, how about we start by addressing the machines that weigh two and a half tons and can hit 100 mph, not the ones that top out at 20 or 28 and are powered by a one-horsepower motor the size of an orange.
But we don’t. Because cars are familiar. Cars are “normal.” Cars are how we built our entire country. And so we turn our attention to the easy target – the new kid on the block. The same old playbook: panic, overreact, and legislate the hell out of it.
Sure, an e-bike might startle you on a sidewalk. But a car can climb that sidewalk and end your life. Which one do we really need to be afraid of?
This isn’t a strawman argument, either. Cars are literally used as mass casualty weapons. It happens all the time. It happened last night in Los Angeles when a disgruntled car driver deliberately plowed into a crowd outside a nightclub, injuring over 30 people. And that wasn’t the only car attack yesterday. Another car rammed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in NYC yesterday morning, leaving multiple pedestrians dead. These aren’t exceptions. This is the normal daily news in the US. It’s depressing, but it bears repeating. This is normal. These are everyday occurrences. Twice a day, yesterday.
While we’re busy debating throttle limits and helmet rules for e-bikes, maybe we should also talk about how tens of millions of drivers still routinely speed, blow stop signs, or scroll Instagram at 45 mph in a school zone. Or how car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in America. Or we can continue to focus on the kid who forgot to put his foot down at a red light while riding an e-bike to school.
This isn’t satire anymore – it’s just sad. It’s a collective willingness to avoid a real, genuine threat to Americans while simultaneously scapegoating what is, by comparison, a non-threat.
The truth is, electric bikes aren’t the menace. They’re a solution. They’re one of the few glimmers of hope in a transportation system drowning in pollution, congestion, and daily tragedy. They make mobility cheaper, cleaner, and more accessible. And yet we treat them like an invasive species because they disrupt the dominance of the automobile.
It’s time to stop pretending we’re protecting the public from some great e-bike emergency. The real emergency is that we’ve accepted cars killing people as a fair trade for getting to Target five minutes faster.
So yes, let’s make e-biking safer. Let’s educate riders, build better bike infrastructure, and enforce traffic rules fairly. Those are all important things. We absolutely SHOULD invest in training programs to educate teens on safe riding. We absolutely SHOULD cite and fine dangerous riders who could threaten the lives of pedestrians. But let’s stop pretending that e-bikes are the problem when they’re clearly a symptom of a much bigger one.
If you’re really worried about the dangers on our streets, don’t look for the kid on the e-bike. Look for the driver behind them, sipping a latte and going 20 over the speed limit.
Now that’s the menace.
Image note: The first and last images in this article were both AI-generated, and represent everyday car/bike interactions
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