The electric tricycle market is calling for "automobile-grade intelligence".
On March 27, 2026, the 24th China North International Bicycle and Electric Vehicle Exhibition was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Tianjin.
Amid the bustling exhibition halls filled with parameter comparisons and promotional shouts, the booth of "Jixing Technology" in Hall S15 stood out.
For example, when we mention electric tricycles, the label of "old people's pleasure vehicles" is deeply ingrained in people's minds. However, the products exhibited by "Jixing Technology" showcase more designs that suit the aesthetics of young people. For instance, they adopt the bionic design language of "Totoro", getting rid of the mechanical and rigid obtuse angles and presenting a round and amiable appearance. There are also some "dopamine" - colored light strips on the vehicle body for decoration.
When we sit on the "Zhiyue S" and "Zhiyue C", we can find that the hard iron stools of the past have been replaced by ergonomic seats used in cars, which can even hover at a large angle, making it more comfortable to rest when parking after getting tired. Secondly, some functions that are only available in cars have been installed on the tricycles, such as Auto Hold automatic parking, vehicle - machine interconnection, and intelligent reverse braking.
This new "species" of electric tricycles may become a highly symbolic aspect of the Chinese electric tricycle industry: an industry that has long been regarded as low - end and grass - roots has finally witnessed a new transformation.
The electric tricycle market urgently needs an upgrade
The beginning of this transformation originated from an accidental observation: on a rainy day, a mother fell while riding an electric two - wheeler to pick up and drop off her child at school due to slippery roads and careless operation.
This seemingly ordinary moment became the source of the entrepreneurial idea of Zhang Zhansheng, the president of "Jixing Technology". Behind this, he keenly captured a piece of information: there are overlooked gaps in safety and comfort in the high - frequency and rigid - demand scenario of short - distance family travel. And the unmet needs of users also hide huge business opportunities.
Based on this intuition, before starting the business, Zhang Zhansheng and his team conducted a nine - month investigation and collected tens of thousands of feedbacks about electric tricycles from more than 20 cities across the country.
Zhang Zhansheng, the president of Jixing Technology
On the surface, in China, as the "capillaries" of urban and rural travel, the basic market of electric tricycles is growing. Data shows that the market scale of Chinese electric tricycles has increased from 25.7 billion yuan in 2017 to 45 billion yuan in 2024. Industry forecast and analysis point out that the demand for electric leisure tricycles in China will be about 3.62 million in 2026.
However, in fact, Zhang Zhansheng and his team found that there is a huge gap between the demand side and the supply side of electric tricycles.
First of all, on the demand side, the core scenarios of electric tricycles have changed significantly. Users' demands for them have gradually deepened from the single functions of hauling goods and being "transportation tools for the elderly" in the past. The new scenarios include picking up and dropping off children, daily commuting, grocery shopping, and even short - distance family trips to the suburbs.
Meanwhile, electric tricycles are no longer "exclusive to the elderly", and the user profile has become more diverse. It has expanded from middle - aged and elderly men in the past to mothers who hold the decision - making power for family travel, the silver - haired population who pay attention to the quality of life, and young people who need a second or third supplementary travel tool for their families.
The changes in scenarios and user profiles on the demand side actually reflect the shift of user values. Users' demands for electric tricycles have shifted from the basic requirements of "being able to run" and "being able to haul goods" in the past to safety, comfort, intelligence, and dignity.
However, users' such demands have never been met by the supply side.
In the past, on the supply side, the traditional tricycle industry was deeply mired in the quagmire of homogeneous competition, and the focus of competition often revolved around price, load - carrying capacity, and durability.
Meanwhile, due to the long - term lack of a unified technical standard for "leisure three - wheeled electric motorcycles", a large number of small and medium - sized enterprises are indulged in low - level assembly and price wars.
All these factors have led to the common feeling among practitioners in the electric tricycle industry that "it's hard to do business and the profit is thin", which also makes manufacturers unable and unwilling to invest in R & D to meet users' high - level demands. Thus, a negative cycle is formed.
To bridge the huge gap between supply and demand, Zhang Zhansheng's strategy is to "invent" a smart tricycle with automotive - grade standards.
"Invent" a smart tricycle from the genetic level
It is worth noting that what "Jixing Technology" is doing is not just making changes to electric tricycles at the product level. Instead, it comprehensively benchmarks against the automotive industry and conducts a thorough genetic recombination of electric tricycles starting from technology, products, channels, and brands.
To make a breakthrough in products, it is necessary to first polish the technical core.
In 2025, "Jixing Technology" announced seven core technology systems, including 0 - gravity seats, smart cockpits, smart dual - drive systems, smart assisted driving, biometric steering wheels, UV - C smart sterilization cockpits, and holographic projection dashboards.
(Author's note: 0 - gravity seat: a seat with a scientific 121° recline angle design; smart cockpit: mobile phone projection + in - vehicle applications, etc.; smart dual - drive: dual - motor architecture + intelligent torque distribution algorithm to improve climbing ability and load - carrying capacity; smart assisted driving: adaptive cruise + emergency braking + lane departure warning, etc.; biometric steering wheel: senses the driver's heart rate to provide fatigue warnings and health reminders; smart sterilization cockpit: disinfects the in - vehicle environment; holographic projection dashboard: AR technology combines navigation and speed with the real - world scene)
These technologies may seem complex, but in fact, they are centered around the in - vehicle central computing platform (the "brain") and support three dimensions of driving safety, intelligent interaction, and driving comfort. These basic capabilities also form the technical moat of "Jixing Technology" and support the product iteration space.
Based on this, at the just - held 2026 new product launch event, Jixing Technology officially presented its first product answer - the full matrix of the first - generation smart tricycle products. Among them, the Zhiyue series is equipped with four industry - first technologies: intelligent reverse braking, intelligent automatic defense, steering intelligent protection warning, and vehicle - machine intelligent interconnection.
Zhiyue S smart tricycle
To make these first - in - industry technologies cover different groups more quickly, it has also designed a comprehensive product line covering three major categories: the Zhiyue series (leisure tricycles) for fashionable family users, the Jirui 01 (fully - enclosed tricycles) for all - weather travel, and the Kaiyun series (freight tricycles) for practical needs. These various positioning options provide systematic smart travel choices for users with different needs.
In addition to making major changes in the product and technology aspects, "Jixing Technology" has also made changes to the channels by upgrading the old distribution model, hoping to truly achieve "win - win" results with distributors.
Firstly, it provides a profit engine. Jixing Technology hopes to help distributors break out of the original vicious circle through more differentiated products. By relying on the value proposition of "safety, intelligence, and comfort", they can obtain healthy profits and do "high - quality business".
Secondly, it opens up a growth track. Through the full - category matrix, Jixing Technology enables distributors to cover all - scenario needs such as family and freight through a single store, obtaining more definite growth space and customer stickiness.
Thirdly, it realizes in - depth empowerment. Jixing Technology plans to accurately attract online customers through a digital middle - platform and design a flexible supply chain system, significantly reducing the inventory and capital risks of distributors, enabling them to operate with ease and focus on customer service and market operation. In addition, it will also provide full - link store - opening support at the level of a 4S store.
All these channel measures mark that the industry will shift from the past stock competition of resource plundering to the incremental win - win situation of jointly creating user value. "We want to enable merchants to do high - quality and long - term sustainable business," Zhang Zhansheng said.
Meanwhile, in terms of brand, Jixing Technology has also chosen a strategy that is very different from traditional electric tricycles - combining high - profile marketing to capture users' minds with precise implementation.
In the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Jixing Technology became the first smart tricycle brand in the industry to appear on the Spring Festival Gala. In addition, Jixing Technology also chose to participate in cross - border exhibitions such as the AWE (Appliance and Electronics World Expo), adding a sense of technology and fashion to the brand and hoping to break the stereotype that "tricycles = low - end".
It is understood that "Jixing Technology" also plans to combine offline activities such as community test - drives with the theme of "family safety" in the future to enable the products to accurately reach core users such as mothers and the silver - haired population, and achieve fission - style communication through word - of - mouth.
This also means that in the industry upgrade of Chinese electric vehicles, a new and ambitious game - changer is emerging.
The electric tricycle industry welcomes an "upgrading promoter"
For the entire industry, Jixing Technology is like a catfish. It not only contributes a new business model sample but also promotes the evolution direction of the entire industry.
In the future, the competition of electric tricycles will no longer be about "who is cheaper" but about "who is safer, more intelligent, and provides a better experience". For most industry players, this will also force them to shift from focusing on hardware parameters in the past to user experience and technological innovation. It is foreseeable that the industry will upgrade from the red ocean of price wars to the blue ocean of value competition.
Secondly, through the combination of products and brand, Jixing Technology is transforming electric tricycles from "low - end" means of transportation into fashionable and intelligent travel companions. This is also promoting the evolution of this category from the past tool attribute to a category with a sense of value. And this cognitive revolution also opens up space for the high - end and brand - building of the entire industry.
In the process of polishing technology, Jixing Technology is also gradually driving industrial concentration. Since September 2025, the new national standard for electric vehicles has been forcibly implemented, with stricter requirements for vehicle body flame - retardancy and anti - tampering. At the same time, some commercial tricycles are required to be equipped with Beidou positioning modules, and the state is also promoting the "trade - in" policy to encourage the elimination of non - standard and old tricycles. Under the guidance of the new policy, safety and intelligence have changed from bonus items in the past to entry - level requirements.
Jirui series smart tricycles
In the near future, those low - quality production capacities that lack core technologies and only rely on assembly will gradually lose their living space in the full - scale competition of the industry. And the high - quality enterprises with technological barriers that remain will promote the overall industry to develop towards higher - quality development.
This entrepreneurial idea of "transforming electric tricycles with the thinking of the automotive industry" is not, to some extent, a "stroke of genius" like Steve Jobs' creation of the iPhone, but it is in line with the general trend of China's industrial development.
In the past few years, the ultra - high - speed development and full - scale competition of China's new energy vehicle industry have nurtured the world's most mature and cost - effective smart vehicle supply chain. There has been a certain spill - over of technologies, talents, and production capacities related to the automotive industry chain, which are seeking new implementation scenarios.
Therefore, the emergence of smart tricycles may not only be a business case for product innovation but also an epitome of the kinetic energy conversion of China's manufacturing industry - shifting from large - scale manufacturing relying on cost advantages to value creation relying on technological innovation and user experience.
Looking forward to the future, Zhang Zhansheng said at the press conference that more than 70 new models will be launched within this year.