The Best Folding Electric Bikes

Folding solves storage, not carrying

The promise of a folding e-bike is that it disappears — into a car boot, a hallway cupboard, under a desk, into a caravan locker. Most of them deliver on that. What almost none of them deliver on is portability, because folding a 70lb bike in half produces a 70lb object with awkward edges.

That distinction is the single most useful thing to hold in mind while shopping. If your problem is where do I keep it, almost any folder here will solve it. If your problem is I need to carry this up two flights of stairs or lift it onto a train, weight is the specification that decides, and very few folding e-bikes are light enough to qualify.

A conventional folding bicycle weighs 25 to 30lb. A folding e-bike weighs 60 to 75lb, because the motor, the battery and the reinforced hinge all add mass. There is no way around this at current battery prices; there are only bikes that are honest about it.

The cheapest sensible folder

The Heybike Mars 2.5 at $899 carries 600 Wh behind a 750W hub motor. For a bike that spends most of its life folded in a garage and comes out at weekends, the value is hard to argue with. Fat tyres, a straightforward cadence-sensor drive, and enough battery for a 30-mile day at moderate assist.

Its successor, the Heybike Mars 3.0 at $1,199, carries 624 Wh and 70lb of bike, and is Class 2 — so throttle, capped at 20mph.

The one to buy if you have to lift it

The Velotric Fold 1 Plus at $1,574 is 63lb with 608 Wh of battery. That is not light in absolute terms, but it is roughly ten pounds under the fat-tyre folders, and ten pounds is the difference between a two-handed lift and an argument.

It is also switchable between Class 1, 2 and 3, which is worth more on a folder than on any other kind of e-bike: a folding bike is the one you take somewhere else, and somewhere else has different rules.

The one with a rack and a warranty

The Rad Power RadExpandâ„¢ 5 Plus Folding Bike is $1,899 with 720 Wh and 72.5lb. It is the most expensive folder here and the specification does not explain why on paper. What explains it is Rad Power publishing payload, torque, capacity and UL certification on the product page, and having a US service network when something breaks — both of which are rarer in this category than they should be.

The mid-priced alternatives

The Mooncool POP Folding at $1,200 carries 652.8 Wh at 67lb, and the Heybike Ranger S 2.0 at $1,099 is a Class 3 folder with 692 Wh — unusual, since most folders stop at Class 2. If your folded bike still has to keep up with traffic when unfolded, that matters.

Check the folded dimensions, not the claim

“Fits in any car boot” is marketing. The number to find is the folded height, because that is what conflicts with a parcel shelf, and the folded width, because that is what conflicts with a second bike.

• Fat-tyre folders fold narrow but stay tall — the 20 by 4in tyres do not compress. Expect 30in of height folded.
• Small-wheel folders go lower but the battery often sits in the frame and sets a floor on how flat it will go.
• Hinge quality is the one thing you cannot check from a photograph. A folder is a bicycle with a deliberate weak point in the main tube; on a bike carrying 70lb and a motor, that hinge is doing real work.

What folding costs you

A folding e-bike is worse than a rigid one of the same price in three predictable ways. The frame is heavier for the same stiffness. The wheels are usually smaller, which makes the ride harsher and the handling twitchier. And the hinge is one more thing to service, check and eventually replace.

None of that matters if folding solves a real problem for you. All of it matters if you bought a folder because it seemed like a free feature. If the bike is going to live in a garage and be ridden from the driveway, buy the rigid bike — you will get more bicycle for the money.

What we would buy

• Cheapest that is not a mistake — Heybike Mars 2.5.
• If you have to carry it — Velotric Fold 1 Plus, for the ten pounds and the class switch.
• If you want support when it breaks — Rad Power RadExpandâ„¢ 5 Plus Folding Bike.
• If it needs to hit 28mph — Heybike Ranger S 2.0.

Common questions

Will a folding e-bike fit in a sedan boot? Usually yes, with the parcel shelf out and the rear seats down. A fat-tyre folder in a small hatchback is a genuine squeeze, and two of them will not fit without removing a wheel.

Can I take one on a train or a plane? Trains, usually, subject to the operator’s rules on folded bikes. Planes, no — airlines will not accept a lithium battery over 160Wh in the hold or the cabin, and every bike here is four to ten times that.

Are folding hinges reliable? On a reputable bike, yes, but they need checking. Inspect the clamp for play every few months and keep it torqued to spec. A loose hinge on a 70lb bike is not a small problem.

How this page makes money. Some links here are affiliate links and we earn a commission if you buy through them — currently BLUETTI, ALLPOWERS, Mango Power, Renogy and MoonCool. Every other brand on this page is here because leaving it out would make the comparison useless to you, and we are paid nothing either way. Prices are each maker’s own list price at the time of writing and change often.