Electric Trikes Cost WHAT?!?! How Much Should You Spend on an ETrike? The Truth About ETrike Prices

How much should you spend on an electric trike? Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're going to answer the question, How much should I spend on an electric trike? Right here I've got two e-trikes from Sixthreezero, the Simple Glide Recumbent 500 watt and the EVRYjourney Rickshaw e-bike. So let's say you're shopping for an e-trike, you may have just begun your research, or you're deep into it. And for those of you deep into it, you're probably finding a whole variance in prices from stuff as inexpensive as a thousand, maybe even a little less in some cases, to several thousand dollars. And you're wondering, gosh, what do I need? What am I going to do with it? What's best for me? Well, challenging question for me to tell you what's best for you, but I can tell you roughly what you're going to get for what you're going to spend, and thinking about how often you're going to ride. Now, couple things I wanna put out there is the price of anything you buy out there in the world, whether it's an e-trike, a car, you name it, the price of the product is only one element, or what goes into making the product is only one thing that determines the price of a product.

It's also the company behind it, the support you'll get, the service you'll get, and any follow-ups you may need, that also impact the price.  And I say that because you may see different specs out there, and they look the same, and that could be true. But you also have to think about do you think you may ever need parts in the future? Do you ever think you want assistance? Do you want to reach out to the company? And I say that because number one, if you are someone who thinks you do want to have a relationship with the brand and know you can trust that brand, contact the brand, then you probably don't want to spend as little as possible. I want to say that because not all brands that make inexpensive products mean they're not going to be available. However, does it mean that any brand that sells expensive products means they are going to be available? But I will say typically when you see a more expensive product, it would mean the service should be a little bit better provided by the company. Now, not always the case. So don't quote me on that, but I can tell you if you were to buy from a mass market seller, their whole goal and value proposition is the lowest price possible and cutting out as many of the frills to reduce the price as low as it can go.

So that's number one, something to think about. Number two is thinking about the design and the style. The price isn't always related to the specs. The price is also related to the design time, which went into designing it. You may be able to find another trike as an example, like the Simple Glide, that has a 500-watt motor, just like this one; it may be less expensive. But some nuances went into designing this frame with this type of seat, and the arrangement and all those components come together to form a unique product. So what I would say to you is you have to think about number one, where are you gonna ride? How fast do you wanna ride? How many hills? Also, the riding position. What kind of comfort are you looking for? What kind of sitting position? All of those play into it. So when you're looking, think more about your body and the type of riding before you start to just compare specs. Now, if you find two e-trikes that have the same specs, same riding position, and one is less expensive than the other.

Well, then, maybe opt for the less expensive one, you know, without a doubt. Now, battery, bigger batteries, and bigger motors don't always correlate to more expensive or less expensive. There are different types of batteries. We have also UL-tested our e-trikes to ensure that they meet a certain safety standard. Less expensive e-trikes may not be UL tested. That's another cost that goes into the product to have it tested and ensure a certain level of safety. So, to cut costs on some lower-end ones, they may not do the UL testing. Something to think about as well. Also, I would like to believe you can have the same specs, right? You can have the same motors on two different cars, but one brand of motor may be more expensive than another. Why? Because the kind of attention and detail that goes into making it, which hopefully means it will last longer, right? So you're paying for that craftsmanship and the time, and in e-trikes, it's the same kind of thing. Typically, more expensive means that... a little more time was spent on the production, a little more care went into producing it, and you're getting a higher quality, even though the specs say the same as another brand.

Now, what I'm saying may not always be true. Something more expensive may end up being of a worse quality than something less expensive. But generally speaking, if brands are standing behind what they're doing and not trying to rip people off, what I'm saying should be true. With that said, look up reviews on whatever trike you're looking at because you may hear people complaining, saying things like, Oh, it's overpriced for what you get. I will say, though, you tend to always hear from a lot of the negative people versus the positive people, even for all the brands that are out there. But some of the feedback is good. If it's generally positive, you can most likely trust that brand. If you see a lot of negative reviews where it's like way overpriced or this and that, then you'll probably know a brand is charging too much for the type of product that they're putting out there. But so with that said, I would say a good standard electric trike, the range right now that I find is in the, let's say, $1,300 to $2,000 range. That is sort of like the starting, like a good everyday electric trike. Over $2,000, you start to see things like fat tire e-trikes, bigger motors, bigger batteries, and also very specific use cases, something like the Simple Glide, the recumbent style, over that price point. So anything that's in the standard e-trike range, if it has standard tires and it's over $2,000, you wanna look hard at those specs and see why it's a little bit more, is it unique, is it different, something to that effect.

 If it's something with fat tires and a very large motor and it's over two grand, I would say that's in the realm. The fat tire e-trikes, I would say, generally speaking, are in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, with some going a little bit over $3,000. And then over $3,000, $4,000, you start to get into really unique cargo-type use cases. And for those types of trikes, honestly, they can charge a little bit more because so many of those cargo ones and something like the Rickshaw, where you have passengers, they are very unique frames, more limited production, and so the costs do go up. So that's my basis for how much you should spend on an electric trike. If you have any questions or thoughts, or you agree or disagree with me, reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com  or call us at 310-982-2877. In addition to that, we offer a 30-day test ride of your e-trike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we're going to warrant everything for one year. After one, or sorry, we're gonna warrant everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of it, parts and labor. And lastly, join our Facebook group. We have a Sixthreezero-Peddlers group on Facebook with thousands of members. Join the group before you purchase to talk to existing riders to ensure you're making the right choice. Then, when you have yours, post in the group, make friends. It's a lot of fun. And finally, download our app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thank you for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience, Enjoy the ride.