Nat King Cole may have had Daisy swooning on his bicycle built for two, but that’s hardly a practical family vehicle. What happens when you have a few rugrats and need to transport the whole brood? That’s when it’s time to switch to a bicycle built for four. And I’ve found just the thing for this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.
I love me a tandem electric bike as much as the next guy.
I’ve even found an affinity for three-person e-bikes. A little cyclage à trois, if you will.
But four people? Now that’s a party!
I had hoped to find a traditional two-wheeler e-bike with four seats, but apparently the whole rigidity problem means that few engineers want to take on that kind of liability.
So instead, we’ve got ourselves a four-wheeled four seater, surrey style!
And I’m convinced that this is the ultimate family vehicle, ready to replace just about any minivan or SUV out there.
So you know how when you’re driving your kids around town and they’re just sitting in the back not contributing anything? (I’m assuming – I don’t actually have any kids of my own, at least that I know of.)
Well what if instead of just taking up space, those little backseat moochers could actually contribute?!
Just put ’em to work, pedaling away and propelling the family car electric surrey bike. You’re the one paying for those snack packs; you might as well get some benefit out of all of that kiddie fuel.
C’mon, it’s good for them! Plus it’s not like they’ll have to pedal that hard. There’s a 1,500W motor in one of those rear wheels that will be doing the brunt of the work. Everyone else could pretty much mime pedal and the effect would be nearly the same.
Running on a 60V system, this four-person electric bike-car seems to have a pretty powerful setup. And with a 32 Ah battery packing just shy of 2 kWh, the thing even gets a reported range of 80 km (50 miles). The battery is an old-fashioned lead acid pack, unfortunately. But that’s nothing a few hundred bucks and a few minutes on Amazon can’t solve. While you’re at it, might as well grab some cheap solar panels to throw on top too!
There’s even a hidden feature to this fun-mobile. I thought this was just a four-person e-bike, but there are actually two kiddie seats up front to stash another couple tiny passengers. I have to question the placement of those seats, though. Positioned directly in front of the driver, they seem to do double duty by ensuring the flailing toddlers obstruct the driver’s vision as much as possible, then serving as the most poorly thought-out crumple zone ever during the inevitable crash they cause.
But the baby bumper up front isn’t the only safety feature found on this thing. You also get some old-timey headlights and not one but two brakes! Both rear wheels feature drum brakes, which are hopefully enough to bring this 190 kg (419 lb) careening family wagon to a halt.
What did I tell you? The perfect family vehicle!
Alright, so maybe it’s not the best way to bring the kids to school. But it would certainly be one of the most unique.
And while you’re killing time waiting for school to end, you’ve got a whole new career on your hands renting out your wheels to tourists on vacation. This thing practically pays for itself. Which is good, because you’ll have to fork over $2,145 for the contraption. Though as I learned when I bought a mini electric truck on Alibaba, you should expect several more charges along the way before it finally arrives at your door.
Despite having bought a few of my weird Alibaba finds in the past, I’m going to have to sit this one out. But if anyone does decide to pull the trigger on a four-person electric bike, I call shotgun!
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