280 million e-bikes are slashing oil demand far more than electric vehicles

[usonian]

E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/11/280-million-e-bikes-are-slashing-oil-demand-far-more-than-electric-vehicles/



In brief:

On the world’s roads last year, there were over 20 million electric vehicles and 1.3 million commercial EVs such as buses, delivery vans, and trucks.

But these numbers of four or more wheel vehicles are wholly eclipsed by two- and three-wheelers. There were over 280 million electric mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, and three-wheelers on the road last year. Their sheer popularity is already cutting demand for oil by a million barrels of oil a day—about 1 percent of the world’s total oil demand, according to estimates by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

What about electric vehicles, you ask? After all, EVs have been heralded as a silver bullet for car emissions and air pollution in cities, as their tailpipe emissions are zero. If charged with renewable power, they get even greener.

But to see them as an inarguable good is an error. They are cleaner cars, but they are still cars, taking up space on the roads and requiring a lot of electricity to power them. Their batteries make them heavier than a traditional car and draw heavily on the extraction of rare earth elements. While EVs are overall much greener than internal combustion engine cars, battery manufacture can undermine some of the gains.

Lots more pro's and con's at the link.

Before you complain, yes, e-bikes also use batteries, but they are much smaller, needing to push vastly less mass around.

[Calculating]

1. Imo they're dangerous and cause problems

They're effectively like an electric motorcycle at this point, with none of the licensing or skill requirements. Every day I'll see them driving dangerously through traffic, on sidewalks/hiking trails buzzing by pedestrians, on crosswalks, etc. more regulation is needed.

[luv2fly]

3. Those aren't e-bike issues

The same problems can be attributed to regular bicycles as well. It's about the user of the bicycle, not the bicycle itself.

[Haggard Celine]

5. I think the solution to that problem

is to make more bike lanes. I agree that they need to be regulated, but if they have bike paths, people will use them. It would be good for people to get some more exercise and it would also be economical. The kinks in the system can be straightened out if the people making the decisions put their minds to it.

[JI7]

8. Some areas have banned them from bicycle/pedestrian lanes

because of what you say .

[luv2fly]

2. I love my e-bike

All the benefits of a regular bicycle plus an added boost when you want one. You have to pay attention to battery charging and there have been some problems with some models if you're not careful, but common sense negates those issues.

[shrike3]

4. Ditto. Love mine.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. I want an electric egg. There's weather out there!

[Elessar Zappa]

7. I'd like to get one.

How much should I expect to pay for a decent one?

[luv2fly]

9. "Decent" is all relative of course

I spent 1500 on my first which was more of a hybrid and after a year or so wanted a mountain bike so I could do more, jump curbs, go off road on single track trails and such and ended up spending 3000 though with a trade in it was a bit less than 2K. Love it and will never look at a regular bike again. Like cars, shop around and negotiate if you can.

[Elessar Zappa]

10. Yeah, I just don't wanna be too cheap and buy a piece of crap.

[Kaleva]

11. China is cracking down on the use of e-bikes

"Commuters Turn to Electric Wheelchairs After Chinese City Bans E-Bikes"

https://themessenger.com/news/commuters-turn-to-electric-wheelchairs-after-chinese-city-bans-e-bikes

"Viral Wheelchair Riders in China Highlight Concerns Over E-Bike and Scooter Crackdown"

https://time.com/6293946/china-guangzhou-electric-wheelchairs-ebikes-scooters/

[mopinko]

12. the rental 1s in chgo r very, very popular. but also a problem.

the scooters get dropped in all kinds of rude places, including in the river. they block sidewalks, shop doors, etc.
hopefully the company does some kind of follow-up on that crap. both the regular divvy bikes and the ebikes get pretty good use here, i think.
we’re a pretty bike friendly town, but there’re still too many accidents.