If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside.Learn about Outside Online's affiliate link policy Like most parents, I dread weekday afternoons. I rush out of work (sometimes making special arrangements to leave early), get home, feed our kids a quick snack, and then climb in the car where we spend hours commuting to afternoon and evening activities.
Three days a week, on the way to my son’s 5 p.m. soccer practice, we sit in awful after-work traffic that’s made worse by new freeway construction. Instead of decompressing from work and school, both my son and I are aggravated and worried that we’ll be late. My daughter’s cross-country practice is closer to the house, but it still requires a car trip that’s often stressful as we rush to get her there on time.
Our family owns a pickup and a minivan that both get about 18 miles to the gallon. We burn an extra quarter-tank of gas each week sitting in traffic, and with gas at nearly $5 a gallon here in New Mexico, the cost adds up. All of this got me thinking: I know several people, and have heard of many more, who have effectively replaced their cars with e-bikes for their commutes to and from work.
I wondered if I could replace my truck and minivan with one for my kid-activity commutes as well. Would it be a huge hassle to load my 10-year-old son on a bike and ride to soccer? Would I have time to take my 13-year-old daughter to cross-country practice and then come back and take my son?
To find out, I got a test sample of the Aotos Flux X26 Pro. There are tons of two-wheeled e-vehicles to choose from, but I went for the Aotos because it has a seat big enough for two people and a 50- to 70-mile range—enough for a full week of commuting. It wasn’t until the Aotos arrived that I learned that because of its specs, it’s not technically an e-bike.
In most instances, the bike uses 750-watts of power and has a top speed of 20 miles per hour. But if I push a red button on the handlebars it can jump to 2,000 watts of power and top out at 28 mph for ten seconds. According to People For Bikes and the federal government, any e-vehicle with motor power over 750 watts that can exceed 20 miles per hour by use of a throttle is a “motor-driven cycle,” not an e-bike.
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