Cycle Republic has created some infographics based of Department for Transport data to show just how beneficial e-bikes can be for the environment.
Your guide to electric cargo bikes
Looking at total greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars, trains and buses compared to e-bikes, the data shows that an e-bike will offset all the emissions created during its production after just 1000km ridden. In contrast, polluting forms of travel created 89.5 million tonnes of CO2 in 2016 alone.
E-bikes don't just reduce air pollution either; they also greatly reduce noise pollution, which creates a more pleasant and peaceful environment for people to get around.
To further demonstrate how much better e-bikes are for the environment, Cycle Republic use the example of Greenwich butchers Drings, who tested an e-cargo bike against his van to see what the difference was in CO2 emissions; Drings owner Michael Jones found the e-cargo bike led to a 99% reduction in CO2 emissions, and he would have to have completed the route over 153 times to match how much was produced by just one delivery in his van.
While this is all very positive, Colin Williams of FLi Distribution, who is an ex-environmental consultant, believe Brits need to realise the benefits of e-bikes for lots of different types of trips, rather than using them just for sport and recreation: “People need to be encouraged to see the benefits of using their e-bike for lots of different types of trips, not just leisure. Used in place of cars, e-bikes can help to reduce congestion and pollution and cancel out the environmental impact of their production.”
“E-bikes can also be viewed as a gateway to traditional bikes, allowing users who couldn’t previously travel by bike to do so. In turn, this will eventually lead to more people commuting by bike, which will undoubtedly positively impact the environment.”
Hopefully the more these stats funnel through, the more people will be persuaded to make the e-bike switch and ditch that car!
