The Engwe LE20 Is an Electric Cargo Bike I Actually Want to Ride Long Distances

I’m lucky enough to live in a suburban area where almost everything I could need is within five miles of my home. Everything I need, from Best Buy and Walmart to small mom-and-pop cupcake stores, is close enough to get to by bike, especially an e-bike. Carrying the groceries home is my only issue with riding a bike to the store. I’m limited to what can fit into a backpack if I want to do it safely. Enter the cargo e-bike, a bike designed to safely haul a larger load than even the best e-bikes.

The LE20 Cargo e-bike from Engwe has a carrying capacity of 440 pounds, more than enough for two grown adults, one adult and a couple of children, or an adult and a carrier of groceries. I’ve used it to do all those things over the last few months and found it to be a versatile machine that works in almost every scenario. It isn’t going to win any races, but it will get you, and just about anything you want to take, wherever you want to go.

Because the LE20 is built for a different task than most of the e-bikes I’ve reviewed, its specs are skewed toward the power it needs to complete the job rather than hitting high speeds. The motor is a 750-watt hub motor, which is pretty standard. This one has a peak power of 1,300 watts, and it produces an above-average torque of 75 Newton-meters. That number may not mean much, but translated into real-world use, it means the LE20 doesn’t feel sluggish under acceleration, no matter what load you’re pulling. If you’re sitting at a traffic light with 60 pounds of groceries on the back, it gets up to speed quickly.

I do wish its top speed was higher. While the LE20 can get up to 28 mph with pedal assist, it’s limited to just 20 mph on the throttle alone. Pedal assist is often the preferred way to use an e-bike, but if you’ve been shopping for an hour or at the beach, you may not want to use your legs. Having a throttle speed that’s nearly a third slower when your legs are tired means getting back home a third slower, too, and that’s not a great experience.

I would like an option in the bike computer to remove this imposed limitation. Having a limit when riding with others on the bike might make sense, but if it’s just a load of shopping and me, I want to go top speed if I can. Engwe has told me the limitation is there so the LE20 can be a class 3 e-bike, which makes sense, but it is a limitation that makes it compromised.

Battery life is another important part of a cargo e-bike and the numbers for the LE20 seem to be inflated on Engwe’s site. The dual-battery version I tested has a stated range of 211 miles, which sounds amazing until you read the fine print saying it can only get that range if you’re under 75 kilograms (150 pounds) and the e-bike is unloaded. That misses the whole point of a cargo bike, and I reached a much more modest 120 to 140 miles with around 350 pounds of weight on the bike. That’s still a good amount of range, but it’s a far cry from Engwe’s scenario.

What the large battery does help with is the continued supply of power needed to keep you moving at speed with a full load. I rode down to the local pool with my 6-year-old daughter and all the things you need for fun at the pool — like towels, water, pool toys and some snacks — and at no point did the LE20 feel sluggish. Even on a hill at a stop sign, the power was there to get me going quickly. The LE20 does come as a single- or dual-battery option and has an added accessory that can charge the batteries in about two to three hours, about half the time it normally takes. This is helpful if you forget to charge overnight, but I’m not sure the $170 price tag is worth the extra speed.

Customize your ride

The rapid charger isn’t the only accessory available for the LE20. In fact, the range of options is large enough that it can make it feel like a different bike, depending on what you use. The two that I liked the most are the guardrail and its cover. While the LE20 can fit two child bike seats on the back, which is great, they aren’t needed with older kids. Instead, you can install a backrest, guardrail and footrests an older child can use safely. Then, when you aren’t riding the kids about, you can add the guardrail cover that turns the whole back piece into a giant bag you can stuff with groceries.

If you want something more traditional, you can buy heavy-duty racks for the front and back of the bike, as well as panniers to hold just about anything you want. Engwe’s photos of the LE20 often show a cooler on the back, and I can imagine riding down to the beach with everything you need easily strapped to it. All these accessories cost extra, and the standard bike comes with two seats at the back, but if you have a specific idea of what you want the LE20 to do, I would buy the specific accessory immediately.

While the bike computer on the LE20 is good, showing you all the details you could want, including the battery power on both batteries — something not all dual-battery bikes do — I wish it had a connection to an app. Engwe does have an app that you can “bind” a bike to, but there is no true connection via Bluetooth or otherwise, so the app relies on your phone’s GPS to estimate the distance traveled. I prefer an app that’s directly connected to the bike for the most accurate data possible.

One little extra mention goes to the stand for LE20. Unlike most e-bikes that have a small, one-sided stand, the LE20 has a heavy-duty kickstand that feels like a motorbike stand. It means the e-bike is balanced on either side when loading kids or groceries. I’ve found it to be a much better experience than the standard stands. They always feel like the bike is balanced precariously. This stand makes everything much more stable.

Overall, the LE20 is an excellent machine. At a little over $1,500 it offers a lot of versatility that you don’t often see in an e-bike. It’s not a commuter bike — it’s too big and heavy for that — and it’s also not an off-roader. But it’s a great choice for rides with the family, picking up the shopping or riding around town. I’ve enjoyed how much the LE20 has helped open up my little world to more biking by giving me the power and space to take stuff with me on rides, far more than I would normally be able to with just a backpack.