Have you ever wanted an electric bike that easily transitions from the drudgery of urban asphalt to adventures in gravel and dirt? That’s what a subclass of so-called “electric SUV” (eSUV) e-bikes claims to do, with their wide, all-terrain tires and front and rear suspension, plus practical accessories like fenders and racks.

So, that’s what I set out to test on a new TL Carbon e-bike from Amflow, the DJI offshoot that upended the mountain bike industry a few years ago with its incredibly small and powerful Avinox motors.

After a month of testing in the heart of Amsterdam — including a three-day bikepacking trip along coastal bicycle superhighways and single-track forest routes — I can confirm what you might already expect: there are compromises. But for €3499 / $3,899 you do get a crossover e-bike that can help you fetch groceries during the week and conquer trails on the weekend.

Amflow TL Carbon eSUV e-bike

Score: 8

Pros	Cons
Bombs down trails and carries a kid to daycare A true off-road sport utility vehicle Powerful yet compact Avinox drive system Excellent range	More at home on trails than the city City accessories make it a compromised eMTB Thief magnet

Where to Buy:

• $3899 at Amflow

I rode my first crossover in 2024 when Cowboy launched its appropriately named Cross. That e-bike, like the vast majority of SUV automobiles, is more at home on pavement than dirt. But it looks burly, which attracts a certain kind of buyer hoping for transference. Today, these eSUVs are more popular than ever. Canyon, for example, makes one. Specialized, too. As does Riese & Müller and now Amflow.

The Amflow TL Carbon is built upon the same Avinox drive system that threw the electric mountain bike (eMTB) industry into a tizzy two years ago. The TL Carbon is a bit less powerful, sporty, and springy than the impressive Amflow PX Carbon Pro I tested over the summer, but its eMTB roots are undeniable. 

I tested the TL Carbon on a bikepacking adventure from Amsterdam to the island of Texel at the tip top of the Netherlands. The 170km trip was about 70 percent asphalt, 20 percent gravel and dirt, and 10 percent rutted, hilly, single-track dedicated to mountain bikers. I was more than a little nervous riding the latter on a 19.2kg (42.3lbs) bike loaded down with an 87kg (190lbs) rider and about 20kg (44lbs) of gear. But Amflow’s compact mid-drive Avinox M2 motor, with its 125Nm of torque and 1100W of max output, flattened long, technical hills that other mountain bikers (not loaded down with gear) had to hike. As an eSUV, the TL Carbon has bona-fide off-road credentials.

I was also pleased by the range I extracted from the 800Wh battery, despite bikepacking on a very windy weekend. Amflow offers an optional battery extender that adds 480Wh to the total capacity, but I didn’t miss it.

I rode in a mix of modes, spending the vast majority of the time in battery-sipping Eco mode, only switching into the adaptive Auto mode when facing a strong headwind, and Trail only when trying to dominate a highly technical or steep single-track. On my longest day, I arrived at my destination with 22 percent charge remaining after riding 82.3km (51.1 miles). That works out to an exceptional 7.58Wh per km (or 12.2Wh per mile) for a bike carrying so much gear.

And because the TL Carbon’s battery is removable unlike Amflow’s premium eMTB, it can be easily charged behind a bar, at a cafe, or inside a home. I had no problem finding public chargers along the way, but I’m blessed to live in a country with excellent bicycle infrastructure.

Still, as an eMTB, the Amflow TL Carbon makes plenty of compromises. The 27.5-inch front wheel is fine in town but it doesn’t roll over roots and rocks as well as 29-inch wheels found on modern mountain bikes (there’s clearance to swap a 29er in if you want). The geometry is also more upright than many would want on a trail, and the suspension travel at the front and rear is relatively short, tuned more for potholes than 1-meter drop-offs (yet it handled those fine). And the things you definitely want on a city bike — like the TL Carbon’s integrated lighting, kickstand, bell, mudguards, front rack, and rear rack — are not designed for quick removal and add considerable weight to the otherwise lightweight (just 2.9kg) carbon-fiber frame. Removing everything to go full eMTB could take 30 minutes or more, and then again to return to city mode.

If the Amflow TL Carbon is your only bike then it certainly gets the job done in urban environments. But it’s a little like putting leather seats and a stereo inside a WWII-era jeep and calling it a city car. 

In town, the Amflow TL Carbon looks out of place. For one thing, it screams I’m expensive, and the gas shock, Fox branding, and wide knobby tires make it stand out from basic city bikes — not something you want in places where bicycle theft is a problem. I wouldn’t feel comfortable parking it on the street overnight which is otherwise the common thing to do in compact, bicycle cities like Amsterdam. Amflow does equip it with Apple Find My if you need to track it down.

The tires on the TL Carbon is where the compromises are most apparent. Amflow selected Maxxis Crossmark II tires, which are better suited for trails. The deep tread adds rolling resistance and noise to city commutes and the tires lack advanced anti-puncture features found on tires made for commuting and touring. That makes them more vulnerable to flats caused by glass and construction debris commonly found on city streets. And that knobby tread makes fast cornering on pavement feel squirmy, at least until those nubs are eventually ground off by the asphalt.

Likewise, there’s no chain guard on the Amflow TL Carbon. That’s fine for mountain biking but a nuisance in the city where that exposed drivetrain can snag trousers and skirts, or leave them stained with grease when heading out for a night on the town.

The dropper seat post is as useful on trails as it is in the city. Droppers are pretty mainstream for mountain bikes these days, and they also make the bike easily shareable with riders of different sizes. But the seatpost and saddle can’t be easily locked when parked making them a target for thieves.

The front rack paired with a (bring your own) bungee cord makes fetching errands a snap, and the rear rack can be equipped with an MIK HD-compatible bike seat to carry a kid to daycare. The quick-release Amflow-branded panniers and top bag I took bikepacking also work great for city trips. Just remove the panniers when you arrive at the market, fill them with groceries, snap them back to your bike, and away you go.

I really enjoyed my time with the versatile Amflow TL Carbon e-bike. It’s no poseur on the trail where it feels surprisingly agile and powerful even when fully loaded. Its hauling capacity also makes it fine for daily life in the city, if you don’t mind the incongruity of riding a mountain bike around town. The Amflow TL Carbon definitely lives up to the title of “sport utility vehicle,” which is more than I can say for most of its gasoline-powered peers.

All photos by Thomas Ricker / The Verge.

Apple was far from the first company to announce a passport-shaped folding phone this year, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t copied. As my colleague Dom Preston already explained, it’s almost impossible to keep product development secret when Apple and its competitors all share the same global suppliers. 

Apple’s new CEO John Ternus and head of marketing Greg ‘Joz’ Joswiak addressed the topic during an interview with TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff and Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide.

“People knew through leaks that we were working on a foldable,” said Joz. “Unfortunately, they got the aspect ratio, and a lot of coincidental instances of people finding that an interesting aspect ratio.” By “people,” Joz means Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi who all announced wide foldables ahead of Apple.

What did remain a secret is the folding nano-texture display unique to the iPhone Duo. “What I’m super proud of — we kept it secret,” said Joz. “We put the extra security on it. We didn’t talk about it to anybody.” 

The whole interview is worth a watch. Ternus’ boyish enthusiasm is a refreshing change from the more measured Tim Cook, signaling his roots as a hands-on engineer. You can see it when describing his first interaction with a prototype of the display. “Oh this is it, this is what I want,” he said, eagerly grinning.

The new head of Apple, unlike Cook, is clearly a product guy, just like its mercurial founder.

Google is introducing a new Live Game Feed to keep you updated on NFL games as the regular season kicks off tonight. Look for the red “Live” icon and you’ll see a recap of the ongoing game, play-by-play updates, top commentary on social, video highlights, and “AI-powered insights.” It’s available now on mobile in English, with support for college games and more languages coming later this month.

Search on mobile is also getting a new carousel that lets you flip through scores for other games currently in progress. Stats are improving too, now showing which players lead in categories like passing touchdowns and rushing yards, as well as improved individual stats to track things like sacks, fumbles, and yards after catch.

Starting today you can also link your Yahoo Fantasy or Sleeper account with search to get AI-generated insights that can help you tweak your fantasy lineup, all without uploading screenshots or manually entering data.

Adobe is overhauling how editors interact with AI in its Premiere professional video editing software. Its new Generative Media tool makes it easier to generate video, sound effects, music, and soundscapes without ever leaving the project timeline. The generators themselves aren’t entirely new; the big change is how easily you can access them without breaking your workflow. 

Instead of jumping between browsers or external apps to find missing B-roll or audio elements, editors can now highlight an empty gap on the video or audio track and generate context-aware, fully editable clips without leaving the project. Editors can choose from multiple underlying models directly in the timeline — including Adobe Firefly, Google Veo, Runway, Luma, and Kling — to best match their project’s style.

Premiere is also getting new AI audio tools (in beta) that can separate overlapping speakers, automatically duck music under speech, and independently adjust dialogue and ambience. And Adobe is bringing its AI Assistant to After Effects (also in beta) that lets editors use plain-language commands to reorganize projects, fix technical problems, and create effects without writing expressions themselves.

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on e-bikes, power stations, and how to work anywhere, follow Thomas Ricker. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

With a deep breath, I took the cable seething with 800W of solar power and plugged it directly into a standard wall jack in my home. Nothing sparked, nothing smoked, and by the end of that sunny summer day, my electricity bill had dropped to nearly $0.

As unnerving as it sounds to treat a common household power outlet like a power input, these DIY plug-in solar kits, sometimes called balcony solar, have proven to be safe and effective for years already in Europe, and are slowly making their way into the US to democratize the production of energy. They transform solar from a high-barrier capital improvement (starting at around $15,000) requiring contractors, engineering permits, and utility preapproval, into an consumer appliance you can buy at a supermarket (starting around $300) and hang from a balcony railing or prop against a wall — all without the help of an electrician.

Traditional plug-in solar kits include a few solar panels and a small microinverter that ties itself to the electrical grid. The microinverter converts solar energy into power that’s prioritized for use by devices inside your home. 

Optionally, you can add a battery to the kit to store any surplus energy produced during the day. That way, you can continue to cut your costs by feeding that stored energy back into the home when the sun goes down. These so-called power stations can also be used to power a fridge and other critical devices during a blackout. They start at around $500 for a small 1kWh battery or $1,500 for 3kWh.

I live in Europe, where millions of households, including as estimated 1.5M in Germany, have purchased plug-in solar systems over the last few years to gain a modicum of energy independence. They’re so popular, even Ikea sells them (though they’re actually just EcoFlow resellers). 

Plug-in solar’s popularity has been fueled by two things. Oil and gas prices have surged ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, and have remained high amid the ongoing US war with Iran. Meanwhile, global prices for solar panels and batteries have fallen to record lows — though US consumers face higher costs due to Trump’s tariffs on panels and batteries and the elimination of solar tax credits. Nevertheless, plug-in solar is finally getting a foothold in those amber waves of grain.

Historically, utility regulations in the US treated a budget solar panel in a garden like a massive 10kW rooftop array. Now, over a dozen states have passed laws or introduced bills to legalize the deployment of plug-in solar systems. The rules vary, but in general they allow for qualifying plug-in solar systems to be installed without utility preapproval so long as they meet safety requirements, prevent individual circuits from overloading, and shut down during a power outage to keep line workers safe.

How it’s going

I’ve had a modest 400W plug-in system operating on my rooftop deck in the Netherlands. In those 21 months of use, it produced 709kWh, saving me about €225 (about $260) — enough to nearly offset the purchase price of my kit. It will take longer to offset the rather large $1,800 power station it all plugs into when I’m home. But as an avid vanlifer, I get a ton of extra value out of that emergency battery, which also enables me to live and work off grid for months at a time.

People operating a plug-in solar system in sunnier climates with maxed out solar arrays will recoup costs much faster. European plug-in solar systems can feed as much as 800W into the home, while US states typically support up to 1200W. And kits often support even greater solar capacity so long as it’s diverted to a battery. 

In the US, plug-in solar is now legal in Virginia, Maine, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, ever since Utah pioneered the state-level reclassification of plug-in solar as a small household appliance last year. Legislation is awaiting governor signature in California and New York, while another half-dozen states have introduced bills.

In Europe, of the 27 EU member states, only Sweden and Hungary still prohibit plug-in solar devices. 

What happens next

European adoption of plug-in solar systems will almost certainly continue its upward trend so long as solar and battery prices keep falling — it’s not like the geopolitical situation will bring energy prices down anytime soon. US adoption could be in for a hockey stick moment of growth just as soon as California — the state with the highest residential electricity rates — signs plug-in solar into law. 

Now that the legal dominos have started falling in the US, the nascent plug-in solar category has piqued the interest of companies focused on home energy. EcoFlow, Bluetti, Anker, and many others, are all trying to capitalize on the surge of interest, giving renters and budget-conscious consumers a wider selection of kits to choose from. 

Already in the last few months, we’ve seen EcoFlow launch its more capable Stream 2 series alongside Bluetti’s Balco series. Both of these plug-in solar systems are built on modular architectures so that owners can expand from entry-level solar generation to a larger, whole home energy system over time. 

I can attest that plug-in solar is a slippery slope. First you buy the microinverter and a few solar panels, then more panels and a battery to store the energy surplus, and then you start looking at how you can extract even more energy out of thin air. Because once you start looking closely at the power you’re paying for, canceling it out with “free energy” becomes an addictive game.

Plug-in solar isn’t going to replace utility-scale solar farms or 10kW rooftop arrays, but it fills the missing bottom layer of the clean energy transition. My two-year-old kit has already nearly paid for itself. Beyond the savings, I like that I’m reducing my contribution to climate change, and that feeling’s invaluable.

And who knows, maybe a new US administration will arrive in a few years to give the entire sector a goose, instead of actively working against solar and handing the future of energy production to China, uncontested.

By the Way

• Plug-in solar systems just became legal across Great Britain on August 27th. Retailers like Lidl, B&Q, Argos, Currys, and Amazon are selling solar-only kits in stores and online. It took the unusual step of forbidding battery-integrated systems, but they’re being explored for future inclusion.
• New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the Garden State Balcony Solar Act into law earlier this week, legalizing setups up to 1,200W on 120V outlets. But the law takes effect on March 1st, 2027.

Read this

• Here’s my review of an early EcoFlow plug-in solar system from back in 2024.
• The New York Times looks at the race between the US and China to define the future of energy, each guided by two very different strategies mired in economic and national security concerns.
• This New York Times piece takes a sober look at the transformative effects plug-in solar could have on American energy production and consumption.