Even though it’s my job to think critically about products, there are a few attributes that I don’t think to question. For example, I can't complain that earbuds have to go in my ears. Such is the nature of earbuds. If I have tiny, weird-shaped ears, that’s my own problem.
Likewise, I can't complain that cargo bikes are big and heavy. For a bike frame to have the strength and stability to carry 400 pounds, it has to be correspondingly large. You can't put a 20-pound dog backpack on a Chihuahua, right?
That is common sense, but it makes getting an electric cargo bike less convenient for the people who would most stand to benefit from them. If you live in a crowded urban center, you might seriously consider going carless. But you're SOL with a cargo bike if you don't have enough ground-floor storage.
If you're maneuvering a cargo bike through crowded streets, you'd better practice your one-billion-point turns[1]. And since many e-cargo bikes are too big to transport in many personal vehicles, you better live within a certain distance from a preferred retailer.
These were all things that I considered to be inviolable truths about e-cargo bikes. However, the Tern GSD S10 changed my mind. The entire bike is 180 centimeters long, or about as long as an average road bike. The bike can rest upright on its back end, in case you need to squeeze into an elevator. And the handlebars fold down to slide into the backseat of a car.
In other words: It has all the carrying capacity of a cargo bike, and fewer of the inconveniences. Since they came out in spring of 2018, Tern has been having trouble keeping them in stock. After...