In the face of the climate crisis, it’s both encouraging and discouraging that it took high gas prices to get people to finally consider electric vehicles.
But, let’s really make this a transportation revolution by shifting to electric-assist bicycles instead.
An EV is still a monstrous, high speed weapon that takes up a large amount of public space everywhere it goes. Although they don’t poison us with their tailpipe fumes, EVs pose a greater the threat to human-powered road users because their greater weight is more deadly at the same speeds as gas vehicles.
As a mode of transportation, even a cargo e-bike costs less than a new car, and that’s before factoring in lower maintenance costs, lower or no insurance costs and zero gas costs. It has almost no emissions beyond its manufacture, and brings the user into communion with the landscapes they ride through (for better or worse!)
E-bikes have changed the picture: biking is no longer only for the most athletic with nothing to carry. The addition of e-assist to a bicycle (especially a cargo bicycle) makes it a viable car replacement within an urban environment by addressing the distance and carrying capacity barriers that usually cause people to conclude cycle commuting is impossible.
Not only can an e-bike revolution move us toward the decarbonization we need, it can also help us discover greater health and happiness.
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