Electric vehicles may be a popular and growing form of sustainable transportation, but they are certainly not the most common. Facts have proved that the adoption rate of two-wheel electric vehicles in the form of electric bicycles is much higher-for good reason.
The function of an electric bicycle is similar to that of a pedal bicycle, but it benefits from an electric auxiliary motor that can help the rider travel faster and farther without effort. They can shorten bicycle trips, razing steep hillsides to the ground, and even offer the option of using electric bicycles to transport a second passenger.
Although they cannot match the speed or range of electric vehicles, they have many other advantages, such as lower costs, faster city commutes, and free parking. Therefore, it is not surprising that sales of electric bicycles have soared to the point where global sales of electric bicycles continue to substantially exceed that of electric vehicles.
Even in the United States, where the electric bicycle market has long lagged behind Europe and Asia, the sales of electric bicycles in 2020 will exceed 600,000 units. This means that Americans are buying electric bicycles at a rate of more than one per minute by 2020. In the United States, the sales of electric bicycles even exceed those of electric cars.
Electric bicycles are certainly more affordable than electric cars, although the latter enjoy a number of state and federal tax incentives in the United States to reduce their effective costs. Electric bicycles will not receive any federal tax credits, but this situation may change if legislation currently pending in Congress is passed.
In terms of infrastructure investment, federal incentives and green energy funding, electric vehicles have also received most of the attention. E-bike companies usually have to do it themselves, with little or no external help.
However, in the past few years, the sales of electric bicycles in the United States have grown rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in increasing the adoption rate, but at this time the sales of electric bicycles in the United States have soared.
The British Bicycle Association recently reported that there will be 160,000 e-bike sales in the UK in 2020. The organization pointed out that during the same period, the number of electric vehicles sold in the UK was 108,000, and the sales of electric bicycles easily surpassed the larger four-wheel electric vehicles.
Sales of electric bicycles in Europe are even growing at such a high rate that they are expected to exceed sales of all cars-not just electric cars-later in the decade.
For many city dwellers, this day comes too early. In addition to providing riders with more affordable and efficient alternative means of transportation, electric bicycles actually help improve everyone’s city. Although electric bike riders can directly benefit from lower transportation costs, faster commuting times and free parking, more electric bikes on the street means fewer cars. Fewer cars means less traffic.
Electric bicycles are widely regarded as one of the best ways to reduce urban traffic, especially in cities where there is no effective public transportation system. Even in cities with well-developed public transportation, electric bicycles are usually a more convenient alternative because they allow riders to commute to get off work on their own schedule without route restrictions.