Can an E-Trike Replace Your Car? Rickshaw Ride Test! The Family Transport Game-Changer

I'm Diane, and I am at Sixthreezero in San Clemente. This is the Rickshaw E-Trike, and I'm so excited to take you out for a ride on it. If you're looking for a different option for picking up the kids from school or picking up a passenger, this is a great option for you. As you can see, there's a nice wide seat in the back with a seatbelt for safety. This could easily fit up to two passengers, and they can put their feet right here. There are all sorts of bells and whistles on this particular e-trike, including lighting features so that you can put the headlights and taillights on, as well as a horn. sixthreezero sells all sorts of different accessories, too.

This one has a rear-view mirror so that you can look to see if you want to make a turn or if anyone's behind you, and a holder for a cell phone. We also have the display that comes standard, showing what pedal assist level you're in, how much battery you have left on the e-trike, and how far you go. Oh my gosh, this one even shows you what time it is, so you know if you're going to be late picking up the kids from school! We also have seven different gears along with five levels of pedal assist, as we do on all the bikes. It makes the rides easy and efficient once you learn how to use them. We also have fat tires on this, along with hydraulic shocks. Essentially, what that does is catch some of the bumpiness if you hit a bump in the road, so that you're not getting jarred as hard when you're riding.

So let's take her for a ride! Are you ready? Let's go. My friend Lisa is on the ride with me as the passenger. Come on, Lisa, jump on!

"Are you gonna wear your seatbelt?"

"Sure am. Safety first."

As you can see, it's very easy to get on and off. I'm going to adjust my rearview mirror—I actually love that feature. I'm in pedal assist one right now, and since I haven't ridden with a passenger before, I want to see if I can feel somebody behind me and if that affects the pedal assist.

Starting with the throttle, I have no idea that there's a passenger behind me, even in pedal assist one! Switching gears... since I'm on flat ground, I wanted to go to a different gear. This is comfortable. Is it comfortable for you back there, Lisa?

"Yeah."

I'm still on pedal assist one, going about seven miles an hour and cruising. Think of all the different ways that you could use this: if you want to go hang with your friends or have lunch, you can just stop by and pick them up without jumping in the car. I love, love, love the handlebars on this too. Let's see what it's like to brake with a passenger.

Let's go left. It's not hard to brake at all. This bike has turn signals, so I am able to let the people behind me know that I'm turning, which I love alongside the rearview mirror.

Now, we are gonna charge up this hill! Right now I'm using the throttle, but I'm going to switch to pedal assist five to get us up this hill with a combination of the throttle to get us going. It's a very big hill, isn't it? If we wanted to hit up lunch at the top of the hill, we could do it without jumping in the car!

We just hit a pine cone and barely felt it. Did you feel it, Lisa?

"A little bit."

I'm one of those annoying drivers right now who forgot to turn the turn signal off! That's okay, I'll turn it off now. I love having the turn signals. Comfortable back there, Lisa?

Since I'm on a flat road now, I'm gonna click down to pedal assist one. Let's see what the turn radius is like. This is really comfortable and easy. I feel very stable. I didn't have to lean at all! Going back up a slight incline, I'm on pedal assist three. You know what I'm finding? I don't think there's a tremendous difference in what level of pedal assist you need whether you have a passenger or not. That's a great design. When you're riding a regular bike uphill and have to slow down, normally you'd have to get off the bike and start with a running start. But on an e-bike, e-trike, or rickshaw like this, you don't have to worry about that. Turning right here!

Lisa, you get to experience my brake-riding skills downhill firsthand now. Could you even tell that I have the brakes on?

"I mean, it's still a really smooth ride."

We're going about 11 miles an hour right now. I'm going to slow it down a little bit more. With pedal assist, regardless of the cadence that you're at, the higher the pedal assist, the faster you're going to go. Right now I'm at pedal assist one with my friend Lisa in the back, and my personal effort is really low. Love the hand grips on here too!

Lisa, do you think if you had something super heavy that wouldn't fit in a traditional back basket, you could strap it on back there with the seatbelt?

"You can also get a basket for this bike instead of the seat."

Oh, interesting! I didn't know that, that's a good point. Let's see how tight of a turn radius we can get here. That's a nice turn radius!

This bike also has parking brakes. Once you engage the parking brakes, the bike doesn't move, which is awesome if you're stopping, when passengers are loading or unloading, or when getting on or off the bike yourself. To disengage, you just click on the brakes.

Just like a lot of the bikes at Sixthreezero, it has a pretty low step-through, so you don't have to worry about getting tripped up coming off the bike.

I love the Rickshaw! I could see picking up the kids from school or picking up friends to go out for lunch. There are so many amazing uses for this e-trike. Come out to Sixthreezero to test ride and find the right option for your daily life. Thanks so much for joining me, and have a great day!