Is E-bike Commuting the Most Ecological Option for the Environment?

E-bikes are one of the best tools to use in order to reduce your carbon footprint!

One study found that if every American replaced even just 15 percent of the vehicle miles traveled with an e-bike trip, it could reduce U.S. carbon emissions by as much as 12 percent.

Consider this: Each mile traveled by car typically generates 271 grams of Co2 emissions, while each mile traveled by E-bike generates just 22 grams of CO2 emissions. In other words, E-bikes can reduce the CO2 emissions of your daily commute by 92%.

Get out of traffic jams by choosing an e-bike

80% of people in the USA are stuck in traffic, driving three trillion miles in USA per year. We have 253 million cars on the road.

Now, in European cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam, we find an unbelievable cycling infrastructure where the lanes are protected from the cars they have the priority. 35% to 40% of the people in Copenhagen ride their bikes everywhere. No matter rain, sleet, snow, or shine. Riding bicycles can be a mode of transportation, not only as a mode of recreation.

E-bikes are increasingly popular around the world because of sustainability

Just over a hundred years ago, moving around cities was slow and expensive. People rely on using a horse and carriage. By the 1920s, there are millions of private automobiles on the road.

Now, the personal automobile had a significant impact on our lives. It provided the people the freedom to move around cities.

Public transportation in many cities is not that good. Mainly due to the high cost of infrastructure. Digging subway tunnels has budgets of billions of tax dollars, and it takes dozens of years. Buses have rigid routes, paired with rigid scheduling.

When you ride an E-bike, you tell yourself where you want to go, and this is the future of mobility. Instead of fixed routes and fixed scheduling, everything is dynamic, computed in real-time.

The rise of E-bikes has raised questions on the effects on health and the environment

So far, scientific studies have shown that E-bike use can promote good general health. The same goes for their environmental impact. E-bikes are generally more energy-efficient and thus more sustainable than other motorized transport modes such as the car.

These effects might be less intense when an E-bike is used instead of a regular bike. However, studies have shown that when people buy an e-bike, they cycle more often and make longer trips with an e-bike than with an ordinary bicycle. Hence, the net effect of switching from bikes to e-bikes is not always negative.

Still, overall, e-bikes of the pedal-assisted type provide a sustainable healthy alternative for motorized transportation on distances that are too long to cover by a regular bike.

E-bikes have a nearly identical carbon footprint to that of a traditional bike ride

As a last point of comparison, maybe you travel by bus right now? Well, that generates approximately 101 grams per miler or about five times as much as commuting by bike.

Not ready to give up your car just yet? Well, there’s still good news: Recent studies have shown that people with E-bikes end up using their E-bikes to replace trips that they would have otherwise taken by car, which also results in a lower carbon footprint!

E-bikes owners also report that their overall dependence on vehicles and frequency of car use also decreases after purchasing an E-bike. And, no surprise, their level of happiness goes up too! 

Learn More! 

If there is anything else you want to know about electric bikes and their capabilities in on or off-road conditions, feel free to contact the HeyBike team.

We are a team of devoted e-bike fans, determined to share the benefits of riding with exciting and capable electric bikes!