Suddenly I was spending hours if not days less time in my car, and more on a bike. I won't pretend that exercise was a factor here — the e-bike does 95% of the work for you — but I'll argue with any doctor that some peddling is better than sitting on my butt in a car. In the 1980s, Waterford Precision started building cyclocross bikes. They are similar to the gravel bikes popular today, which also handle well on a range of surfaces. “Even if we built every bicycle in this country, you would probably build them with less than 10,000 people. The pack has a built in handle and LED light readout for a quick estimate of remaining battery capacity. The pack locks to the frame and does require the key to be left in to a second slot in order to be used. This is a definite con as your keys can jingle around when riding making them and the bike frame more vulnerable to damage and scratches. Fully charged, a 250-watt e-bike motor can take a rider about 22.5 miles at 20 mph. These numbers, of course, can vary depending on riding conditions, bike weight, and rider weight. You might see the occasional "e-bike" (and we use the term loosely here) blowing through city traffic at speeds of 30 or 40 mph or more. These are essentially small electric motorcycles with pedals merely as decoration. They're not really e-bikes, and they might not be legal in most places.You might also find some high-power e-bikes that allow for a manual override of the regulator. As reviewed, the bike didn't have much in the way of storage, but other models have a rear rack and even storage in the seat. Speaking of the seat, it's not the most comfortable I've ridden on, but that's easy enough to replace with a third-party seat if you like. When you think about EVs, you probably (rightly) think of cars. But there's another class of EV that might have slipped below your radar, but which has transformed my summer in very unexpected ways. The bike was provided by Schwinn for the purposes of the review. While riding, use the “+” button to increase the level of assist as desired, and use the “-“ to decrease. When I finally started riding, I discovered that I couldn't be completely lazy. You can't just sit on the bike and have it zoom you around town — you actually have to pedal to engage the electric motor. This plants it in the territory of pedal-assisted e-bikes rather than full-on motor-assisted. They go at whatever speed they are set for and you turn the pedals to keep the power flowing to the hub motor. 1 was a little slow, 2 was just about right, 3 sent me whizzing along faster than I could pedal. All three of the new Schwinn ebike models have step-thru and standover versions, 20mph speed limit and 250-watt brushless geared hub drive motor. While not a new invention, electric bicycles have only recently become more of a household name. E-bikes are increasing in popularity for good reason, but there are a lot of people who have understandable reservations. The battery, which cannot be plugged in or charged while attached to the bike, is advertised as lasting up to 30 miles per charge. Then again -- the bike is still a functioning piece of equipment once the battery is dead, so maybe we should all stop being so lazy. Of course, the premier feature of this e-bike is the "e" part. This is a class 1/class 2 e-bike in that it can be a pedal-assist bike up to 20 mph or you can use a dedicated throttle lever without pedaling. You will want to check your local regulations to find out what is legal in your area.