A year ago, my husband and I capitalized on staying home during COVID to do a DIY kitchen-remodel project. I rode my electric cargo bike, which looks like a wheelbarrow and a bicycle had a baby, to the local Ace Hardware to pick up supplies almost daily.
Inevitably, a truck-driving contractor would approach me in the parking lot and eye my Urban Arrow bike and the supplies in my shopping cart, like eight-foot-long Pex pipe, thinset bags for tiling and drywall mud. “You’re going to bike that load home?”
I let him know that pedaling would be effortless because my bike had a motor.
Record gas prices have Americans talking. Thinking of the men who approached me at the hardware store, I say the following with an excited voice: ebikes are a solution – and a much cheaper solution than that electric vehicle you’re now thinking about.
Ebikes are the most addictive, fun, transformative product on the market right now, which makes them incredibly effective as a car replacement. You only need to try one, and you’ll want to ride it for the most mundane of errands, like picking up stamps from the post office. If you ride one to work, your co-workers will wonder why you are so damn happy and want to test-ride your bike in the parking lot.
What is an ebike? A bike with a motor. Some give that electric assist only when pedaling, while others have a throttle that offers a bit of a moped feel. Don’t confuse them with electric motorcycles; you still pedal. Depending on the model and how much of an assist you want, you can go up to 28 mph and travel as far as 100 miles on one charge.
“ Ebikes are the most addictive, fun, transformative product on the market right now, which makes them incredibly effective as a car replacement. ”
An e-bike isn’t for everyone or every trip. But if school, work or errands are less than 15 miles away, it can replace your car for at least some of those trips.
It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. This is how Mary Pustejovsky, a mom in Madison, Wis., puts it: “The electric cargo bike has replaced all our trips under 5 miles. We still use the car for trips to grandma’s house 90 miles away or on days when it is super cold.”
How much does it cost?
I know, you’ve got a lot of questions. Let’s start with the cost.
The current palate of ebikes ranges from roughly $1,100 …….
