This article was published on April 23, 2021

Watch what happens when you put a 5,000 watt motor on a homemade ebike

Wear a helmet, and body armor, please


There’s a growing community of do-it-yourself ebike builders that are turning old bicycles into super powerful electric bikes. Using a motor, batteries, a speed controller, and their engineering prowess these DIY-ers are making some seriously crazy rides.

There was one genius who used parts from their washing machine, to turn their old mountain bike into a homemade ebike capable of traveling over 60 mph (110 kph).

[Read: 3 new technologies ecommerce brands can use to connect better with customers]

But this week, I want to show you what’s possible with dedicated components that are actually meant for this kind of thing. In fact, I’m not going to show you, the All Things Electric YouTube channel is going to do that.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Watch the video above to see what happened when they rigged up a 5,000 watt motor to an old mountain bike.

The motor peaks at 14,000 watts, and is allegedly capable of hitting 60 mph (110 kph) and traveling around 50 miles.

Neat and fast, but potentially lethal, that’s for sure.


Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up? 

Then you need the weekly SHIFT newsletter in your life. Click here to sign up.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with