I tested the Tromox MC10 electric trail bike. It’s a Sur Ron/Talaria killer
On a recent trip to China where I met with several micromobility companies, I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with the electric motorcycle maker Tromox. The team gave me the chance to be one of the first Westerners to ever take a test ride on Tromox’s new MC10 TrailX.
Ahead of the bike’s upcoming US market release, I can already tell you that this thing is a blast to ride and is likely to send shockwaves through the Sur Ron and Talaria communities for its combination of performance and packaging, offering high power riding in a small-format bike.
Tromox brought me out to a motocross track to test the MC10 TrailX, which is already beyond the target scope for this bike.
Keep in mind, this is not a dirt bike. Sure, it’s got a powerful 12.5 kW peak-rated motor and four-bar rear suspension matched by an inverted front fork. But this bike isn’t really intended for flying through the air; it’s meant for riding trails and off-road exploring. (There’s also a street version designed for commuting at speeds up to 90 km/h or 56 mph, but I tested the off-road model).
So it seems the thinking was that if it could handle a jump park, it could handle just about any more “normal” type of riding that recreational and enthusiast riders are likely to put it through on local trails or backwoods exploring.
And by the way, this is one of those test rides that you’re definitely going to want to see, not just read about. Check out my first ride video below, then continue on for the rest of the article!
So there I was, a street rider, all strapped in and ready to roll in unfamiliar territory.
To be fair, I actually already own a Sur Ron, and it’s an awesome bike for backyard hooliganism. But I’m not a motocross rider by any stretch of the imagination.
If either of my tires leaves the earth on a normal day, something has officially gone off-script. I’m a street rider, through and through, more comfortable rubbing elbows with semi-trucks than getting sideways against a soft berm. But I’m not going to say no to a chance to get down and dirty with a bike like this, lack of experience be damned.
And so as the first drop into the track loomed before me, I said “screw it” and rolled on the throttle.
The bike feels only slightly larger than my Sur Ron, but the power is much more potent. It packs around twice the peak power and it comes on quickly. In fact, I didn’t use full power mode very much since I could easily spin the rear tire in that loose dirt.
I’m not sure what the actual range is, but keeping the bike in a lower power mode offers plenty of dirt-slinging torque while helping increase the run time. Though with a pair of 72V 30Ah batteries, it has nearly twice the battery capacity of my Sur Ron anyway, so I wasn’t worried about run time. It’s like carrying a spare battery to the trails with you, except that it’s already loaded in next to your first battery and connected – no stopping and swapping required.
Someone had played around on the bike before I showed up, and yet even after all of my riding, the bike still had around half a charge remaining when I left at the end of the day.
As I mentioned, I’m not a motocross rider and so I have no idea how to hit jumps. I know just enough to be aware that there is a proper way to do it, and that what I was doing wasn’t it.
After timing a few wrong and landing on my front tire with enough force to throw my chest way further out over the bars than it has any business doing, I decided I should probably stick to my original wheels-on-the-ground approach.
But the good news is that I can tell you the suspension felt great even when I asked it to do things a better rider wouldn’t have needed it to do.
Even trying to keep the rubber side down, I could still enjoy the hill-climbing power of that central motor, which whipped me up the climbs as if they were flat ground. I was sure the speed would noticeably suffer when climbing up the jump ramps more slowly to avoid going airborne, but the Tromox MC10 just wanted to keep climbing. I was amazed that the power didn’t seem to taper off.
If your normal stomping grounds include lots of hill climbing, this is the bike to do it on.
On the berms, I definitely wasn’t going horizontal, but I tried to lean in as much as I comfortably could. The bike felt confidence-inspiring, hugging the bumps and ruts as I whipped around.
The track was quite rutted out when exiting several of the sharp turns, likely because it had been raining off and on the entire time. But the suspension soaked up those ruts and kept me on my line nicely.
As I mentioned, this type of riding is beyond the scope of what the MC10 TrailX is actually designed for. With a 90 km/h (56 mph) top speed and 4.3 kWh of battery, it’s really more of a trail bike designed for fire roads, single track, dirt paths, and other adventure-style riding.
The way its suspension handled the track showed me that trail riding would be a piece of cake for the MC10. And with the power it had for climbing up steep jumps, it will have no problem with real-world hill climbing, which is likely to be significantly less steep than what it was doing on such loose terrain I was riding on.
Combined with the comfortable sizing and refreshing new styling that we haven’t seen in this class. of bike before, I think the MC10 TrailX is likely to do well with recreational and enthusiast riders.
It’s not yet clear what the pricing will be when it enters the US market, and that will, of course, be the deciding factor for how well it will sell compared to all of the Sur Rons and Talarias already on the market. But just in a performance-based challenge, I can tell you it’s going to have no problem against the usual suspects.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Japanese equipment giant Komatsu has added a not-so-giant electric excavator to its growing lineup of battery-powered construction equipment. The new Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator promises a full day of work from a single charge.
Komatsu says the design of its latest mini excavator was informed by data sourced from more than 40,000 working days of comparably-sized diesel excavators. The company found that, in 90% of its global customers’ mini excavator deployments, these vehicles are in active use for less than 3.5 hours per day.
“This defined the target for the required, reliable working time with the excavator,” reads the Komatsu web copy. “This result makes it possible for Komatsu to offer an attractively priced machine with a performance that exactly matches the requirements.”
Keeping costs down are relatively conservative specs. Komatsu chose to power the PC20E-6 with a 23.2 kWh battery pack sending electrons to an 11 kW (~15 hp), high-torque electric motors. Not exactly super impressive on paper, but the machine has an operating weight of 2,190 kg and enough juice for up to four (4) hours of continuous operation.
More than enough, in other words, to have completed 90% of of those 40,000 work days the company analyzed.
Getting it done
If, for some reason, that four hours’ runtime isn’t enough, an on-board charging option for 230V and 3kW charging power compatible with various plug adapters is standard, with an external DC quick charger for 400V and 12 kW charging as optional. In either case, it won’t be long before the machine is back at work.
To help the later adopters sleep well about their battery-powered investments, the PC20E-6 ships with Komatsu’s E-Support maintenance program, which includes free scheduled maintenance by a Komatsu-trained technician, a 3 year/2,000 hour warranty on the machine, plus a 5 year/10,000 hour warranty on the electric driveline. The company says the battery should last 10 years.
“The Komatsu E-Support customer program is included free of charge with every market-ready electric mini excavator and offers exclusive machine support,” said Emanuele Viel, Group Manager Utility at Komatsu Europe. “The bottom line is that the risk for the end customer is significantly reduced, especially when it comes to exploring the electrification advances in the industry.”
Komatsu hasn’t released official pricing quite yet, but has revealed that the P20E-6 will begin series production this October.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Komatsu.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. 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. It has 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 Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has unexpectedly terminated a contractor’s contract at Gigafactory Texas, resulting in the layoff of 82 workers who were supporting the automaker’s production at the giant factory in Austin.
MPW Industrial Services Inc., an Ohio-based industrial service provider specializing in cleaning and facility management, has issued a new WARN notice, confirming that it will lay off 82 workers in Texas due to Tesla unexpectedly ending its contract with the company.
Here are the details from the WARN notice:
- State / agency: Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
- Notice date: August 27, 2025.
- Employees affected: 82
- Likely effective date: September 1, 2025
- Context from the filing/letter: layoffs tied to an unexpected termination of a major customer contract (Tesla—Gigafactory Texas, 1 Tesla Road); positions include 61 technicians, 7 team leads, 7 supervisors, 7 managers; no bumping rights; workers not union-represented.
In April 2024, Tesla initiated waves of layoffs at the plant, resulting in the dismissal of more than 2,000 employees in Austin, Texas.
Since then, Tesla’s sales have been in a steady decline. While the automaker is expected to have a strong quarter in the US in Q3 due to the end of the tax credit, sales are expected to decline further in Q4 and the first half of 2026.
Many industry watchers have expected Tesla to initiate further layoffs due to the situation.
Electrek’s Take
We may be seeing the beginnings of a new wave of layoffs at Tesla, as the automaker typically starts with contractors.
To be fair, Tesla could also potentially end the contract unexpectedly for other reasons, but the timing does align with the need to cut costs and staff ahead of an inevitable downturn in US EV sales.
I think it’s inevitable that we start seeing some layoffs. I think Tesla will have to slow down production in the US to avoid creating an oversupply, especially in Q4-Q1.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
First, it was e-bikes, offering an efficient, effective, and low-cost way for teens and just about everyone to zip around town, yet drawing the temper of suburban traditionalists. Now golf carts are the new public enemy number one in suburbia, at least if you ask the growing number of online groups where residents complain about these small electric vehicles “clogging” their streets.
But beyond the hand-wringing, golf carts and their more sophisticated cousins known as Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) or Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs), are quietly becoming a popular alternative to cars for short trips around US cities and suburbs.
While most people still associate golf carts with retirement communities in Florida or slow rides across 18 holes, street-legal versions have been around for the last few decades.
But these aren’t your grandpa’s bare-bones carts, complete with a golf pencil clip. Many now come with DOT seat belts, lights, turn signals, mirrors, backup cameras, and speed limiters that allow them to operate legally on roads up to 35 mph, as long as they meet all the federal requirements for Low-Speed Vehicles (LSVs).
That means such vehicles are legally allowed to operate like cars, trucks, bicycles, or motorcycles on the vast majority of residential streets and a surprising portion of urban grids. In other words, for grabbing groceries, school drop-offs, or cruising to a friend’s house, they’re a practical, cheaper, and far greener substitute for firing up a 5,000-pound SUV.
Golf carts have been slowly taking off for years, but the pandemic accelerated the trend. Sales of golf carts and LSVs spiked as families looked for safe, outdoor transportation and an easy way to get around their neighborhoods. Now, in cities all over the country, the sight of parents driving their kids to school or running errands in a cart is increasingly common. In some towns, petitions have even popped up with hundreds of residents asking for local ordinances to legalize them on more streets, according to the Daily Mail.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled. There’s growing backlash against the increase in golf carts on streets, with many residents calling them a “plague” and complaining that they’re taking up space on the roads, in parking lots, or creating unsafe conditions. While rare, there have been serious accidents too, with a handful of tragic cases highlighting the dangers of mixing small, lightweight carts with full-size vehicles. Critics argue that carts lack the crash protection of cars and don’t always fall under homeowners’ insurance policies if an accident happens.
But for every critic, there’s a supporter pointing out that golf carts take cars off the road, save money on fuel, and are no more dangerous than scooters or e-bikes – modes of transport that already share the streets. And major golf cart makers have been happy to respond to the demand with boosted sales and new models. Companies like E-Z-GO, Club Car, WAEV, Kandi, and others are all rushing new models to the market as more suburban commuters discover that their next electric vehicle might just cost a fraction of what they thought it would – and come with a better breeze, too.
Electrek’s Take
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s like the Karens are just following me around to poo-poo on any alternative vehicle I happen to drive that week. They’ve hit all my favorites. Pretty soon, they’ll be coming for my electric tractors, too!
But seriously, this feels like déjà vu. The same arguments we’ve heard for years against e-bikes are now being recycled against golf carts: too unsafe, too disruptive, too “different” from the car-centric status quo.
But the reality is, again, quite the same as e-bikes. These are small electric vehicles that make a ton of sense and are totally street legal, at least when they’re built correctly to conform to the proper laws.
They come with a lot of the same benefits, too. They’re cheap to operate, easy to park, perfect for short trips, and they prevent larger cars from needlessly clogging residential streets. Will they ruffle feathers among the kind of folks who have had one too many frisbees land in their yard? Perhaps. But much like e-bikes, their popularity is only going one direction – up.
I leave you with a few images of perhaps my favorite of all, the Kandi Mini. The nay-sayers can pull it from my cold, dead, golf
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 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
-
Sports2 years 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
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024