How to Choose the Perfect Electric Trike for Your Mobility Needs: Finding The Features That Suit You

How to choose the perfect electric trike for your mobility needs.

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're going to talk about how to choose the perfect electric tricycle for your mobility needs. All right, right here I've got three electric trikes from sixthreezero. Now, let's say you are looking for an electric trike, and you may have certain physical needs or distance needs, whatever your personal needs may be. Well, how do you choose the right one? So let's first start with your mobility needs, okay? So let's talk about physical and physical requirements that, you know, will be needed to get on and off the trikes and what is out there. So let's say that you want to get an electric trike, and it's now gonna become your mode of transportation to get to and from the grocery store. Let's say you no longer drive, but let's also say that maybe you have some sort of physical impairment, or you can't lift your legs or move your body the same way that you used to. Now, in that case, you're gonna wanna opt for an electric trike that has easy mounting and dismounting. So something you can get on and off of easily with a low seat. You can see these two options right here have seats where you can lift the armrest, and slide in and out quite easily. This is a recumbent style, but it has more of an upright. I have a big seat at the back here. But if you physically need something that you can sit on more easily, you probably want to opt for something recumbent style. If that's not a requirement for you, you can pretty much choose from all the electric trikes out there. Now let's talk about whether you're gonna ride to the grocery store, you want to run errands, or you want to exercise. Now, if you want to run, run a lot of errands, you want a big rear basket, something like on the back of this one. These are gonna come with baskets shortly here, and again, if you're running errands, getting groceries, or if it's turning into your primary mode of transportation, storage is important. You can also put front baskets on. We have other options with rear baskets and front baskets, so it depends on how much storage you need or want on your certain rides. Now, the other thing to think about is if you wanna go very long distances.

That's another thing, if you are planning to go north of 10 miles in a given trip, at that point, you wanna think about possibly taking an extra battery or having a trike that's a double battery trike. Now, that's going to elevate the cost, and I say more than 10 miles. The reality is that all of these have a range of up to 50 miles, but it depends on how you ride your trike. Also, the weight of the rider has a very large impact, so the heavier the rider, the less range you'll get out of the battery as well. And also, depending on the type of terrain, if it's very hilly, you're gonna get less range as well. So over 10 miles per trip is just, you may wanna consider a secondary battery. If you're a rider who's gonna consistently go over 20 miles, even 30 miles, at that point, you're gonna wanna consider either buying a spare battery or buying a trike that is a double battery option. Now, I don't have any of those right here. We are coming out with some in the future. They do exist. They're nice in that when one battery dies, it automatically switches to the power of the other battery. Now, you can also just carry an extra battery. Ultimately, the same thing, you're gonna get the same advantage out of either setup. The only difference would be you'd have two ports integrated to supply power, versus having one; an extra one would just be in your basket or a bag or something like that. So, that's something to consider. Now, if you're also gonna do it for errands and long-range transportation, you're gonna bring a lot and go far, at that point you definitely wanna consider either a very large battery, I would say something over 20 amp hours, or having that extra battery or a double battery setup.

Now, if you're going short range and you're just concerned with very short trips around a neighborhood or something, then pretty much any electric trike's gonna work just fine. You just have to think about what's right for your body. Again, something that's easier to get on and off. Do you like an upright position? Do you want storage? Also, are you trying to just get exercise? So many things to consider depending on what you plan to do with your e-trike and what you hope to get out of it, right? So again, short-range trips, under 10 miles, you can consider many different trikes out there. Under 10-mile trips, then you have to think about your physical, the physical aspect, and what's gonna be best for your body, especially if you don't plan to do any errands. Maybe you just wanna get out and ride and enjoy nature. Then I think the number one factor is comfort and what's best for your body. Start to get over 10 miles, and you definitely wanna consider the battery, and things like that. When you get over 20 miles, the battery becomes even more important. Now, the other thing is the motor. If you're a heavier rider, over 200 pounds, you don't want anything less than 500 watts, and most likely you're gonna want 750 watts. And in select states, 1,000 watts is legal as well. So, heavier riders, that's a really good option. There are also different locations of the motor. There's a rear mount motor, there's the mid-drive motor, and there's a front hub motor. So if you're gonna ride a lot of hills, either having a large rear-mount motor or opting for a mid-drive motor is also a good option. Now, the mid-drive motors will be more expensive. They run a little bit more in cost, so you'll see those e-trikes with the mid-drive motor being a little more elevated in price. Mid-drive or rear mount is also good for hills, and again, heavier riders.

Front hub motors are just fine for again, flat ground around a neighborhood, and just your typical riding. You're gonna save a little bit of cost by opting for a front hub versus a rear mount or a mid-drive. The other benefit to a front hub motor is that they're very easy to replace, and plugging in a new one should you ever have an issue down the line with it breaking down. You've got your battery, your motor, and your body. Those are the three major things to consider, really, when searching for a trike, I take that back, and cargo space. Your body, cargo space, battery size, and motor size. Any one of those can be most important to a particular rider, depending on what is most important to you. Like I said, is it the range? Now, it's not to say that you can't get the best of all four of those combined into one e-trike. That's the goal. But sometimes you have to have a leading feature that is your number one, right? So if you are going to go over 20 miles, maybe battery size is number one in your mind. And from there, you work down into motor size. And from there, you work down into comfort. If comfort is number one, start there. If you like something like our simple glide with a high backrest, start there and see if the other specs can fulfill your needs for distance and power. If they can't, then you have a choice to make. If you prefer to choose comfort over the other options, over the other features, then you might just have to do that. The goal, like I said, is to match up your needs with all four of those categories. It may be possible, or it might not be possible. The challenge is is there are so many different mobility needs out there, and combining them into the perfect trike for every single person is challenging.

Now, if you have any other questions on the topic at all, please 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 on 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. Also, we're gonna warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of its parts and labor. In addition to that, if you wanna come out for a test ride, we're in San Clemente, California. Come try any of our e-trikes before you purchase to get on it and see if you like it before you make up your mind. And lastly, join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero Pedalers. Thousands of members in the group join before you purchase to talk to existing riders to hear their experiences, to ensure you make the right choice. Then, when you have yours, post in the group, make friends, and finally download the app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey or experience, enjoy the ride.