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If you haven’t tried riding an electric bike yet, I highly recommend giving it a go. Find one to hire or borrow from someone nearby. Trust me, once you’re on the saddle with the assistance of the motor, you’ll feel like you’ve become younger and fitter. It’s like experiencing the rejuvenation of Lance Armstrong after a visit to his doctor. Turns out, it’s all about the bike.
While electric cars may grab the headlines, e-bikes actually outsold them in the US and came close to matching battery vehicles’ sales in the UK in 2021. E-bikes make cycling accessible to everyone, especially those who don’t want to arrive at their destination sweaty and tired. With an e-bike, conquering hills is effortless. You can even carry passengers or transport heavy cargo weighing up to 150kg. Although the motor assistance cuts out above 15.5mph due to UK law, short trips remain effortless.
E-bikes have revolutionized cycling by breaking the barrier between cyclists and other road users. Almost anyone can now become a cyclist, and I firmly believe that lack of awareness is the primary reason more people aren’t riding e-bikes. Interestingly, riding a mile on an e-bike produces fewer carbon emissions than the amount of food required to cycle a mile on a traditional pedal bike.
However, it’s not all positive news. The London Fire Brigade has responded to e-bike and e-scooter fires almost every two days this year. In January, a tragic incident occurred when a 21-year-old woman lost her life in an e-bike fire in London.
In addition, the rise of rental e-bikes has caused frustration among pedestrians as they find these bikes discarded on sidewalks, obstructing strollers and wheelchairs. There is also a hardware glitch with Lime bikes that allows them to be ridden for free but produces an annoying clicking sound.
The e-bike sector has even faced challenges in terms of investment. VanMoof, a popular Dutch e-bike company during the pandemic, recently filed for bankruptcy despite being proclaimed as the “most funded e-bike company in the world” after raising $128mn in 2021.
Cycling, much like Marmite, Nigel Farage, and the Australian cricket team, evokes strong opinions. However, let’s address the problems with e-bikes one by one before critics celebrate their downfall.
Regarding the fires, not all e-bikes seem to be affected. Transport for London, Lime, and HumanForest, which offer e-bikes for hire in London, state that none of their bikes have caught fire. The UK’s Bicycle Association explains that some reported fires involve illegal unregistered motorbikes or faulty batteries, often self-installed with poor quality. They haven’t identified any reputable batteries catching fire yet, according to the group’s technical and policy director, Peter Eland.
These substandard batteries are particularly popular among food delivery drivers. The real concern is why these batteries are allowed to be sold online, and where is the UK enforcement agency, Trading Standards? Additionally, why are gig economy workers burdened with excessive workloads and low pay, leading them to install these batteries with little oversight?
As for the issue of nuisance rental e-bikes, riders need to be more responsible citizens. Improved infrastructure would help alleviate the problem. Lime, which reports a 10% monthly growth in rides, urges London to build 10,000 e-bike parking bays. In the meantime, it’s worth remembering that a poorly parked e-bike occupies less space than a well-parked car. Lime also plans to fix the hardware glitch by September to prevent unauthorized free-riding with the clicking sound.
The challenges faced by VanMoof appear to be their own. They sold bikes for less than their manufacturing cost, which explains their financial troubles. However, there is still potential for them to recover, perhaps by strengthening their accounting practices.
Despite the challenges, I remain a firm believer in e-bikes. The only downside is that they are highly sought after and prone to theft.
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