Cheap Electric Bikes
Every bike we sell that comes in under $2,000 once the discount is applied. 38 of them, from $679, across 10 categories, sorted by price rather than by which one we would rather sell you. 2 are under $1,000, and we will be honest about what that number gets you further down.
Prices are what you pay today, after the site-wide bike discount. Same 1-year warranty on every bike here as on the most expensive one in the range.
- 1-year warranty on frame, motor and battery
- Free shipping over threshold
- 14-day ride-it-and-see returns
- Dispatched within 2 business days
The best electric bikes under 1000
There are 2, and we would rather say that than pad the list. The Lectric XP Lite 2 at $679, and The Ride1Up Portola at $846. Both fold, which is not an accident: a folding frame is where the money goes furthest at this price, because the parts are smaller and the bike is not pretending to be a cargo hauler.
Between the two, the Ride1Up Portola is the one to buy if you can stretch to it. The extra $167 buys a 750 W geared hub instead of a 300 W motor, and on any hill at all that gap is the whole difference between riding and pushing.
What neither of them is: a bike for a 20 km hilly commute with a loaded rack. If that is your ride, keep reading rather than saving the money. The folding range has the rest of the fold-up options if the small frame is what you actually came for.
Cheap ebike or cheapest ebike: not the same question
The cheapest ebike we sell is the Lectric XP Lite 2 at $679. It is a folding bike with a 300 W motor, and at that price that is a fair trade rather than a compromise anyone hid from you.
But almost nobody actually wants the cheapest one. What they want is an ebike cheap enough to justify and good enough to keep, and those are about $170 apart here. The next bike up carries a 750 W geared hub, which is the difference between riding a hill and pushing up it. That is the single best $170 on this page.
So read the two questions separately. If the budget is genuinely fixed, buy the cheapest and it will be fine on flat ground. If there is any give at all, spend it here rather than anywhere else in the range, because nothing else you can buy for $170 changes the ride this much.
The best 750 watt electric bike for the money
25 of the bikes on this page run a 750 W motor, and the cheapest is the Ride1Up Portola at $846. If you want one that is not a folder, the Lectric XPress 2 at $1,189 is the cheapest full-size 750 W bike we stock.
A word on that number, though, because it is the one people shop by and it is the wrong one. Watts describe electrical draw, not pulling power. Torque in newton metres is what gets you up a hill, and a well-tuned 250 W mid-drive will out-climb a crude 750 W hub because it puts its power through the gears. Buying by wattage is how people end up with a heavy bike that still struggles on the climb they bought it for.
Where 750 W genuinely earns its keep is starting from a standstill with weight on board, which is why so many of the utility and cargo bikes here carry one. How fast ebikes actually go covers why the motor size matters less to your journey time than the traffic lights do.
What an electric bike under 2000 actually gets you
More than it did three years ago, and this is the honest headline of the whole page: $2,000 is no longer the budget end of e-bikes. It is the middle. There are 38 bikes under it here spanning 10 categories, including cargo bikes, an eMTB and fat tyre models that would have been $3,500 not long ago.
The band that changes the bike most is $1,100 to $1,500. That is where you stop buying compromises and start buying fittings: a 750 W motor, brakes that stop 25 kg repeatedly, mudguards, a rack and lights already on the bike rather than three accessory purchases away. Four hundred dollars spent there does more than four hundred spent at $3,000, where it buys a lighter frame and a nicer finish you cannot feel yet.
Two things that used to be premium and are not any more. An affordable fat tire electric bike is now genuinely a thing: seven bikes here run 4in tyres, from $1,105. And a fast cheap ebike is too, with sixteen of these assisting to 28 mph and the cheapest at $846. Both were $3,000 propositions three years ago.
Above $2,000 you are mostly paying for weight coming off, suspension going on, and mid-drive motors. All real, none of it necessary for a flat commute. Our guide to choosing an ebike works through which of those you actually need.
When cheap is too cheap
Nothing on this page is the bike we are about to warn you about, but you will meet it the moment you search this term anywhere else, so here it is. The $600 mystery-brand special off a marketplace is not a cheaper version of these. It is a different product that looks similar in photographs.
Uncertified battery cells. No replacement pack ever manufactured for that frame. Cable brakes on a bike heavy enough to need better. A brand that is three letters and a shrug, and no one to answer when the display dies in month fourteen. Nine out of ten “my e-bike died after a year” stories are the same bike, and the ending is always that it becomes a very heavy normal bicycle, which is a bold way to buy a normal bicycle.
You do not save money on one of those. You rent a bike for a year and then buy the real one, which is how a $600 decision turns into a $1,800 one. The price you pay is not the cost you carry, and the cheapest bike on this page at $679 has a warranty, a parts supply and a workshop check behind it that the marketplace bike does not. How to spot a real deal covers the discount side of this, which is a different trap with the same ending.
And the thing a shop is not supposed to say: if your ride is flat and under 5 km and you already own a working bicycle, none of these is the right purchase. A normal bike is lighter, cheaper and needs no charging. We would rather tell you that now than sell you a very economical hallway ornament.
Straight answers
What is the best electric bike under 1000?
Of the bikes we stock, two come in under $1,000 and the Ride1Up Portola at $846 is the stronger one, because it carries a 750 W geared hub rather than the 300 W motor on the cheaper Lectric XP Lite 2 at $679. Both are folding bikes, which is not a coincidence at that price.
Are cheap electric bikes any good?
The ones with a real brand behind them are. What separates a cheap e-bike from a bad one is not the price, it is whether certified battery cells, replacement parts and someone to answer the phone still exist in three years. Below roughly $800 those tend to stop existing.
What are the best budget electric bikes?
The sweet spot is $1,100 to $1,500 rather than the very bottom. That band buys a 750 W motor, hydraulic or decent mechanical brakes, and fittings you would otherwise buy separately. Spending $400 more there changes the bike far more than spending $400 more at $3,000 does.
What is the best 750 watt electric bike for the money?
The Ride1Up Portola at $846 is the cheapest 750 W bike here by a clear margin. If you want one that is not a folder, the Lectric XPress 2 at $1,189 is the cheapest 750 W city bike we stock. 25 of the bikes on this page run a 750 W motor.
Is there a decent electric bike under 2000?
Most of the range, in fact. 38 bikes here land under $2,000 after the discount, across 10 categories including cargo, eMTB, trikes and fat tyre. Under $2,000 is not the budget end of e-bikes any more, it is the middle.
What is the cheapest ebike you sell?
The Lectric XP Lite 2 at $679, and it is a folding bike with a 300 W motor, which is exactly what $679 buys. The cheapest ebike and the cheapest one worth owning are usually different bikes, and on this page they are about $170 apart.
Are budget e-bikes reliable?
The ones with certified cells, a replacement battery still in production and a seller who answers are, and that is a brand question rather than a price question. Plenty of budget e-bikes pass that test. Plenty of dearer ones do not.
Is there a cheap ebike that is also fast?
Yes, and more than people expect. A fast cheap ebike is a real category now: sixteen bikes on this page assist to 28 mph, and the cheapest of them is $846. Speed is one of the few things that has stopped costing extra.
Why are some electric bikes so cheap?
Usually because something was left out that you find out about later: uncertified cells, no replacement pack made for the frame, cable brakes on a 25 kg bike, or a brand with no support. A low price is fine. A low price with none of those behind it is a different product.
How long does a budget ebike battery last?
A certified pack gives 800 to 1,000 full charge cycles before dropping to 80% of rated capacity, which is three to five years of normal use, and that holds at $850 as much as at $8,500. What varies at the cheap end is whether a replacement pack is still manufactured when you need one.
Do cheap electric bikes come with a warranty?
Ours do. Every bike carries 1 year on frame, motor and battery, plus a 60% battery capacity guarantee at one year and a 14-day return window. That is the same cover on the $679 bike as on the most expensive one in the range.