“In a systematic energy flow comparison, a grid-charged battery driving an electric motor will deliver mechanical energy about ten times much more efficiently than a human consuming a common eating plan. For personal travel between five and 30 miles per day, the electric bicycle presents the lowest environmental and individual monetary price, commonly with no escalating urban travel time”
From Energy, International Warming, and Electric Bicycles Power Flow Evaluation with an Emphasis on Personal Transportation
1. Hill Climbing
That may well sound apparent, but it is the major advantage. A good electric bike effectively flattens hills, growing your average speed and eliminating the ‘groan’ factor when a gradient comes into view. Provided you provide a reasonable quantity of work, you can count on to climb hills of 1 in 10 (ten%) on an electric bike with ease, and clear a maximum gradient of 1 in 7 (14%), or considerably far more. In hilly nation, the impact is absolutely nothing quick of miraculous.
two. Security
It sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? But the mathematics is compelling. Assume of a steep and busy road, with cars climbing at 30mph. If you previously slogged up the hill at 6mph, but can tackle the similar gradient at 12mph with an electric bike, you will see 33% fewer cars, and they will pass you at 18mph rather than 24mph. Or at least, we believe that’s correct.
What ever the figures, there is no doubt that an electric bike assists to maintain you out of danger. The identical common principle applies to road junctions – the faster your acceleration, the sooner you can get out of problems. And with no have to have to rush the hills, you won’t be tempted to ride downhill at breakneck speed… a different useful safety function.
3. Personal Fitness
Certainly a traditional bike will retain you fitter? That, of course, depends how a great deal – if at all – you use it. Investigation (b) has identified that 46% of traditional bikes are used only after or twice a week, with a additional 30% becoming applied when a fortnight or even significantly less. By contrast, a recent survey of electric bicycle owners reveals that a third ride their bike at least when a day and 81% use the bike at least as soon as a week (c).
The figures confirm our expertise that an electric bike usually gets utilised at least twice as generally as a traditional machine.
For the reason that riding an electric bike is a great deal more enjoyable in hilly country, into robust winds, or when carrying heavy loads, customers have a tendency to make greater use of them. The motor offers up to half the work, but more normal use means far more exercise for the rider.
four. No Sweat!
Sweat might not be a critical issue when you happen to be out for a leisure ride, but it is much more critical if you’re cycling to perform. While some employers are rather grudgingly delivering showers and other facilities for cyclists, the great majority have no intention of performing so. An electric bike eliminates the issue at supply. In hot climate, it really is achievable to retain a normal schedule by transferring a bit much more load to the electric motor. In colder weather – or if you feel in need of physical exercise – just throttle back, or turn the motor off.
5. Clean & Green
Electric bikes naturally consume energy, exactly where a traditional bikes does not (provided we ignore the environmental price of developing and processing meals – see below). Even so, the quantity of power utilised is really tiny compared to a moped, motorcycle or vehicle. Apart from fuel, the only consumables are the batteries, and these can commonly be recycled when life-expired. As for energy use, electric bikes usually consume fuel at an average rate of 100 to 150 watts of electrical power, against 15,000 or so for a auto (admittedly travelling considerably quicker). In terms of fuel consumption, an electric bike achieves about 800-2,000mpg (290 – 700 litres/kilometre) (d). No other commercially readily available car can match figures of this sort.
If it is hard to location these numbers in your personal life style, believe of a one hundred watt electric light bulb burning for an evening – that is adequate power to propel an electrically-assisted bike for 20 to 40 miles…
six. 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 produce your own with a roof-mounted windmill or solar panel array (see Solar Power information), and the vehicles’ fossil fuel consumption will be zero. Surely a conventional bike does that currently? Only if you grow the food you consume while riding it. Sadly, most modern food production and distribution is so fuel-intensive that the consumption of a common cyclist is not terribly great.
7. More quickly travel
In theory a automobile can average a higher speed, but in practise speed often falls beneath 10mph in cities. The problem is congestion – motorcycles get about this to some extent, but they’re nonetheless confined to the road network. An electric bike can retain a greater average speed than a bicycle but take benefit of the similar network of cycle facilities, providing access to routes that automobiles and motorcycles can not attain. The result is typically a more quickly 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 typically the most consistent mode of travel.
eight. High Resale Value
Electric bikes are new technology, and it really is early days but, but the evidence points to a considerably superior resale value than a traditional bike. pink lit , a common electric bike fees additional to buy, at £400-£1,000, but it seems you’ll get most of that back if you sell the machine on.
9. Motorised, With no The Red Tape!
You know how it is… MOT due, log book missing, insurance coverage fees increasing year on year. Electric bikes are treated just like ordinary bicycles for legislative purposes, so there’s definitely no registration or legislation to worry about. You are of course free to insure the machine if you want, but there is no compulsion to do something but appreciate your self!