Pirep: Ecotric electric folding bike

I've been looking closely at the electric "last mile" revolution in personal transportation and thinking about getting something for the plane that folds that I can toss into the back of the Tbone.  Electric folding bikes are fairly expensive however, running $2500+...  for family trips it's kinda hard to stomach 10k+ for destination transportation..  I found some positive reviews of the Ecotric folding bike online and decided to give it a try.  I ordered from the website and it was $780 with free shipping.  That's about as cheap as it gets in an electric bike.  Here is the link:  Ecotric folding bike

My first impression of the bike is... it's really awesome fun to ride.  My boys and I rode around on it for about 30 mins before it got dark and we were all having a blast. It really accelerates nicely and you can pedal along leisurely even up hill and the assist kicks in to keep you at about 15 mph.  The bike is bigger than I thought and bigger than it appears in the photos. I fit okay on it and I'm 6'4", but it was easy to adjust to fit my 10 and 12 year old boys.  It definitely doesn't fit me as well as my XL road and mountain bike, but considering it's a folding bike it's not bad at all.

The bike as shipped comes with huge 20x4.0 inch knobby wheels which are heavy and just create a lot of drag for road riding. To test it I took the bike up Mt Diablo with those tires and decided it's just not a good bike for that. I'd much rather ride my Santa Cruz on the mountain and just huff it out and get some exercise. The Ecotric folding bike is not a good mountain bike.  Unless you have a flat rutted out or muddy field to ride through, I don't see the value in the stock tires. So I ordered a set of 20x3.0 cruiser tires off eBay (Wanda brand) and installed them. These seem to suit the bike much better and are good for path or road riding, or light off-road or fire trails would be fine.  it's a fun little bike now and that shaved about 1 lb off the weight (reinstalling the rear wheel was a bitch though). I rode it downtown for lunch and beat my wife and kids in the car.  I rode it home as well, in 100+ deg heat up the hill at 15mph... no sweat. It's a great little folding bike but I may end up going the electric scooter route for the plane. Those are really fun too. Hard to beat this Ecotric for an $800 electric folding bike though.