By David Dodge
(Adapted from the original article written for The Earth and I with permission.)
Jim Sandercock has been commuting to work on his e-bike for one year now. There is no spandex involved, Sandercock is just a regular guy who was coerced into cycling to work by a coworker.
The kicker is—he loves it, and his experience helps explain why the e-bike is such a revolutionary step in active transportation.
“I thought about it for a long time, but like everybody, I didn’t do anything about it. And then one of my coworkers moved into the neighborhood and he’s really athletic and he says, ‘Hey, let’s bike to work together,’” says Sandercock.
“Foolishly I told everybody I was going to do it.” There’s nothing like good old-fashioned social pressure.
When Sandercock thought about cycling in the past many of the perceived barriers (excuses) kept him off a bike.
“I thought it was going to be sore all the time, tired all the time, and risking my life all the time as a cyclist.”
So, he started commuting with a regular bike; but soon after he started researching e-bikes and landed on a fat bike with big knobby tires and a throttle for $1,600.
E-Bike Changed Everything
It turned out to be “not so bad after all” and thanks to the e-bike he doesn’t come in to work dripping with sweat and smelling like a locker room.
“With an e-bike, you’ve got the ability to dial up and down your e-bike support. And, so, when I’m biking, I actually try to bike enough that I am actually getting a little exercise but not overheating because I’m going to work and I’m going to hop off the bike and get right to work.”
Aside from the bike itself the only special equipment he bought initially was a helmet.
In that first year, Sandercock went from a reluctant, novice cyclist to a keener commuting to work right through his cold climate winter.
What About -30 Winter Days?
“I think most people think, oh my goodness, if it’s minus 20 or minus 30, I’m going to get super cold. But I find that I can still overheat if I’m not careful,” he says. He dials down the electric assist if he needs to generate body heat and dials it up if he’s overheating.
His fat knobby tires got him through the snowy, slushy parts of winter. They are not studded, but studs are strongly recommended if you plan to ride in winter.
Sandercock used mostly equipment he already had; a camping jacket and a shell and on cold days he wore his snow pants.
The one most important thing “is to get a nice pair of heated gloves.” Sandercock forked out one hundred dollars for some electric battery-powered heated gloves “Which is a godsend when you’re biking.”
Turns Out Cycling Is the Best Option
Sandercock has tried all the transportation modes to get to work.
“At one point I was driving to work, but that was getting really expensive because you have to pay for parking, insurance and gas. And then I started taking the bus to work.”
He found waiting for the bus wasn’t his cup of tea, especially in cold weather. “At least with a bike, I’ve got control over my schedule,” Sandercock says.
In the long run, he found cycling was the best option for his commute.
“On a super snowy day, you’ve got to keep your eyes open just like when you’re driving,” he says. “It might take 35 minutes on the worst winter day and only about 20 minutes on a summer day, and, hey, parking is always free and often right at the front doors of your destination.”
Ditched One Car
“We used to be a two-car family, but owning a vehicle is expensive, and insurance rates have gone through the roof.
“I saved about $8,800 a year by getting rid of the second vehicle because of maintenance, payments and insurance and all the rest of it.”
Sandercock says the biggest reason for riding an e-bike to work is “the convenience of it versus trying to drive around in traffic, find a parking spot and all that,” says Sandercock.
“Some people think about getting more healthy, but frankly, with the E-bike, I’m not getting all that much more healthy,” says Sandercock.
No Cop-Out Here—E-Bikes Lead to Better Fitness
Turns out this isn’t true. Sandercock is falling prey to the disparaging mythologies attributed to e-bikes by cycling purists. So, we challenged him on this assertion.
“When you really think about it, I had a bike for years just sitting in the garage and I logged zero kilometers of biking a year. It sounded nice to own a bike, but when it came right to it, I didn’t ride it, and now I’m biking conservatively 2,500 kilometers/1,500 miles a year.”
Research shows e-bikes do increase the amount of exercise you get. Once people buy an e-bike they choose it as their method of transport 49% of the time, up from 17% with a regular bike.
And here’s the kicker—the average cycling distance per day increases 400% with e-bike owners from 2.1 kilometers/1.3 miles to 9.2 kilometers/5.8 miles.
One study found regular cyclists burn about 552 calories per hour, while e-bikers burn 444 calories, only a 22% drop.
In other words, e-bikes dramatically increase riders’ fitness since they ride on average four times further per day.
In Sandercock’s case, he’s burning 18,500 more calories per year than before he bought an e-bike.
Energy use
Bicycles are literally the most efficient method of moving humans on the planet. Bikes are five times more energy efficient than walking and about 80 times more efficient than driving a car.
E-bikes on the other hand do use electricity but they get the equivalent of 2,000 MPGe, which is 20 times more efficient than a Tesla Model S, which itself is 3.2 times more efficient than a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle.
The range of e-bikes varies considerably, but e-bikes with a 500–750-watt battery will get about 20 miles/36 km of range. Electricity prices vary considerably, but it’s not that important because e-bikes use so little energy it will cost you less than a penny per mile/kilometer.
Sales of e-bikes are expected to reach 300 million in 2023, a 50% increase from 2019. The market was worth $17.56 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $41 billion by 2030.
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Reasons People Become E-Bikers
E-bikes are truly a game-changer for cycling. E-bikes increase the practical range and speed of cycling which makes them more inclusive allowing older, less physically fit people to ride comfortably and further.
“The e-bike is nice because we’re not all Arnold Schwarzenegger—we don’t have to be athletes,” says Sandercock.
He says it’s more convenient than driving or taking the bus. And in some places like Copenhagen, 62% of e-bikers say the main reason for using the e-bike is that it’s faster than driving on traffic-choked roads.
Like Sandercock, 28% of cyclists say the e-bike is a viable substitute for a car, one that costs a lot less and comes with free parking nearly everywhere.
And unlike Sandercock, many do appreciate the health benefits.
Rebates
For many state and municipal agencies e-bikes help reduce emissions, increase fitness, and reduce congestion so they offer rebates.
Rebates range from a hundred dollars or so to $1,500 and even higher.
Here is a comprehensive list of programs in the US and Canada. Electric Autonomy Canada recently prepared a guide to e-bike rebates and bike-sharing operations in Canada.
Build It And They Will Come
If you ask traditional cyclists they often insist cycling is safe, and all you need to do is try it to overcome the barriers, perceived or otherwise.
But to novice cyclists like Sandercock safe bicycling infrastructure is key to treating cycling seriously and getting more people on bicycles. Science confirms the maxim “Build it and they will come.” The Mercator Research Institute in Berlin found during covid an average of 11.5 km of provisional pop-up bike lanes were set up in European cities and cycling increased between 11% and 48%. They also project that this level of improvement could save between $1 and $7 billion on health costs.
The City of Vitoria Gasteiz in Spain replaced a 12-lane roadway right through the middle of the city with a multi-mode marvel of design that now supports cycling, pedestrians, rapid transit and yes, cars too. They called this a “democratic” allocation of space to all users. This combined with other similar actions increased cycling to 12% of trips in the city and car trips fell to just 24%.
The science part is important here because researchers also found what cyclists say they want and what will actually increase cycling are not always the same thing.
Bike shares have been set up in most major cities. The University of British Columbia revealed the key motivators and barriers to bike sharing in a study. E-bikes are increasingly popular at bike share operations.
So, are you ready to take an e-bike for a spin?
Bike-sharing is a great way to try them out before taking the leap. Be forewarned though, the first time you try an e-bike you will be very pleasantly surprised at how fun they are to ride and how much more quickly you can zip around town.