Fitness and speed are among some of the best reasons to commute to work or school on an electric bike.
In , nearly 837,000 Americans rode a bicycle to work, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in September .
That number was down almost 30,000 from the prior year, perhaps, because of the lack of investment in bike lanes or similar infrastructure. Or perhaps because of how long bicycle commutes can take or the effort needed to make them.
Many cycling advocates believe eBikes could change this trend and encourage more Americans to ride to work or school. Here are five reasons commuters should consider an electric bike.
Riding an electric bike to work or school keeps you stay active and may have significant health benefits including staving off cardiovascular disease, cancer, or, perhaps, even premature death generally.
An often-cited British Medical Journal (BMJ) report from found that 'cycle commuters and mixed-mode commuting with a cycling component were both associated with a statistically significant lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with non-active commuters.'
Hazard ratio for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CvD) incidence and mortality, and cancer incidence and mortality by commuting mode. Source: 'Association between active commuting and incident cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality: prospective cohort study'
'Commuters who cycled to work had a 41-percent lower risk of dying from all causes than people who drove or took public transport. They also had a 46-percent lower risk of developing and a 52-percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and a 45-percent lower risk of developing and a 40-percent lower risk of dying from cancer,' wrote Kevin Murnane in a Forbes article about the BMJ report.
While it is important to point out that electric bikes are easier (less strenuous) to ride than a traditional bicycle, they still promote physical activity, especially when compared to driving to work or riding a bus.
What's more, the addition of pedal assistance may make a commuter a lot more likely to leave the car at home and actually bike to work.
'Exercise is necessary in our lives, as we all know by now. People who are physically active are much less likely than sedentary people to develop heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, depression, disabilities in old age, or to die prematurely,' wrote Gretchen Reynolds in a The New York Times article, adding 'But statistics show that, despite its benefits, a majority of us never exercise. When researchers ask why most people offer the same two excuses ' they don't have time to fit exercise into their lives or they aren't fit enough to undertake exercise.'
'Electric bicycles could address those concerns. Their motors shore up your pedaling as needed ' or, with some electric bikes, do the pedaling for you ' making climbing hills or riding for long distances less taxing and daunting than the same ride on a standard bicycle. In the process, they could make cycling a palatable alternative to commuting by car, allowing people with jammed daily schedules to work out while getting to work,' Reynolds wrote.
Unless you are an elite cyclist, an electric bike is going to be faster than its conventional cousins. This can be a significant factor in your commute since the aim is still to get to work on time.
An electric bike's motor can help riders pedal to speeds of 20-to-28 miles per hour depending on class, according to chapter four of 'The Complete Electric Bike Buyer's Guide.'
For the sake of example, let's use the 20-miles-per-hour figure for electric bikes with either pedal assistance or power on demand. Now compare that to an average speed for a conventional bicycle of approximately 11 miles an hour. If your commute was five miles, it would take 27 minutes to ride on a conventional bicycle, but just 15 minutes on an electric bike.
If you needed to travel 12 miles to work or school the journey would take about an hour and five minutes on a regular bicycle or just 36 minutes on an electric bike. While these estimates do compare the electric bike's top speed (a legal requirement) to an average speed for a standard bicycle, maintaining 20 miles per hour on an electric bike requires about as much work as reaching an average speed on a conventional bicycle.
Depending on your point of view, there are two ways that an electric bike could help you commute farther.
First, the faster you ride the further you can go in a given time frame. You may not care how many miles per hour you're riding, rather you want to know that you can get to work in 15 or 20 minutes.
In this sense, electric bikes can also take you further. If your schedule only allows for a 20-minute commute, you would need to be less than four miles from work or school for a traditional, pedal-power-only bike to work. But an electric bike could take you nearly seven miles in the same amount of time.
Second, electric bikes are easier to ride. A pedal-assist system proportionally adds power to each stroke, so you can ride further than you could on a conventional bike for the same amount of human effort.
If you're just starting to commute by bike, pedaling ten miles might be a significant physical challenge, but with an electric bike, the ride will be manageable and, frankly, a lot of fun. Thus, an electric bike can help you commute further.
If you're biking across Phoenix, Arizona in August when the average temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit, you're going to sweat. You might sweat riding in an air-conditioned car in those conditions. So this point ' that electric bikes provide a sweat-free ride ' is relative, but still pretty true.
From to , I was a part-time, bike commuter riding 18 miles each way a few days a week. The ride into work left me so sweaty that I would stop at a nearby gym and get a shower before riding the last quarter mile to the office.
I wanted to look neat, clean, and professional at work, and a conventional bike was too much of a workout to skip the shower.
'One of the biggest drawbacks to using a bicycle for your daily commutes is showing up at your destination hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. By using an electric bike, however, you can complete the exact same rides while exerting only a portion of the physical effort. Electric bikes make two-wheeled commuting a much more viable possibility for many people, letting riders enjoy all the benefits of commuting by bicycle while eliminating many of its messiest drawbacks,' according to 'The Complete Electric Bike Buyer's Guide.'
Riding an electric bike to work can be much less expensive than driving or taking public transportation.
For example, if you commute in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, or San Francisco you could be paying a lot of money just to park your car.
In Manhattan, it is not uncommon to pay $20-to-$50 per day to park a car. Parking a bike is free. If you're a New Yorker that could be a savings of $400-to-$1,000 per month.
The switch to electric cars may get more media attention, but in the immediate future, it is electric bikes that will create a renaissance of two-wheelers. Rapidly growing in popularity, and for good reason, e-bikes offer extended range and easier commutes than gas-powered scooters, motorcycles, or cars.
For inner-city living, electric bikes may be the future of transportation. The features and benefits they provide make them an enticing option for college students, local commuters, and anyone who wants exercise while getting from point A to B. Not to mention it's a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution to fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
An electric bike is a standard bicycle outfitted with a motor that provides a boost, also called pedal assist. That extra electric push can be a huge benefit for riders on mountainous terrain, hauling goods, or going long distances. Like standard pedal bikes, e-bikes can be outfitted with larger tires, cargo trailers, racks or baskets.
Those in the market for electric bikes should test a variety of models and styles since there are many variations in both power and speed. In the U.S., there are three classes of electric bikes, all with different means of acceleration and top speeds; Class 1 is pedal-assist without a throttle, Class 2 has a throttle assist with speeds up to 20 mph, and Class 3, which also has no throttle, and speeds up to 28 mph.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Powrloo.
The very first electric bicycles were documented in the s and s in the patent offices in both France and the United States. In France, one of the earliest was a three-wheeled electric contraption, the motor power controlled with a hand-held lever system without any pedals.
In , the first 'Pedelec' or Pedal Electric Cycle (now referred to as pedal-assist) was created. Rather than using a throttle mechanism to control the motor, as all previous models had, pedal-assist allowed riders to utilize an electric bike not so dissimilar to how one would ride a regular bike.
Today, the use of electric bicycles worldwide is steadily rising. Their availability and mobility have not only made biking more accessible but has also elevated the sport to levels previously unimaginable with bicycling now a choice for riders new or old, whether they are on roads high in elevation or leisurely cruising city streets.
Convenience and ease of use for anyone, including the elderly or disabled. Commuting by bike that would be too far, too long, or too slow are made possible with an e-bike.
Easier commute to work without excessive sweating
Energy efficiency. According to a study conducted by Efficiency Vermont, e-bikes were shown to displace meaningful amounts of driving miles. On average, e-bike owners displaced 760 driving miles annually.
Cost efficiency (no parking fees, no gas expenses, no high maintenance fees)
A cleaner alternative of transport for commerce and products for inner-city deliveries
No red tape! E-bikes are still considered a bicycle, so if you don't like the process of registration or getting license plates or insurance, getting an E-bike can be a good choice!
Healthy and aids in stress relief; regular physical activity from the electric cycle will boost your blood circulation, work your core muscles out, relieve you of stress, and release feel-good endorphins in your body.
Considering an e-bike? For first-time riders, it is recommended to spend some time learning about safe riding through a class to get a better sense of the rules of the road. This way new riders will be able to avoid accidents and manage their routes safer and easier.
Electrify and Save'
--
Want more information on energy generating exercise bike? Feel free to contact us.