2022 Lectric XPremium Review

Video Review

Written Review

Well hello there, fellow ebike friends and welcome back to another episode of Electrified Reviews! Today we’ve got the XPremium, a super interesting folding mid-drive, e-bike from Lectric, who by now, pretty much everybody has heard of. Lectric is well known for making some of the most affordable e-bikes on the market today, without skimping on quality. And really, that’s the important part. And we found this to be true in both our review of the Lectric XP, and the XP Step-Thru, which admittedly, is pretty much the exact same bike but with a step-thru frame. But still! 

This is the energy Lectric is bringing to the XPremium. This folding electric bike has some remarkable specs, but more than that, it’s just super well thought out. The XPremium is a versatile, highly functional folder that can be used for pretty much any purpose. 

The XPremium has a starting price of $1,999, but currently it’s on sale for $1,799. And they offer financing directly on their website, which is convenient. There’s quite a few accessories you can get for the XPremium, but if you’re in the market for decking out your ride, we recommend the Comfort and Cargo Packages, and maybe some mirrors for added safety. 

Right. Let’s talk about the specs, man.

The first thing we gotta talk about for this bike is the 500 nominal watt motor. It’s a mid-drive! On a folder! That’s just something you don’t see everyday. And this mid-drive motor is one of the aspects that makes the XPremium so versatile. 

Mid-drives are renown for their climbing and towing capabilities because they leverage the e-bikes gearing, kind of like how a car has different gears but the one engine, and depending on which gear you’re in, you either get tons of torque or tons of speed, or something in-between. So when you put the XPremium in first gear you can’t go very fast, but you get huge torque, and that’s what helps you climb steep hills. And when you put it in 7th gear you can’t climb hills very well, but you can fly up to 28 miles per hour on the flats. 

One of the biggest things to watch out for with mid-drives is over-stressing the drivetrain, especially when switching gears with the SIS Index thumb shifter. Lectric countered this by giving the XPremium shift detection, which automatically cuts power to the motor whenever you shift gears. This keeps the chain and Shimano Tourney derailleur nice and happy. 

Ok, but for me, the absolute best thing about mid-drives is the motor responsiveness. The dynamic torque sensor on the XPremium is fantastic and does an excellent job at detecting how fast and how hard I’m pedaling, and then matching that with just the right amount of motor output. It’s pretty groovy. 

Mid-drives are also suspended so they absorb far less vibration compared to hub drives, and they help keep the bike balanced since they’re in, well, the middle. Ok enough mid-drives already, jeez!

The range on the XPremium is bonkers. We’re talking a 100-mile max range estimate. Cut that in half for real-world use and we’re still looking at 50 usable miles per charge. That’s a long bike ride. 

This range is thanks to the dual 48 volt, 10.4 amp hour batteries. One of those batteries is in the main tube, and it sits in there snug as a bug in a rug. I mean, it’s solid. The other battery is located just behind the seat post, and both of them are locking and removable. 

I think where all this juice really shines is when the XPremium is used as a commuter in an area with super steep hills, when it’s used as a delivery vehicle and it’s loaded up to its max 330 pound payload capacity, or just when you have to carry a heavy load a long distance. 

Even with all those batteries, the XPremium still only weighs around 75 pounds, and that’s including the 80 mm suspension fork. The frame is a super low step-thru that’s easy to mount and dismount, and the gussets and folding mechanisms are super chonky too. And for that matter, so is the metal stand that’s used to hold the bike up when it’s folded. 

This is why the Lectric XPremium has such a high payload capacity. And this is why it’s a fairly durable folder. It can handle a little gnar, but not gnar gnar, if you know what I mean. If you want to take it off-road, go for it, just remember it’s still a folder, even though it’s pretty beefy.

And although the XPremium is a folding e-bike, it rides almost like a traditional full-size e-bike. It’s comfortable, and nimble and more than anything it feels like you’ve got good control.

The Lectric XPremium has dual piston hydraulic disc brakes with 160 mm rotors in the front and rear wheels that offer great stopping power. And the huge tire patch from the 20 inch by 4 inch fat tires gives this ride mega traction. The XPremium also has motor inhibitors which instantly shuts off the motor whenever you hit the brakes. This is a great safety feature that ensures you always have the shortest possible stopping distance.

There is a headlight on the XPremium and while it has a decent output of 185 lumens, we still recommend picking up an aftermarket light with around 2000 lumens for nighttime trail riding. More than anything, this headlight helps to increase your visibility to other traffic. The tail light helps with this too. 

The LCD display is pretty bright, but I did have a little trouble seeing it in the direct sunlight. Thankfully it is backlit, which makes reading the screen at night that much easier. 

On the right side of the handlebars we’ve got the SIS Index Thumb shifter and the half-grip twist throttle, and on the left side we’ve got the independent button pad.