750 Watt ETrike: Do You Need 750 Watts on Your Electric Tricycle? The Truth About ETrike Motors

Do you need 750 watts of power on an e-trike? Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're going to answer the question, Do you need 750 watts of power on an e-trike? All right, let's say you are in the market for an electric trike and you're wondering what motor size to choose. 750 watts is legally the biggest size in most states in America, and you're probably wondering, Do I need 750 watts? Well, our Simple Glide trike right here is 500 watts, and Relaxed body right here is 750 watts. Now, I'm a 230-pound guy, I ride both of these. The thing to know is if you're doing mostly flat ground riding, 500 watts of power is going to be more than enough. Even in most cases, up to 350 pounds, 500 watts is enough on flat ground. Now, if you're trying to torque the throttle from a dead stop and you are a heavier rider with the 500 watts, you may eventually put a lot of strain on the battery. But if you ease into the throttle on flat ground and pedal a little bit, you should have no problem. Now, hills are a different story. When you get into hills, 750 watts for someone over 200 pounds is a good thing to have. The key to that, though, is that as you move up in motor sizes, many times, many manufacturers move up in tire size and wheel size. Now you can see the Relaxed Body has 3-inch wide tires and the Simple Glide has 2.125-inch tires. Both of these trikes get me up a pretty substantial hill here, and you can see videos on our YouTube channel if you wanna watch that. Now, the Relaxed Body gets me up quicker, but not as quickly as you would think, because having the thinner tires reduces the drag quite a bit.

So if you're looking at a fat tire e-trike and it has a 750-watt motor, but you're looking at another trike that has a thinner tire, maybe with a 500-watt motor, really think about your riding and the cost and what's important. 4-inch wide tires on trikes in particular create a lot of drag. So you definitely want to have a 750-watt motor for that wide of a tire, with a thinner tire, you don't necessarily need the 750 watts because you're getting a smoother, easier roll with the thinner tires. So something to think about. So now again, if you're taking on a lot of hills, I wouldn't recommend a 4-inch wide tire. I'd recommend a 3-inch wide tire. If you only have some hills here and there, 4-inch wide tires, fine. But if you're taking on a lot, a lot of hills and you've got those 4-inch wide tires, not only does it create drag, but it's gonna drain the battery quicker. Again, the more rubber that the motor has to turn, the more restriction, all of which is gonna play into the battery draining faster. The other thing, too, is if you're under 200 pounds, for most hills, 500 watts is going to be pretty good. If you're under 200 pounds and you just want to use the throttle and zip up a hill, you can opt for 750 watts as well. I don't think you necessarily need it. But again, if you want the extra power and the price isn't that substantially different or different at all, then you could opt for it.

 I've ridden both, I've ridden all of them, 250 watts, 500 watts, 750 watts, you name it. Again, the 750 watt is great, but as you increase the width of the tire, you start to feel that restriction, and it depends on where you're gonna ride. Like I said, how many hills are you doing hills. Sometimes it's nicer to have thinner tires because you also get a quicker acceleration. You can move the tires quickly. The other thing to think about is the tire diameter, so smaller tires might be a little bit zippier. But in the long run may not be good for longer rides because it's taking more rotations, you know, of the tires to move the product, to move the trike forward. So, in conclusion, do you need a 750-watt? Depends on the rider, depends on your weight, depends on the tire size that you want to opt for. Also depends on where you're going to ride. If you're going to take on trails, what kind of trails do you need that added power for? Things of that nature. So, I would say over 200 pounds, definitely consider a 750-watt, but remember the tire size. Also, remember the weight of the trike. As the weight of the trike goes up, the more power you need in the motor to power it, right? So, if you have one trike that's 500 watts, but it weighs 40 pounds, let's just say hypothetically, and you have another trike that is 750 watts but weighs 80 pounds, well now you've doubled the weight of the trike, So they may perform about the same, right? Because you've got a motor that is only having to push a product half the weight of another one. So, all things to consider when you're choosing your electric trike.

If you don't want to complicate it at all, just think about what's most comfortable and best for your body, because I still think focusing on that is one of the most important. Then you can always match up the electric specs according to how you're going to ride. Now, if you have any other specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them, reach out to us, at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. We also offer a 30-day test ride with your e-trike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of its parts and labor. Lastly, join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero Pedalers. There are thousands of members in the group. Join the group before you purchase to talk to existing riders to ensure you're making the right choice. Then when you have yours, post in the group, make friends, and finally download our app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.