How Will These 6 E Trikes Perform on a Hill? Testing 6 Electric Tricycles & You Won't Believe Result

Six electric tricycles. We're gonna test all of them on an uphill. Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry, and today I've got six e-trikes behind me, and we are going to test each one of them going uphill. All right, so I've got six different electric trikes behind me. We are going to take each one of them and test them on a hill we have over here, and I'll narrate through them, and walk you through so you can understand how each one performs on a big hill so you can find the perfect e-trike for you. Now, we're going to start over here on the left with our EvryJourney Electric Tricycle. This is the least powerful e-trike we have in the lineup, and also the most affordable. It's a 250-watt front hub motor. It does have a throttle. It does have a pedal assist. 10.4-amp hour battery. You can get up to 50 miles on a single charge. So I'm going to get on it, take it to the hill, bring you with me, and we'll see how it performs. All right, EvryJourney is 250-watt. Here we go. I got it in level 5 pedal assist. Now this one's not going to be powerful enough for me to just do throttle. So with a 250, this is a pretty big hill. I'm 230 pounds. If you're my weight or bigger, you probably want to opt for something bigger. But with...

Shifting it down into gear one and pedaling, we can do the hill. All right. Now, it does take some effort with this one. Now, if you were in your about 150, 160, 170, or 180, the hill would be no problem with this trike. But above 200 pounds, it does require some effort. All right, so we made it. And again, throttle only would not be an option for this e-trike coming up that hill. So let's go back down and we're gonna test our next e-trike.

All right, next up on the hill test, we've got the Simple Step-Thru Fat Tire E-trike. We're bumping way up in power. It has a 750-watt front hub motor, 15 amp hour battery, up to 50 miles on a single charge, and 16 miles an hour with the motor. Now, you're gonna see with my weight, we're gonna get up the hill quite a bit quicker with the 750 watts. We've got the pedal assist and the throttle. The cool thing about this one is also this very low step-through. And with these fat tires, it is very balanced and you can take on varying terrains. So we're going to let our camera person get into position and I'm going to tackle this hill. Oh, I got to put it on. That'll help. Now, in this one, you're going to see I can probably just do throttle the whole way. So I'll just do throttle as much as we can, but then I'll show you when I switch to pedal assist, now I can even start cruising even faster. So this is like, and I'm actually in seventh gear right now. Yeah, this is like a breeze, and we are moving at a pretty good pace here. So 500 watts of power does make a big deal going uphill for heavier riders. All right, so noticeably different there. And again, I could use the throttle and zip pretty good had I wanted to. All right, so you can see the difference on that one. Let's turn around, go back down, and grab another e-trike.

Okay, now we've got the Easy Transit Folding E-trike, now it looks small, but it's got a 750-watt front hub motor. Gonna be lighter than the Simple Step-Thru E-trike, 10.4 amp hour battery, so similar stats, up to 16 miles an hour, because we limit the speeds on the trikes, and up to 50 miles on a single charge so this one we're gonna see. Now I like this one because it's light and easy and maneuverable, and also if you like something powerful that you can transport with you. I'm going to get the seat up to the appropriate height for me. All right. That should be good. All right. I'm going to get in position and tackle the hill. I'll just do throttle a little bit, show you how much, how easily I can do that. So you can see we can get up the hill pretty good with just throttle now. Let's go ahead and do pedal assist five. There we go. And I had to get it into one of the higher gears. There we go. Let's do a quick switch back to throttle. Now I don't recommend that in the middle of a hill. Stick to one or the other. But you can see we can do just throttle, zips me up, and then we'll just switch back to pedal assist. So easy, so maneuverable. Now the lighter weight makes a big difference in how quickly we can get up. With the Simple Step-Thru Fat Tire, you have the big tires which do create more drag and make the motor have to work a little harder. Easy transit, no problem. Let's grab our next trike.

All right, now I've got the Simple Glide 500-watt Recumbent E-trike, arguably the world's most comfortable electric trike. So it's a 500-watt front-up motor, it's got a 15 amp hour battery, again, capped at 16 miles an hour, up to 50 miles. Now this one's in between, it's the 250 and the 750, so we'll see how this works for me. Now with the forward pedaling as well, a little bit different than sitting more upright. And we've got a twist throttle here, so let's give it a shot. Okay, here we go. Let's see if I can do throttle. Now I think we can do throttle with the 500-watt, but we're gonna go at a slow pace. I'm gonna go ahead and pump this up. Now let's switch it to pedal assist. Oh yeah, now we're cooking. Now this is like almost no effort on my part, and you can see how I'm leaning back here enjoying the ride. Okay, let's switch to throttle. So yeah, we can still keep going. So we don't have to pedal with the 500-watt. Now we're not going fast, like I said, but we're doing it. So let's switch to pedal assist. Nearly effortless. Yeah, I mean, you're comfortable, you're laid back. I'm 230 pounds, no problem. I mean, you do have to pedal if you want to keep a nice pace, but almost no effort is exerted on my end at all. And not to mention, as I said, I'm leaning back and, you know, I'm not in an ideal sort of efficient sitting position for maximum output and we still get up there no problem. So let's go back down, and grab the next e-trike.

All right, so now we've got our two front-wheel reverse e-trike, a little bit different. So we got Two Front Wheels, two wheels in the front.

This is a 750-watt rear hub motor. This one's powerful. 10.4 amp hour battery. I think we're gonna zip up the hill on this one. So this has got a unique steering system that tilts and leans, so it gives you sharp cornering and balances nicely. A little bit different though in that you do have to steer in order to keep it balanced. It can balance on its own, but with the tilting steering, which allows for tighter turning and whatnot, you do have to be more proactive in order to keep it balanced. So I'm gonna go ahead and get on and let's go see how it performs on this hill. Okay, here we go. Keep the throttle down. No pedaling, no problem. Now you could see we could easily get the whole way, no pedaling. Now let's go ahead and show you with a little pedaling. Oh yeah, we're cruising. Got some pine cones here. And we can switch to throttle. No pedaling. And switch back. This one's a breeze. Okay. All right, so that was easy, and fun, love the steering on this one. Let's go get our last e-trike.

All right, last but not least, our e-bike Rickshaw, where you can take passengers, or not, you can take this off, put a basket back there as well. I'm gonna do it sans passengers today. Now, it's a 750-watt front hub motor, a huge battery, 21 amp hours, so up to 50 miles on a single ride. Now, you hear me say 50 miles on a single ride for a lot of these different batteries, but the reason on this one it's still 50 miles even with the huge batteries is because of these big tires. This thing weighs about 135 pounds, so it's very heavy going up the hill. Now, we've done some other videos with passengers. You can check those out going up the hill. I'm going to do it alone today. This thing's a lot of fun. And even without passengers, it rides so nicely. So I'm going to get in position and take on the hill. All right, here we go. Start with just throttle. Now, again, we got a lot of rubber on the road here. Now, we're going to be able to get up this with just throttle. Now you can see 750 watts on the EZ Transit compared to this because we've got a really heavy bike. So it can do it, right? Now let's just see when I pedal though, we start cruising. So I'm in level five on the pedal assist. So no problem on that front, I'll switch back to throttle. And again, we can still do it. Now, with a passenger, you're not going to be able to do throttle only. But you could do pedal assist level five. And I'm also not even in the lowest gear right now. So go ahead and shift that down. And it gets a lot easier. We did it. Easy peasy. Not exhausted by any means. Hit some pine cones. All right. Made it up.

Let's go ahead and go back to the starting point and we're gonna review all of them. All right, so we tested all five e-trikes going uphill. You can tell each has a little bit different performance. If you are over 200 pounds and you want something that's gonna zip you up hills, I say look at 500 watts and above. Now the EvryJourney at 250 watts got me up the hill, but I had to pedal. Easy Transit could do throttle only easily, the Two Front Wheels easily, and Simple Step-Thru easily as well with the throttle. Now when we put it into pedal assist, we zipped. Now the e-bike Rickshaw, you can do it with the throttle at 750 watts, but that's a really heavy bike, probably better to put it in pedal-assist five. And then the Simple Glide, actually you could do the throttle as well, you're not gonna move at a fast pace. But then once you shifted that into five pedal assists and I started pedaling, the hill was no problem. So if you have any other questions at all about any of these e-trikes, comment below.

Which Sixthreezero Electric Trike Is the Most Powerful?

If raw power up hills and on tough terrain is your top priority, here's how our lineup stacks up by motor size, from strongest to lightest-duty.

The 750-watt trikes — Simple Step-Thru Fat Tire, Easy Transit Folding, and the EVRYjourney Rickshaw are our most powerful options. All three can climb steep inclines on throttle alone without much rider effort, even for heavier riders. Among these three, the Easy Transit has the edge for uphill agility simply because it's the lightest of the trio, so its 750-watt motor has less overall weight to move. The Rickshaw carries the most weight (around 135 lbs before a rider even gets on), so while its motor is just as strong, it works harder to deliver the same climbing performance. The Simple Step-Thru sits in between its fat tires add some rolling resistance on pavement, but that trade-off pays off with better traction and stability on loose or uneven terrain.

The 500-watt Simple Glide recumbent sits in the middle of the power range. It won't out-climb the 750-watt trikes on throttle alone, but paired with pedal assist, most riders find it nearly effortless on moderate hills, and its lower seating position adds stability that upright trikes don't have. It's a strong pick for riders who want solid hill performance without needing the top-tier motor size.

The 250-watt EVRYjourney is the most affordable and lightest-powered trike in the lineup. It handles moderate hills fine with pedal assist, but riders over roughly 200 lbs should expect to contribute real pedaling effort on steeper climbs — throttle alone typically isn't enough on this model.

What actually determines hill-climbing performance? Motor wattage matters, but it's only part of the picture. Total trike weight, tire type, and rider weight all factor in together. A lighter 750-watt trike will generally out-climb a heavier one with the same motor, and a rider closer to 150–170 lbs will feel noticeably more power in reserve than a rider closer to 250 lbs on the same trike.

Bottom line: if you're a heavier rider or regularly tackle steep hills, a 500-watt or 750-watt motor is worth prioritizing. If your rides are mostly flat with occasional gentle inclines, the 250-watt EVRYjourney offers strong value without sacrificing much day-to-day performance.

Our Quick E-Trike Review Ratings

Beyond hill performance, here's how each trike compares across the factors that matter most to most riders:

EvryJourney (250W) — Best for: budget-conscious riders on mostly flat terrain. Power: ★★★☆☆ | Comfort: ★★★★☆ | Value: ★★★★★

Simple Step-Thru Fat Tire (750W) — Best for: riders wanting maximum power and stability across varied terrain. Power: ★★★★★ | Comfort: ★★★★☆ | Value: ★★★★☆

Easy Transit Folding (750W) — Best for: riders who want strong hill performance plus portability. Power: ★★★★★ | Comfort: ★★★☆☆ | Value: ★★★★☆

Simple Glide Recumbent (500W) — Best for: riders prioritizing comfort and a relaxed, laid-back ride. Power: ★★★★☆ | Comfort: ★★★★★ | Value: ★★★★☆

Two Front Wheel Reverse Trike (750W) — Best for: riders who want sharper cornering and a more engaged ride feel. Power: ★★★★★ | Comfort: ★★★☆☆ | Value: ★★★☆☆

EVRYjourney Rickshaw (750W) — Best for: riders who need passenger or cargo capacity without giving up climbing power. Power: ★★★★☆ | Comfort: ★★★★☆ | Value: ★★★☆☆

A quick note on how we rate these: Power reflects how much rider effort is needed on hills and inclines. Comfort reflects seating position, ride smoothness, and how relaxed the riding posture feels over longer distances. Value weighs performance and features against price point.

Every trike in this review handled the test hill successfully — the real differences come down to how much rider effort each one asks for, and what kind of riding experience you're looking for beyond raw hill-climbing power. If comfort and a relaxed ride matter more to you than outright speed, the Simple Glide is worth a closer look. If you need maximum climbing power above everything else, the Simple Step-Thru or Easy Transit are your strongest options in this lineup.