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We’ve always wondered why, with big 1kWh batteries with equally big output capabilities, e-bikes can’t double as power stations that could power an off-site or back up a fridge for a few hours. Mokwheel has our answer with its $2300 Obsidian and ups the ante with a big solar panel that makes it great for camping and self-charging, too…

Mokwheel sent us their handsome Obsidian fat tire e-bike along with a ($399)1kW external inverter attachment and a separate ($599) 230W solar accessory.

Let’s talk about the bike first.

The Obsidian comes in tan camo, brown/black, and the bright yellow/black colorway I received. I loved that this is super visible and comes with reflective-lined CHAOYANG 26×4.0″ puncture-resistant fat tires.

The Obsidian is a well-put-together, fat tire e-bike with front and rear suspension that is also softened with those big fat tire wheels and a soft cushy seat. It has a massive “UL-tested” Samsung-based cell 48V 19.6Ah battery for a close to 1 kWh total (940.8Wh officially) capacity. That’s good for an optimistic 60-80 miles of pedal assist range or realistically about half that with the left-side mounted throttle only. It also lets you power “other things” for hours, but we’ll get to that later. Mokwheel provides a mediocre 3A charger that takes the bike from empty to full in seven hours, and again, there’s more here on that front.

As for safety, stopping is provided by the very solid TEKTRO HD-E350 Hydraulic brakes on 180mm discs. Its front dual-LED light is bright and will light the way at night but it only comes with a disappointing rechargeable strap-on rear light that doesn’t brighten with brakes.

At 77lbs, this is a beefy bike but these brakes stopped the bike and its 220+lb rider in its tracks. Rated up to 400lbs, there’s room for big folks or lots of accessory-mounted items (and note the amazing Black Friday 6 for $100 deal). Maybe the lowest-spec item is the Shimano Altus derailleur which I’d charitably call mid-range but worked well in my testing. Kudos to Mokwheel for including a high-end KMC stainless chain. Torque sensors round out what I’d call a fairly high-end spec sheet for its $2299 price.

The ride with full suspension, big soft wheels, and even a soft seat is cushy, to say the least. It’s certainly a big heavy bike but the aluminum frame and solid components keep it very pedal-able. The 1000W rear geared hub motor is reasonable but certainly not explosive, and it got me up to around 30mph on Level 5 PAS on flat ground after “unlimit-ing” the level-2 setting it shipped with. Off-road, it excels, smoothing out potholes and bumps while those big wheels power over small tree limbs and other obstacles with ease. It is a little bulky for technical single-track riding.

Besides the motor power-to-weight ratio a little under what I’d prefer, I think the Obsidian is a fantastic e-bike in almost every way and it is worth purchasing on its own, especially at the Black Friday reduced rate of $2299.

As they say on TV, “But wait, there’s more!”

Mokwheel e-bikes have a little 48V DC input/output port at the base of the bike, and on the battery, if you take it out, that can be connected to an external 1kW inverter. That means that close to 1kWh of battery storage is available for backing up home/appliances, powering drones, picnicking, or camping.

The 1000W Inverter accessory is a bit bulky but has 2x110V AC outlets as well as 2 USB-C ports (up to 100W), a USB-A port, and DC input and outputs. It comes with a hard shell case that you can mount to the bike. I wasn’t able to find the perfect spot, so I opted to mount it on the back of the seat.

Speaking of camping, there’s also a 230W portable solar option that will top up your battery when you aren’t riding it. It folds away into a little suitcase-like holder convenient for packing away or putting it in a backpack.

It is late autumn in the Northeast, so I wasn’t really able to see what those 22% efficient solar panels could really do, but they did add meaningful percentage points to my charge after a few hours in the mid-day sun.

Putting it all together

I was able to power my MacBook Pro, a tire inflator, a coffee maker, and a garage freezer with 110V outlets. I even powered my cable modem, wireless router, and laptop at the same time for more than an hour. But that’s weak sauce in the EV world, and I thought maybe I’d get the perfect photo-op by charging my Rivian with the e-bike battery!

Unfortunately even setting the Rivian charging Amps to 8, the Rivian still tried to draw too much power and the inverter timed out. I took photos anyway!

Electrek’s Take

The Mokwheel Obsidian is a great fat tire e-bike and will surely make its owners happy on its own. But it really shines with the energy harvesting and sharing accessories that turn the e-bike into something special.

Folks thinking about having a small solar/backup power bank with them at all times will certainly want to take a look at the options here. Not only is the Mokwheel Obsidian currently $600 off, but they are also offering a really robust accessory pack for an additional $99.

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750W e-bikes in Europe? Discussions underway to update e-bike laws

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750W e-bikes in Europe? Discussions underway to update e-bike laws

The e-bike industry in the West has long been a tale of two territories. North Americans enjoy higher speeds and power limits for their electric bicycles while Europeans are held to much stricter (i.e. slower and lower) speed and power limits. However, things might change based on current discussions on rewriting European e-bike regulations.

New power levels are not totally without precedent, either. The UK briefly considered doubling its own e-bike power limit from 250 watts (approximately 1/3 horsepower) to 500 watts, though the move was ultimately abandoned.

But this time, the call for more power is coming from within the house – i.e., Germany. The Germans are the undisputed leaders and trend setters in the European e-bike market, accounting for around two million sales of e-bikes per year. Home to leading e-bike drive makers like Bosch, the country has yet another advantage when it comes to making – or regulating – waves in the industry.

And while there aren’t any pending law changes, the largest German trade organization ZIV (Zweirad-Industrie-Verband), which is highly influential in achieving such changes, is now discussing what it believes could be pertinent updates to current EU electric bike regulations.

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Some of the new regulations involve creating rules maxing out power at levels such as 400% or 600% of the human pedaling input. But a key component of the proposed plan includes changing the present day power limit of e-bikes from 250W of continuous power at the motor to 750W of peak power at the drive wheel.

The difference includes some nuance, since continuous power is often considered more of a nominal figure, meaning nearly every e-bike motor in Europe wears a “250W” or less sticker despite often outputting a higher level of peak power. Even Bosch, which has to walk the tight and narrow as a leader in the European e-bike drive market, shared that its newest models of motors are capable of peak power ratings in the 600W level. That’s still far from the commonly 1,000W to 1,300W peak power seen in US e-bike motors, but offers a nice boost over an actual 250W motor.

Other new regulations up for discussion include proposals to limit fully-loaded cargo e-bike weights to either 250 kg (550 lb) for two-wheelers or 300 kg (660 lb) for e-bikes with more than two wheels. As road.cc explained, ZIV also noted that, “separate framework conditions and parameters must be defined for cargo bikes weighing more than 300 kg (see EN 17860-4:2025) as they differ significantly from EPACs and bicycles in their dynamics, design and operation.” Such heavy-duty cargo e-bikes, which often more closely resemble small delivery vans than large cargo bikes, are becoming more common in the industry and have raised concerns about cargo e-bike bloat, especially in dedicated cycling paths.

It’s too early to say whether European e-bike regulations will actually change, but the fact that key industry voices with the power to influence policy are openly advocating for it suggests that new rules for the European market are a real possibility.

ride1up prodigy v2 electric bike brose motor

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

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China overhauls EV charging: 100,000 ultra-fast public stations by 2027

China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.

The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.

The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.

China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.

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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.

To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.

The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.

As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


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Two charged in $650 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

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Two charged in 0 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.

The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.

“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”

From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.

Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.

A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.

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In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.

When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.

The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.

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