This strange triple-motor electric bike has three wheels… in a row

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What has three wheels, three engines, and seemingly endless possibilities? tea Dolas Defender 250 electric bicycle. It may be a tricycle, but they just don’t call it a tricycle. It is something of a rollerblade to the rest of the rollerskates of the trike world, which puts all three of its wheels on a single track.

It’s just one of many clever and sometimes strange engineering choices found on this German electric bike.

Not only does the bike have three wheels in a row, human-centipede style, but each wheel is also a hub motor. I saw interesting tricycles and multi-motor e-bikesbut nothing like this before.

European e-bike laws are not as liberal as those in the United States which allow 750W of power. In Europe, e-bike motors can only provide 250W of power. But Dolas seems to have found a solution by simply putting three 250W motors on the bike for a total of 750W of power. Whether or not it is totally kosher is a question for regulators. For this reporter, it looks like a pretty fun ride!

And this is not just a rendering or concept bike. The company actually built these, and the video evidence speaks for itself! Check it out in action below.

Two of the biggest use cases for the Defender seem to be sharing rides tandem style with a second pilot and for use in heavy load carrying roles. Or both!

In fact, most electric cargo bikes can carry people or equipment on the back, but not both simultaneously. But the Defender is so long that it can fit two riders and still have room for a cargo basket in the back.

With up to 250 kg (550 pounds) of weight capacity, it looks like it’s purpose-built for exactly that dual use.

Priced at €4,650 (US$5,100), the Defender is actually not much more expensive than many other German e-bikes. And that’s not just three motors, but also a surprisingly large 48V 53Ah battery pack with 2,544 Wh of capacity. It is about 4-5 times the size of an average e-bike battery pack.

The company says that translates to up to 180 km (112 miles) of range, although by that point, you’ll probably be ready for a break in the saddle anyway.

There’s no word on if this model is coming to North America, but maybe next time we’re in Germany for Eurobike we can try to put a spin on this interesting looking trike…err, online bike?

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40 thoughts on “This strange triple-motor electric bike has three wheels… in a row”

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