Those who want to drive sustainably on the road, choose electric vehicles instead of driving conventional cars. Among avid biking enthusiasts who also want to take better care of Mother Earth, they go for electronic bikes or e-bikes instead of the usual bicycles. What are e-bikes, and why are they good for the environment? This article has the details.
People Are More Environmentally-Conscious Today Than Ever Before
As various industries continue to grow and expand, so as the impacts and the problems they create for the environment. These environmental issues include pollution, overpopulation, waste disposal, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss. Not only these, but people on the planet also experience the ill effects of deforestation, ozone layer depletion, acid rain, public health issues, and among the biggest of them all, global warming.
Global warming is touted as a severe issue and problem that affects the environment across the globe. This is primarily because of the too much consumption of fossil fuels for transportation, accounting for an estimated fifth of global carbon emissions.
This is not to say that people are not taking action. In fact, individuals are more environmentally-conscious nowadays compared to before. Many environmentally-conscious people are looking for sustainable ways to replace fossil fuels in order to combat global warming and other environmental problems.
People do this by living sustainably. These ways include saving energy, eating less meat, using reusable items, going paperless, using renewable energy, imbibing the habit of re-use and recycling, and growing their own produce. To save Mother Earth, they also donate unused items, conserve water, buy fair trade products, drive less, do not waste food, wear sustainable clothing, and use eco-friendly cleaning products, among many others. These habits also carry over to transportation, such as choosing to use electric bikes or e-bikes instead of the usual bicycles.
What Are Electric Bikes?
Electric bikes, or e-bikes, are bicycles equipped with an electric motor that assists the biker when they are pedaling. The motor sources its power from a rechargeable battery that is mounted on the bicycle.
An e-bike is characterized as having a motor that helps the biker instead of propelling on its own. The user, therefore, has to pedal to get this assistance. How much power the e-bike’s motor delivers is regulated according to how hard the biker is pedaling and the support level they have chosen.
Electric bike systems provide various modes the bikers can choose from, letting them balance the amount of power supplied via the pedals with battery life and range.
How E-Bikes Save The Environment
With those being said, e-bikes have presented great promise as a viable, effective, and environment-friendly solution in the world of transportation. Aside from the fact that they are affordable, they are also very portable.
E-bikes cost less than cars that run on fossil fuel. You will have to financially cover the daily fuel expenses, insurance fees, and routine maintenance costs when you buy the latter, especially if you use the car frequently.
These e-bikes are more affordable, so e-bike owners do not have to worry about running costs. By the time it reaches 18 months of use, the bike would have probably paid for itself. On top of these financial advantages, electric bikes are also more portable and easier to store, only requiring little space.
But do you know the biggest advantage of these e-bikes? They allow you to reduce your usually harmful fossil fuel consumption significantly. When you own an e-bike, you minimize the greenhouse gas emissions and your overall carbon footprint.
However, note that e-bikes should be regularly charged, but this is easy to do. Even the basic e-bikes offer a range of 20 to 30 miles on a single charge. This is more than enough when you need to go around the city. You can also find options that produce higher ranges, such as mid-range e-bikes that offer a traveling range of 50 to 70 miles on a single charge and top-end e-bikes that deliver up to a hundred miles on a single charge.
Plus, bikers do not need to wait for hours to get the e-bikes fully charged. With today’s rapid advancements in battery innovations, you can obtain faster-charging speeds. Another benefit of e-bikes is that they charge if you pedal on easy roads rather than utilizing the throttle.
E-Bikes Lower Carbon Dioxide Emissions And Ease Traffic Congestion
Traffic is a big problem that the world faces. Almost every major city on the globe encounters stressful traffic congestion. Not only is it stressful, but heavy traffic likewise increases the fossil fuel consumption of cars since they have to keep in motion at very slow speeds for a longer time. This results in more carbon monoxide emissions, polluting the air and harming people’s health.
With e-bikes, you can cruise around the city with ease. They do not only significantly decrease road traffic, but they also cut down the time needed to reach places. Not only these but they also lower air pollution and help the environment significantly
As people become more conscious about the fossil fuel consumption, e-bikes and tricycles are quickly gaining popularity. Apart from being a more sustainable choice that takes good care of nature, they also help their users live a healthy lifestyle and escape from their sedentary routines.
Overall, e-bikes are inarguably among the best and more viable transportation solutions that can decrease your environmental footprint and fight climate change on the personal level.
There are nations around the globe that still consider the e-bike a bicycle. Thus, if you want to avoid the often time-consuming process of having your vehicles registered, obtaining a license plate, or acquiring insurance, e-bikes are an excellent choice.
Unlike gas-fueled vehicles or motorcycles, you can buy these e-bikes from your local dealer or shop without the tedious paperwork.
Beyond these, as e-bikes become more accessible, cities worldwide are devising ways to develop the infrastructure of public charging stations that will surely benefit many.
Health Benefits Of E-Bikes
When you choose to use an e-bike, you are adopting a healthier lifestyle by mitigating the negative effects of a deskbound lifestyle. Since e-bikes can also travel long distances, the biker can build their endurance, and the bike can give you a proper muscle workout.
There are more health benefits of using an e-bike aside from these, including providing better heart health, lowering your stress levels, increasing your metabolism, giving you better core muscle strength, improving your coordination, and increasing your blood flow.
Its pedal-assist feature also allows the biker to set the assistance level from the e-bike’s motor, so they can have a good workout even after using the throttle.
Everybody can use an e-bike, even the elderly. These older people can benefit from using e-bikes in such a way that they can stay active despite their old age. The moving speeds of bikes of this kind are relatively easy to control, and you can customize the speed limit if the elderly and the children will use the e-bike.
