Our family just moved to Germany, and we'd like to replace our daily kid-moving van with a cargo bike/trike. We've tested out a few options and really fell in love with the Bakfiets cargo trike. Our only concern before we order one is that we aren't sure if we should spring for the "power assist" option (
http://bakfiets.nl/eng/accessoires/c...ll/elektrisch/). Our new home here is kind of hilly, and there are situations where we could be climbing a moderate grade for a mile at a time, on a daily basis. We'd be really happy to be able to do all that with pure leg power, but I'm concerned that we may not be up to making that climb without some help.
Back in the States, we never really lived in a bike-friendly area, so I never looked at e-bikes until the past few weeks. I'm not sure if the "power assist" is really what we want or not -- I'm not sure what the right terminology is, but I think we may need the kind of e-bike that "pedals for you", rather than the kind that "helps you out".
Last week, we got to try the trike without power-assist, as well as a power-assist build of the 2-wheel Bakfiets. The bike with power assist didn't seem to make *that* big of a difference when climbing a hill, but I don't know if it's just the way the software on the controller is set up, or if it's just not powerful enough to provide the torque I had hoped for.
We've looked around on the Internet, and I don't think there's going to be any way to try an electric trike in our area. What I'm trying to figure out is, will the power-assist version give us as much help as we're going to get, or should we order it without and look at a more powerful conversion kit from the after-market?