Ride1Up’s Portola has been one of those e-bikes that make a lot of sense on paper: a compact folding design, useful cargo capability, and the kind of pricing that helped Ride1Up build its reputation for high-value e-bikes in the first place.

Upon its initial release nearly three years ago, the Portola was obviously a shot across the bow of the massively popular 20″ wheel folding e-bike market. And now with a major update to the winning model, Ride1Up has shown that they’re here to compete in the booming category.

That’s right, the company is back with the second-generation Portola 02, and I’ve spent the last couple of days riding an early production example ahead of today’s launch.

That isn’t enough saddle time for me to call this a full review, but it is enough to get a pretty good feel for what has changed compared to the original. And while the new Portola still follows the same basic formula (750W motor, 20×3″ wheels, up to 28 mph/45 km/h for Class 3 operation), several of the upgrades make a surprisingly noticeable difference out on the road.

The biggest change, at least from the saddle, is the new pedal-assist system.

Ride1Up has equipped the Portola 02 with its Intui-Drive system, which combines torque and cadence sensing. The original Portola was already a fun little utility bike, but this new setup gives the bike a more refined and natural feeling when pedaling. Instead of assistance simply kicking in based on whether the pedals are turning, the bike can also respond to how hard you’re actually pedaling.

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