My other concern, and this concern is about any new or newer car, is the info that is transmitted to somewhere in the cloud about my personal choices and habits.
I think at this point in my life, my next transportation purchase will probably be an E-bike, not an EV.
In our local area, we have a very strong network of bicycle lanes and I’d rather commute via E-bike than a car. I believe you can get a range of 40-100 miles +/- w/o pedaling.
My husband bought an e-bike a few years before he bought his plug-in hybrid. He uses the bike to go to the tennis court and sometimes rides to his office. He bought the Subaru Crosstrek which only works if one has a short commute. He can get to his office, the beach at lunchtime and home on electric. Next time he would get something with longer range though he doesn’t really need it. He loves not going to the gas station. He has it scheduled to charge overnight when the rates are lowest. When he bought the car he was able to get a great rebate from Southern Ca Edison on top of the other rebates.
My husband wants to buy an e-bike when the trail to his workplace will be completed. He says he will use the e-assist on the way to work, so no sweat, no showering. And pedaling more on the way back, so more exercise without worrying about getting drenched in sweat. The trail has/will have a 15 mph speed limit.
For a few years, I rode my bike to work in the summers when I didn’t have to schlepp kids around. One summer, I was part of a test group for e-bikes. It was pretty nice having the assist in the way home. The route has a big uphill, 10% in spots. But I wouldn’t have paid $$$ for one. And once my bike needed more repairs than I would have saved in gas, I got lazy and just drove. I preferred having more time home at lunch to nap vs getting in those few minutes of exercise. I exercise plenty as it is.
We will likely buy e-bikes when we feel like we are too old or can’t do as much on regular bikes. Cycling is part of our regular exercise routine, and we take cycling vacations sometimes. E-bikes work great when you have one spouse that’s an avid cyclist, and the other spouse wants to come along without slowing down the cyclist.
Well…e-bikes! I wanted one…and my DH loves dealing with these issues. He found a company, I believe in the UK…that made a retrofit for my specialized bike. The front wheel got replaced, and the battery and charger somehow hooked up. It is terrific! And the best part…it was about $300 to do this.
Friends bought e-bikes from Amazon for $499…and they love them. Again…serves their purpose well.
We don’t live where bike commuting works…but if we did, I would seriously consider this!
I have one. Before I got it, I was losing steam after about 7-8 miles around my house due to trouble with the sustained inclines (and wind resistance). After getting the e-bike, which is only pedal-assist (meaning it cannot move on its own power) and only adds about a 10-30% assistant depending on the setting, I routinely do 20+ mile routes around my area. I am netting longer time pedalling than I did before the e-bike, still sweating, still getting burning legs, still feeling the cardiovascular and pulmonary strain. I almost always leave the assist at the lowest setting, unless I encounter a substantial hill.
My philosophy is whatever gets you out there exercising is a good thing. If without an e-bike I hated biking and would give up after 45 minutes and with one I go 3x as often and go 75-90 minutes per ride, which was better for me?
We helped a friend in Cape Cod pick out an e-bike last month. (Volectric Discover, from a local shop that assembled and delivered). The idea was that it would allow him to bike again, knowing that if he got winded he could still get back home.
I was surprised how very heavy e-bikes are. They work best if you are biking from home, not needing to transport to a bike trail. Because so heavy, you’ll be in want of assist more than when on a regular bike.
Since they are pricey, ideally you’ll have a good lock but not have it out of your sight for very long. Some people find ways to hide apple tags in them in case stole.
On mine…the battery pops right off. If we ride to anyplace where we are going inside to do something, we just take that with us. Another advantage to what I have.
Same with mine. I also remove the battery and leave it in the car when transporting the bike on a bike rack, just as an extra precaution. The removable battery also means if my battery eventually degrades I can replace it, or if I ever wanted to do a very long trip I could get a spare.
I love mine! I live at the bottom of a very steep hill, just getting up that hill on a regular bike is a huge challenge- my kids can do it, but I need to walk at least some of the way. With my ebike I get a little push (it still takes work!) and I am way more likely to ride it- I go to the store, library etc. It makes my very hilly part of town feel a little flatter.
I’ve been considering one, so I’d love to hear from any experts. My issues are I need low step-through, want one that looks like a regular road bike – not like a moped.
I think just pedal assist, not with a throttle, but I have found that pedal assist ones seem to be more expensive than throttle ones (and some throttle type bikes are banned from bike paths, which I totally understand).
I have also been reading up on mid-drive vs hub motors. I like the idea of mid-drive, but they seem much more expensive.
I’ve biked for many years–on a comfortable hybrid road bike, not a racer with dropped handlebars or anything like that. But hills and wind are starting to slow me down, and cut my mileage. Like others have said, the idea is to be able to go out for longer and farther, using the pedal assist only when necessary. So not less exercise, but ideally more.
Any experts with ideas on any of this, I’d love to hear from.
For some of us $300-500 is pricey and more than I want to spend. I don’t really enjoy biking very much and H really doesn’t. Our city isn’t very bikeable. I just did it when gas was $4/gallon and I was making 1/3 of what I do now (and I’ve always been the primary earner). And once the regular bike needed signficant repairs, I junked it and it hadn’t been replaced. It was 30 years old. My commute is only 1.75 miles so I don’t use much gas. I fill up maybe once a month when I get down to a 1/3 of a tank.