If the big cars didn't pose such a danger, electric bicycles would already be our primary alternative for city driving. They're fast, quiet, cheap, and reliable, and every year they're getting better and better
Except of course it might rain. Or it might be too sunny/hot. Or you might need to carry kids. Or carry shopping/parcels. Or you might need to go faster than an ebike can legally go (12mph).
You're not made of sugar and neither is the bike. Rain gear exists just like it does for walking.
> Or it might be too sunny/hot.
On an eBike it's usually more comfortable than walking due to the breeze.
> Or you might need to carry kids.
Cargo bikes, trailers and kids seats. Carrying kids on bikes is easy. Certainly better for them to be outside in fresh air with a good view. The older kids ride themselves of course.
> Or carry shopping/parcels.
Cargo bikes, trailers, baskets, panniers, backpacks, etc. You honestly cannot argue that bikes can't carry things.
> Or you might need to go faster than an ebike can legally go (12mph).
At least in Europe they're limited to 25km/h, or 16mph. With traffic lights, stop signs and congestion you may very well be going slower than that on average in a car.
There are of course reasons people can't/don't use a bike for something: Poor infrastructure, lacking safety enforcement (from cars & thieves), anti-convenience laws like helmet mandates, super long distances, super heavy/large cargo, impassable terrain, good public transit, horrendous weather, etc. You might note that pretty much all of those apply to cars as well.
There is a huge misunderstanding in what bikes are trying to achieve. No sane one is suggesting you use a bike for a 50 mile work commute.
The criticism is against giant SUVs and pickup trucks for in-city travel. You dont need to burn 2 gallons of fuel to carry a gallon of milk and dozen eggs from 2 miles away. A cargo bike like in the video above is sufficient.
Most cars have 1 passenger in them currently. How do I know that? Because HoV lanes are always empty.
I live in Seattle, riding in the rain is not really a problem. A halfway decent outer shell protects you from the rain.
I carry my kid on my bike. My wife's bike has a whole box up front that could carry two kids. (Mine has a long tail with a captain's chair on it.)
I can carry shopping easily. I've carted something like 6-10 cubic feet of soil on it before. Cargo bikes are made to carry stuff.
Ebikes can go as fast as you can pedal them, and will stop assisting you at 28mph. I've regularly hit 30mph on downhills, and here in Seattle you can treat stop signs as yield signs. In practice, because I don't have to stop every block and because I can take paths and other shortcuts and I don't need to find parking, trips under a couple miles are generally faster on the bike than in a car.
Nah. It's easy enough to chain up to any ol' bike post. It's a midsize cargo bike. My wife's bike takes a bit more work, but she's got the whole bucket at the front going on.
You mention legal speed of ebikes but use mph- what country are you in? In the USA, it's 28mph.
Also, my ebike does fine for parcels/shopping, it has a rack. If it's hot I use more vehicle assist and less human power. I see cargo bikes for larger loads like children.
Ebikes may not be for everyone, but they're much better than you portray.
Agreed on that (not a fan of being wet, even in tropical climat)
> Or it might be too sunny/hot.
That's usually not a problem but YMMV
> Or you might need to carry kids.
Or you may live in a sane place where you don't have to carry kids everywhere as they can simply walk to school (or take a bus in worst case scenario)
> Or carry shopping/parcels.
You don't have to shop for whole month? Doing groceries in the corner shop? Parcels can be delivered to you or to close-by point? It's kinda hard to imagine you would buy and maintain a car just because once in a blue moon you order a wardrobe (though, in this case using proper delivery makes more sense still)?
> Or you might need to go faster than an ebike can legally go (12mph).
They go 25mph, which is the limit in many cities. Yes they can't carry children usually. They can carry shopping and parcels quite well. And agree, rain biking sucks.
That said, not dealing with traffic or parking are two plusses of cycling you completely ignored and are the worst part of driving.
> Weather situation is the same as walking; you need to dress properly.
I love my ebike but that's not really true. Weather feels much more extreme on a bike, IMO. In the rain I get much wetter on my bike than walking. In the cold the weather hurts my hands and eyes. In the sun I sweat more, because biking is exercise unless I go throttle-only.
And of course there's the danger aspect. Walking in the rain is not a safety risk for me at all. Biking in the rain is not as safe.
So I mostly use my ebike in mild weather conditions and choose other options at the extremes.
