Best folding electric bikes: A compact option for city riders

The best folding electric bikes add some extra electronic assistance to the best folding bikes, making your ride easier and helping you to cover longer distances with less effort. Their compact folded dimensions mean that they're easier to store if you're space-constrained at home or work and are easier to take on weekend adventures, offering another (and frankly much more enjoyable) dimension to city breaks. Just shove it in the boot of your car, or stick it on the train and you’re good to go. 

Like that in the best electric bikes, technology in the best folding electric bikes has rapidly improved over the past few years, and we’re now seeing features to rival the best road bikes or best commuter bikes, making them a super convenient option for adopting into your everyday life. Carbon fibre components are inching their way into models making them lighter, while improvements in batteries and efficiencies in motors have led to longer battery ranges with higher speeds and quicker charging times. Additionally, folding mechanisms and quick releases have drastically improved folding speeds, making them even more appealing to the train-bike commuter in their morning or evening train-catching flurry. 

At Cyclingnews, we're bike riders above all else, and we've ridden and reviewed a whole range of bikes, including folding electric bikes, so we know what to look for in a folder with some extra e assistance.

Below are our picks of the best folding electric bikes and, at the bottom of the page, our buyer's guide to what to look for in a folding electric bike.

Best folding electric bikes: our picks

To many, Brompton is the market-leading folding bike brand. Its tried and tested folding bike platform has remained largely unchanged since its inception and still remains, in our opinion, one of the best available today. 

Converting the Brompton folding bike package to pedal assistance is a 250-watt front hub motor, powered by a detachable battery pouch that lives in a handlebar bag. This system is supplied by Swytch - makers of one of the best electric bike conversion kits that we've reviewed. 

There are plenty of things that put the Brompton Electric among the best folding electric bikes, such as its excellent array of luggage options, powerful brakes, crisp shifting and impressive Brompton ride quality, but we felt that it's still not perfect.

The mode controls are positioned on the battery, which we found to be an awkward reach when riding, and the brake levers need to be positioned slightly awkwardly so they aren't in the way when folded, and they don't cut the motor when pulled so we were sometimes caught out in traffic, as explained in more detail in our Brompton Electric review. We also reviewed the Brompton T-Line fitted with a Cytronex e-conversion kit recently. 

Alongside the original Brompton Electric C Line, there's now an Electric P Line bike, which has fewer gears and uses lighter materials to cut the bike's claimed weight from 17.4kg to 15.6kg.

Prodrive - a British motorsport and engineering group - bought out Hummingbird in 2020, though have only recently begun to rebrand the bikes on offer. They’ve taken the opportunity to give the bikes a bit of a facelift, though very generally the specs remain pretty much the same. You therefore might remember this bike as the Hummingbird Electric 2.0; it's now the Prodrive Electric Folding Bike.

We reckon that if you want a lightweight folding e-bike, this is a great option at a feather-light 10.3kgs. The Prodrive features carbon fibre components, which might seem superfluous on an e-bike, but it does help reduce overall mass.

Why is a lightweight folding electric bike important? When you need to carry it upstairs or lift it into stowage compartments on a train, like us you'll come to appreciate the weight reduction. 

The trussed rear end looks like a stylish application of industrial design and helps keep overall mass down.

Drawing energy from a 158Wh battery, the Prodrive folding e-bike uses a 250W rear hub motor, which is paired with a large 48T front chainring. It only spins a single 12T cog at the rear, so we think that you might be slightly over-geared if your commute includes steep gradients.

A thoroughly futuristic design, the Gocycle G4 looks, unlike any other folding electric bike. Named for its position as the fourth generation of Gocycle's design, the G4's designer is a former McLaren employee, and that shows in the choice of materials and shapes. There's a carbon fork and magnesium alloy rear frame and, instead of Chromoly, it has an injected-moulded composite centre - if you upgrade to the G4i you'll see carbon fibre in this portion of the frame instead.

Rolling on larger-than-most 20-inch wheels, the Gocycle rides better and smooths out the jarring influence of road surface imperfections, but it does mean the overall folded size is larger. 

Its front hub drive unit was upgraded in 2021, with a more potent 500W motor option for specific markets. We reckon that this should give you all the power needed to conquer any sequence of steep streets in an urban environment, even with the drivetrain only having three speeds, courtesy of Shimano's Nexus hub and Microshift grip shifting. The drivetrain is neatly housed within GoCycle's CleanDrive - effectively keeping it hermetically sealed from dirt and water ingress.

Disc brakes ensure secure stopping, even if your commute is in the rain. We should also mention the Gocycle G4’s LED status display, which is integrated into the handlebar. If there is one model that shows where folding e-bikes could be in 2030, we think that this is it. 

The Vektron S10 might not be a superlight folding e-bike, but it does have a broad reach of appeal. Tern has attempted to combine many ‘big bike’ features into the folding frame concept with this Vektron S10. The result is a heavy package, at 22.1kg, but you get a large capacity battery pack, boosting range.

The Vektron S10's ten-speed drivetrain ensures that you can work with its battery assistance most efficiently. Commuters can see a theoretical range of up to 106km, and with Shimano hydraulic disc brakes, we think that you should feel entirely safe using the Vektron S10’s pedal assistance in wet conditions.

Frequency of use can make life tough for a folding e-bike, so to combat this, a corrosion coating has been applied to the Vektron S10’s chain to help delay its wear rate. By configuring the Vektron S10 with a mid-drive motor, Tern’s designers have optimised weight distribution, which we think should give this folding e-bike fantastically balanced agility.

Although most folding electric bikes are targeted at a distinctly urban audience rolling on quality commuting infrastructure, what about a mixed terrain option?

If you are going to cross some gravel, or have to negotiate crumbling roads and unpredictable shortcuts in your active commute, tiny wheels and skinny tyres aren’t ideal. The solution is something with a much larger tyre casing and grippier tread pattern.

This is where the Lectric XP comes into its own. It might be a very heavy folding e-bike, at 28kg, but you get a potent 850W peak power motor and large 20x3in tyres.

With those big tyres, we'd never have an issue taking the ‘alternative’ route anywhere. Road surface imperfections are of no consequence to the Lectric XP’s ride quality.

If you are a keen camper or want a folding e-bike to use at that vacation venue, where the clubhouse and other amenities are just too far for a convenient walk, the Lectric XP’s robustness will appeal. With a standard battery, Lectric says that you can expect up to 45 miles range, but there's a long-range battery option that increases that to a claimed 65 miles. It's a US class 1, 2 and 3 design, so you can ride throttle-only if you want.

The Raleigh folding e-bike blends classic commuter styling, with the stability of 20-inch wheels and an appropriate battery specification.

Bigger wheels bring more directional stability to the folding e-bike platform, although they do slightly reduce the bike’s overall compactness when folded. With its 20-inch wheels, we think that the Raleigh should do a fair job of calming some road surface buzz.

The frame is alloy but there is a steel fork up front, and despite the now-old-fashioned vertically mounted battery pack, Raleigh has done well with the bike’s overall design, as well as including an integrated rear cargo rack, which will be of use to active commuters.

Not outrageously heavy for a 20-inch wheeled folding electric bike, at 20kg, this is a very neatly integrated bike that should offer up to 50km of assistance. Its seven-speed drivetrain offers a good spread of ratios to conserve battery life and power you up steep urban inclines without bother.

If you’re looking for a budget folding e-bike, the Carrera Crosscity folding bike offers considerable value at a low price point. With 30 miles of range and a top speed of 25 km/h, you can still zip along the roads at a lick without enough range to get you to and from work easily. Its only downside is that it takes about 6 hours to recharge - longer than most - although it does come with a 2-year warranty on the battery life. 

If you have limited space for storing bikes in your office or need to take your bike on a train at any point, then this bike is an ideal choice for you. When you consider that this has a motor and a host of great features, the value is incredible.

The rear hub motor has a range of up to 30 miles and can push you up to speeds of 25km/h, which should make light work of any commute. The discreetly hidden battery has a recharge time of six hours, which will take longer than most here, but you can still fully charge it at the office before heading home again. Plus, it even has a USB port that can be used to power lights or charge your phone. The motor is controlled by a mini LED display on the handlebars which allows you to choose from three assistance levels. 

One of the best things about the Mirider One is that it is a bit more versatile and customisable than other brands, offering a longer telescopic seat post for riders ranging in height from 5ft all the way up to 6 ft 4. Particularly for women, who often struggle to find the right size bike in folding bikes with limited frame size options, this is a serious win. Combined with a lightish-weight frame (unusually made from an aircraft magnesium alloy) at only 17.5kg and with a quick folding solution, the Mirirder one is one of the most practical on our list. It’s pretty affordable too, coming in at just over £1,500. 

As a single speed, you’ll have to rely a bit on the power boost to get up the hills, and the huge front chainring means that you’re unlikely to be breaking any records in acceleration. However, both of these are acknowledged by Mirider, who point to the powerful 250Wh battery and solid 45 miles of range on a Samsung motor making up for the lack of oomph on the flat. The battery is lockable and removable which makes charging a bit more straightforward.

The other thing about the Mirider is that it just looks cool. Designed and manufactured in Bolton (in the northwest of the UK), the frame has been die-cast and so is streamlined and supposedly more resistant to corrosion, and the colourway options are lurid but bright and very modern. Though the battery isn’t totally integrated, it is well concealed, meaning it doesn’t look overtly like it is an electric bike. Miridier has also lumped in mudguards and LED lights as a standard, a nice touch.  

The Eovolt Afternoon is one of the newer 20-inch wheel electric folding bikes on the market, designed, so Eovolt says, to meet customers’ demand for a slightly more rugged off-road capable bike for weekend adventures. And the Eovolt Afternoon does make a great little adventure machine.

It’s a slightly heavier aluminium frame contributing to the 20.9kg weight. But with a rear wheel motor offering a solid 40 Nm of torque and 5 levels of power assist, you’re unlikely to notice it. For the latest iteration, Eovolt has upgraded the brakes to Shimano MT-100 Hydraulic disc brakes for powerful and sensitive stopping. The addition of Schwalbe Pick Up Tyres with 6-ply punctuation protection means that it’s going to cope reasonably well with a variety of terrains and combined with the 80km battery range, you’re going to be able to enjoy longer days in the saddle. Speaking of the battery, it’s a seat post-mounted battery which is somewhat unusual but it is removable which makes it easier to charge and slightly less likely to be stolen. 

With various ports for panniers and bikepacking bags, E-volt has designed a capable and practical bike for weekend trips. 

How to choose the best folding electric bike for you

Any bike is invariably a big purchase and worthy of much deliberation. Given folding electric bikes are a slightly niche genre that can be expensive, you've probably got some questions. In our eternal bid to help you buy the right product, we've attempted to answer as many of those questions as possible below.