12 Reasons You Need an E-Bike

 

An e-bike can change your life! Find out how – and why the investment may be worth it for you.

I’m in love with e-bikes

Today I rode my first e-bike, and it was AMAZING! I felt a rush of freedom! The thrill of possibility! I may even have dabbed at my eyes a little.

Why all this sentiment?

Because the e-bike’s little motor is giving me back my favorite mode of transportation.

 

E-bike basics

In case you’re not familiar with them, e-bikes are bicycles outfitted with electric motors and rechargeable batteries.

They come either purpose-built or as kits for converting any standard bike.

There are many different types, ranging from so-called pedelecs (the motor assists only during pedaling) to bikes that are pretty close to mopeds in terms of speed and power.

Given different definitions and laws around the world, the classifications get pretty confusing, but this post gives a good overview. And here you can learn more about how e-bikes work.

My stereotype of e-bikes was always that it’s for elderly people who need some assistance getting around town. Think again!

Just about any type of bicycle now comes in an e-version – be it a commuter, road, folding, recumbent, fat tire, or mountain bike.

 

Why I want need an e-bike

I’ve been toying with the idea of buying an e-bike for about a year, ever since I cleaned out our garage last summer.

Way in the back, I came across my sad, bedraggled bicycle. Flat tires, dusty, home to at least a handful of spiders.

What a change from how things used to be.

You should know that I grew up riding EVERYWHERE! In my German hometown, I’d hop on my bike every morning to zip down the road to school. I’d sling my violin on my back and pedal over to the music school for lessons. I’d huff up the hill to go running around the lake. I’d bike for half an hour to visit a friend two towns over.

I even managed to maintain my healthy biking habits well into adulthood. I still zoomed all over campus during college. (For some time, I wore both heels and a bike helmet. I’d like to think I managed to pull off the fashionable but safe biking look.)

So how did my poor bike end up in such a pitiful state?

I met my topographic match.

When I moved to the Finger Lakes for grad school, I quickly learned that this place has hills. Big hills.

I gave it the good old college try – or grad school try, as it were. But over the years, with a house, a job, kids and increasingly busy lives, my beloved biking habit simply fell by the wayside.

It’s just too easy to take the car instead of planning for the extra time, extra shower, extra clothes, extra bags, extra stamina and extra motivation it requires to conquer those steep inclines.

An e-bike changes all that.

 

E-bikes are increasingly popular

I actually feel a little late to the game.

Before I started looking into e-bikes, I had NO IDEA just how popular they’ve become around the world.

The biggest market for e-bikes is in China, where sales shot up from 300,000 units in 2000 to 33 million in 2016! There they primarily present an alternative to other motorized modes of transportation, such as scooters and mopeds.

Europe is also increasingly making the switch to e-bikes, though more often coming from regular bicycles. In Germany, for example, 720,000 e-bikes were sold in 2017, about 20% of all bike purchases. 

I especially like that German postal company DHL uses some 10,500 pedelecs for its deliveries.

In the US, electric bicycle sales are comparatively small, but they’re growing. Estimates for 2017 put the numbers at 263,000 units.

So I’m now gearing up (pun intended) to buy an e-bike.

With two little kids and lots of stuff to transport, I’m considering an electric version of a cargo bike (something I barely knew even existed).

And the more research I do on this topic, the more excited I’m getting.

So here I’m sharing my excitement and the reasons you may want to consider an e-bike, as well.

 

12 reasons you need an e-bike

1. Conquer difficult terrain

Hills are no longer an obstacle to using your bike. As Jesse, an e-bike owner I spoke to recently, put it so aptly, “An e-bike changes the psychogeography of your town.” Plus, you don’t have to worry about headwinds.

2. Go fast and faster

Your motor will get you places more quickly, and you even get to use bike lanes. (Check local regulations, though.)

You may find yourself zipping right by all the cars standing still during rush hour.

And all without the need for a license. (Again, double-check local laws for your type of bike.)

3. Travel to places you couldn’t reach before

In addition to cruising along more rapidly, you’ll have more stamina to bike for longer. Maybe a bike commute will become an option.

4. Ride more safely (in some situations)

An e-bike lets you get a quick start from a full stop (away from cars), maintain your speed (no more wobbling on hills), and get through potentially dangerous intersections faster.

A small Swedish study, however, suggested a higher incidence of hairy traffic situations compared to regular bikes, likely based on their higher speed and car drivers making incorrect assumptions

Improved visibility, expanded bike lanes, and time might help.

5. Find easy and free parking

You’ll still have to find a spot (rack, tree, post) to lock up your e-bike, but it’ll be a lot closer to your destination than with a car. No circling the block or leaving extra early to allow time for finding an available space. And it’s free.

6. Don’t break a sweat

Since you won’t be huffing and puffing up the hills, e-bikes make it easier to commute to work or other places where you don’t want to arrive dripping with sweat. No need to bring your shower gear.

7. Improve your health

An e-bike will get you exercising even when you don’t feel in good enough shape (yet) to ride without the motor assist. Take this guy, for example.

You’ll get all the benefits of biking, while regulating how much you want to exert yourself with the push of a button. 

8. Relax on the road

Depending on the route you take – and the e-bike opens up non-street alternatives – you can relax on your ride. Imagine a commute that destresses you on your way home.

You’ll be more immediately in your surroundings than in a car and exposed to less motor noise.

9. Bike more because you can

You’ll likely find yourself biking more just because there are fewer internal and external obstacles to overcome. Instead of something you plan for as exercise, it becomes part of your routine.

Research from Norway showed e-bikers increasing their number of trips and distance traveled, compared to using a regular bike.

10. Lighten your environmental impact

Not surprisingly, you’ll substantially reduce your impact on the environment if you switch to an e-bike from a car. Or even a train. 

The main negative impacts come from the bike manufacturing process itself, as well as the lithium-ion batteries.

11. Save money

E-bikes can save you a significant amount of money.

Yes, an e-bike costs anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand and the battery has to be replaced every few years. But compared to a car, the up-front investment, operation, and maintenance expenditures are low.

Think about it: no gas, registration, inspections, tolls, or parking fees. Optional insurance, as well as parts and repairs are cheaper.

Even if you’re not replacing an entire car, you will reduce operating costs on your vehicle.

You may even save yourself a gym membership.

I’ll be delving into all the financial details in the future, so keep an eye out for my next e-bike post.

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12. Have fun!

Last but not least, e-bikes are fun! I was hooked within seconds.

Exercise and get places faster, all while saving money? What’s not to like?

 

How about you?

Do you have an e-bike? Are you thinking about getting one?

Tell me all about it in the comments!

 

Image credits: Galen Crout/CC0, Cristiana Raluca/CC0, Sipa/CC0, Pixabay/CC0