The T3 is a tricycle built for grown-ups, and it is not for play.

Weighing 150 pounds, it has an aluminum frame and sits on three small but durable bicycle tires with a heavy-duty suspension system in front — one meant for all-terrain vehicles — which helps to navigate the city’s innumerable potholes. It can haul up to three times its weight, nearly a quarter-ton of cargo. To go uphill, a single click on the handlebar unleashes a power-boost from an electric-hub in the rear wheel.

The T3 — the “T” stands for “trike,” — is the latest prototype of an urban delivery vehicle from Upcycles, a Brooklyn start-up founded in 2017. Seeking to create a greener and more nimble alternative to trucks for delivering everything from groceries to office supplies, the company built two earlier prototypes. Its third incarnation, T3, which is considered a bicycle under city law, can travel on and fit within the city’s growing network of bike lanes and park on the sidewalk rather than -park in the street.

Upcycles most recently attracted the attention and support of Urban-X, a Brooklyn-based incubator program for city-focused start-ups, created by the Mini car company, which gave them $60,000. However, Upcycle’s initial funding of $600,000 came from one of its founders, the philanthropist Joshua P. Rechnitz, 53.

The two earlier versions were both made from steel and were far heavier — requiring more effort to pedal, especially uphill, while T3 was designed from the start to be lighter and more easily and cheaply reproduced. Components of the trike include an electric hub motor for the rear wheel, a chain-drive system, suspension system and on-board computer.