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EVs are booming but electric bikes are really cutting emissions
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024
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E-bikes are probably around 100 times more economical than e-cars so it makes sense that they are much more impactful simply because so many more people can afford them.
The raw electricity usage is ~25 times lower for E-Bikes. And that is not counting in the 2 ton weight difference with all this steel, battery cells, electronics etc.
The lower weight and size also has significant external benefits, because roads need less maintenance and don't need to be as big (that means less taxes for the owning classes in the back).
I'd imagine it's quite a bit fewer tire micro-plastics too.
we talking about the "fourth power law" (damage to roadway is weight to the power of 4)?
The initial cost too. U can get an ebike for like 1500€ but u gotta pay like 60000€ or more for an electric car. Also insurance, maintainance, parking, etc
I just read about an Chinese (maybe govt subsidised) EV for 15 000 USD. Even in EU you're starting to see 35k€ EVs
Yeah, BYD is massively subsidized by the government, mainly to try to destroy the western EV market. I'm really on the fence on that one. On the one hand, I'd like our car Industry to be a bit more disruptive and come up with cheaper solutions (fuck SUVs, the German car Industry is just making huge luxury cars that are way too expensive, both capex and opex wise). On the other hand, I don't want Winny the Pooh gaining influence on the west.
100 is a bit much, a good ebike can cost several thousands. IMHO the main driver for adoption is the availability of dedicated infrastructure. I can afford an EV but chose to use a bike because the infrastructure is excellent where I live and it allows me to avoid traffic and congestion.
My old shitty car cost 2,5 times as much as my really nice ebike. Both bought used. I used to pay around 200€ a month for fuel and there is also insurance. My ebike right now costs me about a handful of euros in fuel each month and I don't have to take extra time for exercise out of my day. So a hundred times more efficient isn't even that high.
Do we have a Kelly blue book for ebikes?
Maybe its a bit much but as i said in the other reply, you need:
All of these are either not necessaey or muuuch cheaper for bikes. These are also recurring costs that together could pay for a whole new e bike every few months.
We need to push for easier ebike carriage and charging on trains, also investment in lowering the cost of home delivery through an efficient postal service otherwise most people will still see a benefit to owning a car.
Of course families with kids are hard to convince entirely but with safe and comfortable cycling infrastructure they can be a lot less car dependent especially if bike to rail to bike is easy and affordable.
Right, but it has much lower ongoing costs (less electricity or fuel, no/cheap insurance, no registration, minimal maintenance). 100 times cheaper is probably a bit hyperbolic, but not by that much.
Why wouldn't an ebike be riding in traffic?
Why would it be? Do you think they mean electric motorcycle? They're referring to electric bicycles
They're limited to 20km/h. Where I live they are allowed on the roads just like human powered bikes, but they prefer to be on separated paths just like HPVs