“That’s worth waiting for”. No, I don’t think I agree. Ebikes enable people to do something they otherwise cannot do right now: get somewhere mostly nearby but too far to walk, with low emissions and high personal autonomy. To say that people should deprive themselves of that ability in wait for an evolution in batteries is asinine, and ignores the very real and tangible benefits that can be realized today.
I would argue that regular bikes also do that pretty well, but both are good and I’d expect solid state batteries to becoming commercially available before this stuff ever does (if it ever does).
Even so, if you can afford a good bike of any kind and it fits you well, don’t wait and just start riding!
I ride both regularly: The ebike is great for recovery days where I still don’t want to drive, but most of the time, I kinda prefer my old hybrid. I don’t know if I’m just attached to it or it’s the experience itself but it somehow seems like less of a hassle.
I’ve had my ebike for 13 months now, and while it’s super convenient to use the ebike, I’ve been on an acoustic bike for 11 years and see no reason to deprecate it. So I’ve drawn some guidelines for myself to identify when the ebike should to be used: 1) time is of the essence, eg meeting someone for a short lunch, medical appointment, or to avoid imminent bad weather conditions, or 2) the trip would leave the town borders. This policy gives the acoustic bike the priority for short trips, where it has been effective for years. And longer trips become a tradeoff of time versus convenience.
And of course, if the acoustic bike has an issue, then the ebike is a suitable backup capable of doing those in-town trips. And if the ebike too is unavailable, then we go down the rest of the priority list: transit, carpool, then car.
Absolutely agree, especially for a bike. I would guess the vast majority of ebike owners would not suddenly start going on all day adventures just because their batteries could sustain double the use. I’ve driven ebikes for about a decade, occasionally for fun, but mostly for commute and errands. Those are fixed distances and I don’t have much reason to travel a lot further by bike. In fact, I don’t think any of my usual bike trips have been limited by the capacity of my battery. Much moreso the amount of time I’d be comfortable riding or because I’d need to bring or pick up something or someone that wouldn’t conveniently fit on my bike. Plus, peddling and just bringing along the small, standard outlet battery charger are both very simple solutions to running out of power. Range anxiety seems like it would largely be a non-issue for ebike owners, but I’m curious if anyone here thinks otherwise.
Range anxiety seems like it would largely be a non-issue for ebike owners
I’m poised to agree, since if I feel like I’m short on range, I can substantially improve the situation by running slower or lowering the power-assist level. And worse case, when the battery runs out, I still have a mechanically intact (albeit heavy) conventional bicycle.
“That’s worth waiting for”. No, I don’t think I agree. Ebikes enable people to do something they otherwise cannot do right now: get somewhere mostly nearby but too far to walk, with low emissions and high personal autonomy. To say that people should deprive themselves of that ability in wait for an evolution in batteries is asinine, and ignores the very real and tangible benefits that can be realized today.
I would argue that regular bikes also do that pretty well, but both are good and I’d expect solid state batteries to becoming commercially available before this stuff ever does (if it ever does).
Even so, if you can afford a good bike of any kind and it fits you well, don’t wait and just start riding!
100% agree with getting started on any bike, electric or not.
Although the benefits of ebikes particularly are notable, with one study noting that older individuals will tend to travel relatively longer distance when on an ebike specifically.
I ride both regularly: The ebike is great for recovery days where I still don’t want to drive, but most of the time, I kinda prefer my old hybrid. I don’t know if I’m just attached to it or it’s the experience itself but it somehow seems like less of a hassle.
I’ve had my ebike for 13 months now, and while it’s super convenient to use the ebike, I’ve been on an acoustic bike for 11 years and see no reason to deprecate it. So I’ve drawn some guidelines for myself to identify when the ebike should to be used: 1) time is of the essence, eg meeting someone for a short lunch, medical appointment, or to avoid imminent bad weather conditions, or 2) the trip would leave the town borders. This policy gives the acoustic bike the priority for short trips, where it has been effective for years. And longer trips become a tradeoff of time versus convenience.
And of course, if the acoustic bike has an issue, then the ebike is a suitable backup capable of doing those in-town trips. And if the ebike too is unavailable, then we go down the rest of the priority list: transit, carpool, then car.
Absolutely agree, especially for a bike. I would guess the vast majority of ebike owners would not suddenly start going on all day adventures just because their batteries could sustain double the use. I’ve driven ebikes for about a decade, occasionally for fun, but mostly for commute and errands. Those are fixed distances and I don’t have much reason to travel a lot further by bike. In fact, I don’t think any of my usual bike trips have been limited by the capacity of my battery. Much moreso the amount of time I’d be comfortable riding or because I’d need to bring or pick up something or someone that wouldn’t conveniently fit on my bike. Plus, peddling and just bringing along the small, standard outlet battery charger are both very simple solutions to running out of power. Range anxiety seems like it would largely be a non-issue for ebike owners, but I’m curious if anyone here thinks otherwise.
One additional accessory for away-from-home charging is to leverage EV charging stations, which are publicly mapped and often free. There are adapters that plug into the station, and then offer an IEC 320 c13 plug (aka PC plug), which a lot of ebike chargers can receive.
I’m poised to agree, since if I feel like I’m short on range, I can substantially improve the situation by running slower or lowering the power-assist level. And worse case, when the battery runs out, I still have a mechanically intact (albeit heavy) conventional bicycle.