With traffic increasing and air quality decreasing across cities worldwide, many transportation experts are saying that electric bikes (along with electric cars, light rail trains and more pedestrian friendly cities) could become a primary driver of cleaner air, fitter aging populations and reduced greenhouse emissions.
Many people still believe that they shouldn’t ride an electric bike while they are still healthy and strong enough to ride a traditional bicycle - despite only using it once or twice a month. The thing with electric bikes is, once you ride one and see how much fun it is, you’ll ride it everywhere – and all those short trips you used to take in the car, are now taken by e-bike - helping the environment and your health, along with your hip pocket.
There’s also a growing number of the population that do not have a great level of fitness or are battling injuries and therefore a traditional bike isn’t an option.
Electric bikes have solved the mobility problem for millions of people around the world – and are just beginning to grow in numbers here in Australia.
In China alone, more than 100 million e-bikes have been sold over the past decade, accounting for "the single largest adoption of alternative fuel vehicles in history" said Christopher Cherry, a University of Tennessee engineering professor and leading scholar on e-bikes.
E-bikes are more climate friendly than other modes of transport – such as petrol or diesel powered cars and buses, and even electric vehicles – and they are light and inexpensive in comparison as well.
Many studies show that carbon dioxide emissions for an electric bike are about 1/10 of what is emitted by a conventional electric car – even when factoring in the electricity source needed to power the car’s larger batteries.
Think about this: in 2011 the European Cyclists’ Federation found that when comparing electric bikes to cars, the bikes emitted just 8.1% per passenger, per kilometre, of CO2 that a car does. And that can really make a measurable impact on the environment. And a study from Transportation Alternatives in the US found that if 10% of New York City commuters biked to work just once a week instead of driving or taking public transport, they could cut back on 120 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year—the same amount of CO2 released by 25,000 New York homes per year.
In the US, e-bikes have captured a niche of the larger bicycle industry, and that percentage is growing every year. When petrol prices have increased in the US, e-bike sales also increase.
Many cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth among others and their populations are seeking more convenient ways to get around the city streets and to avoid the costs (and hassles) of parking or toll roads.
More Savings
In Australia, riding an e-bike doesn’t require a special license, registration, or insurance. So you can see that investment and operating costs are almost nothing compared to a car…and Dyson e-bike prices start at just $1899. Compared to tolls, petrol, car registration and insurance, parking fees, and tickets, you’ll come out on top every time.
One of our customers wrote: “My Hard Tail has paid for itself with zero tram fares, parking, petrol, traffic fines, parking, wear and tear on my car etc...and I save a heap of travel time and feel so superior passing 100’s of traffic jammed cars on my trips into the city.”