When many people hear the term "folding bike" they tend to think small, as most folders are indeed small and lightweight, built to prioritize portability and minimize storage space. However, folding bikes come in all shapes and sizes, even full size rides with monster 26x4" fat tires!
The primary benefit of a folding bike is the reduced storage footprint. Transporting in a vehicle is generally easier, especially if you've got a small sized sedan. General storage is easier too; if you have a small apartment and need to bring your bike indoors it can be nice to just fold it up and stash it in a corner. This is why folders tend to be popular with the RV & Camper community, where room to store things is extra limited!
Without further adieu, here's our collection of all the folding electric bikes we know about. Enjoy!
The Blaupunkt Henri is rocking a magnesium alloy frame & wheels, which is durable, lightweight, and vibration damping. It folds down small which is great for storage, with a magnetic latch mechanism to keep it locked in the folded position, making it fairly easy to maneuver and roll around while folded. The 350-watt motor is no speed demon but still capable of 20mph speeds using either pedal assist or the half-grip twist throttle. It's priced a bit on the high side... but it does seem to be built very well and should hold up well over time, and it certainly looks beautiful!
Lectric took the e-bike world by storm with their first XP model back in 2019 and they've been steadily improving the product line ever since! The XP 3.0 is the latest and greatest version with upgrades that include a quieter and more powerful motor, hydraulic brakes, and more, with an amazingly low price point of $999 USD. You still get the usual rack, fenders, and lighting system, and yes, it still folds down for easier storage and transportation.
The second iteration of Aventon's Sinch has changed so much that I hesitate to even consider it the same model. It's step-through now, it's got a rack and fenders, more advanced lighting, a telescoping stem, a torque sensor... but what the heck, it's the Sinch.2! It is still a fat-tired folding bike on 20x4" fat tires, and even more of a blast to ride thanks to that torque sensor. The basic suspension fork allows for comfortable riding in the city and on light trails, but it doesn't have a ton of travel so don't get too crazy. Another benefit of the new frame is that it's a lot easier to remove the battery; on the previous Sinch you had to fold the bike first before exposing the battery, which was inconvenient.
Really the only downside for the Sinch.2 is the brakes; they're good quality disc brakes, but they're mechanical as opposed to hydraulic. That means they take more grip force to activate, and they'll need occasional maintenance to tighten up the cables. For a bike that weights roughly 70 pounds and can carry up to 300 pounds of rider and cargo, hydraulic brakes would be a real plus.
I was already impressed with how cheap the original Lectric was at $879, and that was way back in 2019 dollars. Now you can get an XP Lite for only $749 in 2023 bucks! Lectric even includes fenders, a rear rack, and a set of pannier bags at that price. Plus a comfortable saddle, integrated lights, and all on their award-winning folding platform. So what do you lose if you get this instead of the standard XP? Well, the Lite is more compact and lightweight, which translates to "not as comfortable to ride" for most people. The motor is not as powerful, only capable of 20mph and you get a bit less range due to the smaller battery. The Lite is also rocking a single-speed drivetrain, which is efficient and requires less maintenance, but is a lot less fun when faced with a steep incline.
Rawr, it's the Lynx! Usually when you ride a small folding e-bike you have to make some sacrifices such as not being able to haul cargo, but there's no such trade-off for the Lynx, which is rocking not only a rear rack but also a sturdy front basket! It's also surprisingly adjustable thanks to the extra long seatpost, which is doing double duty holding up butts and also housing the battery pack. 20" wheels give a mechanical advantage to the motor for more ZIP, but they also don't roll over bumps as nicely as a big wheel would, and since there's no suspension you should avoid rough riding surfaces.
Dual batteries on a small folding e-bike? Qualisports says "sure, why not!" Having the dual battery option is nice if you want to maximize your range, but you might not want to ride that far since this is a small bike with no suspension... but even then it's nice to not have to charge up as often. Plus, the battery-hiding seatpost is extra thick which means you can raise it extra high; this combined with the telescoping stem make the Dolphin Plus surprisingly comfortable for what it is. The 500 watt motor feels pleasantly zippy due to the smaller diameter wheels, with a tried-and-true Shimano drivetrain for pedaling.
The Folding 1 is a great fit for RV-ers and other mobile adventurers with limited storage space, folding down to fit in a 20x35x30 compact space. The medium-powered electrical system can reach 20mph on the throttle or 25mph with pedal assist, making it a Class 2 / 3 hybrid. While the 572 watt-hour battery isn't the biggest around, it's made with excellent quality LG cells that will last a long time, and the entire bike is UL certified which is very important for safety.
Sturdy construction and cast alloy wheels allow this heavy-duty folder to carry up to 400 pounds of rider and cargo weight, but that means the Ranger S is quite a bit heavier than most e-bikes. It has lights, signals, fenders, and a rear rack, so it's fully equipped for a wide variety of use cases - even some light off-road adventuring thanks to the suspension fork!
It can't actually twist, but it can fold! Some e-bikes are specialists but the Twist is a jack of all trades, designed to handle a wide range of terrains and use cases. There's even two different frame sizes so it can suit a wide range of rider sizes, too! Surface604 has been making electric bikes for a long time and their expertise shows in their reliable yet affordable products, most of which have torque sensors which are rare in this price range. The step-through frame is approachable, yet thick enough to provide stability at speeds, and you can configure this e-bike as either Class 2 (20mph) or Class 3 (28mph). The sturdy rear rack is part of the frame which makes it a lot more sturdy than the typical bolt-on rack.