Two years ago we told you about Envo’s Electric SnowBike Kit, which let users convert their existing mountain bike into a snow-going ebike. Well, the Canadian company is now offering a complete self-contained package, in the form of the Flex Snowbike.
Announced this Wednesday, the Snowbike is part of Envo’s new Flex line of off-road ebikes. They all share a common step-through foldable 6061 aluminum alloy frame, which gets equipped with different components to create the different models.
In the case of the Snowbike, that frame is combined with a mountain-bike-style suspension fork, a snowboard-like ski in place of the front wheel, and a pedal/motor-driven rubber tread in place of the rear wheel. The 1,500-watt motor augments the rider’s pedalling power, taking them to a top speed of 20 km/h (12 mph), and allowing them to climb slopes of up to a 25% grade. Five different levels of electric assist can be chosen between.
Power is provided by a frame-mounted 48V/17.5-Ah lithium battery, one charge of which should reportedly be good for anywhere from 15 to 50 km (9 to 31 miles) of range, depending on terrain and assistance level. Those figures can be doubled by adding an optional second battery. Riders are able to check the charge level on a bar-mounted LCD screen, along with data such as their current speed and distance travelled.
As an added bonus, by purchasing the necessary extra components, owners can convert their Snowbike to the Flex Overland off-road cargo ebike whenever they want.
The Flex Snowbike should be commercially available via the Envo website later this month, priced at US$3,273. That’s considerably cheaper than the similar $8,500 MoonBike and €7,990 (about US$8,065) E-trace, although they do have higher top speeds of 42 km/h (26 mph) and 25 km/h (16 mph), respectively.
Envo Flex Snowbike is the latest take on an ebike for the snow [New Atlas]