“In a systematic energy flow comparison, a grid-charged battery driving an electric motor will present mechanical power about ten times much more effectively than a human consuming a standard diet. For private travel amongst five and 30 miles per day, the electric bicycle offers the lowest environmental and individual monetary expense, generally with no escalating urban travel time”
From Power, Worldwide Warming, and Electric Bicycles Power Flow Analysis with an Emphasis on Individual Transportation
1. Hill Climbing
That might sound clear, but it’s the principal advantage. A fantastic electric bike correctly flattens hills, increasing your average speed and eliminating the ‘groan’ aspect when a gradient comes into view. Supplied you supply a affordable amount of work, you can expect to climb hills of 1 in ten (ten%) on an electric bike with ease, and clear a maximum gradient of 1 in 7 (14%), or significantly more. In hilly nation, the effect is practically nothing brief of miraculous.
two. Safety
It sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? But the mathematics is compelling. Believe of a steep and busy road, with vehicles climbing at 30mph. If you previously slogged up the hill at 6mph, but can tackle the identical gradient at 12mph with an electric bike, you will see 33% fewer automobiles, and they will pass you at 18mph rather than 24mph. Or at least, we consider that’s right.
Whatever the figures, there’s no doubt that an electric bike assists to maintain you out of danger. The same common principle applies to road junctions – the more quickly your acceleration, the sooner you can get out of difficulty. And with no want to rush the hills, you won’t be tempted to ride downhill at breakneck speed… yet another useful safety function.
three. Personal Fitness
Surely a traditional bike will preserve you fitter? That, of course, depends how a lot – if at all – you use it. Study (b) has located that 46% of standard bikes are utilized only when or twice a week, with a additional 30% getting used as soon as a fortnight or even significantly less. By contrast, a recent survey of electric bicycle owners reveals that a third ride their bike at least once a day and 81% use the bike at least when a week (c).
The figures confirm our experience that an electric bike generally gets utilized at least twice as normally as a conventional machine.
Simply because riding an electric bike is a good deal more enjoyable in hilly country, into powerful winds, or when carrying heavy loads, customers tend to make much better use of them. The motor delivers up to half the effort, but more regular use indicates far more exercising for the rider.
four. No Sweat!
Sweat may well not be a significant problem when you happen to be out for a leisure ride, but it’s a lot more important if you happen to be cycling to work. While some employers are rather grudgingly providing showers and other facilities for cyclists, the great majority have no intention of doing so. An electric bike eliminates the problem at supply. In hot weather, it’s possible to maintain a regular schedule by transferring a bit a lot more load to the electric motor. In colder weather – or if you feel in want of exercising – just throttle back, or turn the motor off.
5. Clean & Green
Electric bikes clearly consume energy, where a standard bikes does not (provided we ignore the environmental expense of expanding and processing meals – see below). Nonetheless, the amount of energy used is really small compared to a moped, motorcycle or automobile. Besides fuel, the only consumables are the batteries, and these can typically be recycled when life-expired. As for power use, electric bikes generally consume fuel at an average rate of 100 to 150 watts of electrical power, against 15,000 or so for a car or truck (admittedly travelling a great deal faster). In terms of fuel consumption, an electric bike achieves about 800-two,000mpg (290 – 700 litres/kilometre) (d). training bike out there vehicle can match figures of this sort.
If it really is difficult to location these numbers in your own way of life, feel of a 100 watt electric light bulb burning for an evening – that is adequate power to propel an electrically-assisted bike for 20 to 40 miles…
6. Genuinely Sustainable
There is a lot of nonsense talked about sustainability in transport, but an electric bicycle can be made genuinely sustainable. Purchase electrical energy from a ‘green’ supplier, or create your own with a roof-mounted windmill or solar panel array (see Solar Power details), and the vehicles’ fossil fuel consumption will be zero. Surely a conventional bike does that already? Only if you develop the meals you consume while riding it. Regrettably, most contemporary food production and distribution is so fuel-intensive that the consumption of a standard cyclist is not terribly great.
7. Quicker travel
In theory a auto can average a high speed, but in practise speed generally falls beneath 10mph in cities. The trouble is congestion – motorcycles get about this to some extent, but they’re still confined to the road network. An electric bike can sustain a higher typical speed than a bicycle but take advantage of the similar network of cycle facilities, giving access to routes that automobiles and motorcycles can not attain. The outcome is often a quicker door-to-door journey time than any other mode. And by taking advantage of the uncongested cycle network, but eliminating hills and headwinds, electric bikes are generally the most constant mode of travel.
8. Higher Resale Worth
Electric bikes are new technology, and it’s early days but, but the evidence points to a significantly far better resale worth than a standard bike. True, a standard electric bike fees more to invest in, at £400-£1,000, but it appears you are going to get most of that back if you sell the machine on.
9. Motorised, Devoid of The Red Tape!
You know how it is… MOT due, log book missing, insurance charges increasing year on year. Electric bikes are treated just like ordinary bicycles for legislative purposes, so there’s certainly no registration or legislation to worry about. You are of course totally free to insure the machine if you want, but there’s no compulsion to do anything but enjoy your self!