International | Green.view

Two wheels good

Electric bicycles and scooters are relatively cheap, can ease congestion and are pleasant to ride

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ELECTRIC cars are all the rage. Every big carmaker seems to be developing one, and governments are vying with each other to support them. Although such vehicles are more environmentally friendly than their petrol counterparts, there is a greener option that many governments seem to have overlooked: the electric bicycle.

Like electric cars, electric bicycles are classified as zero-emission vehicles, meaning they emit no exhaust gases. Emissions, however, are produced elsewhere, when the electricity used to power the vehicles is generated. Even taking that into account, though, an electric bicyle wins out handsomely in the emission competition with a petrol-driven car, as it is 15-20 times more efficient. Moreover, making an electric bicycle uses far less energy than making an electric car.

AFP

Some 21m electric bicycles were sold in China in 2008, according to Frank Jamerson, author of Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports. The figure has doubled since 2005. In Shanghai alone there are an estimated 1m electric bicycles. Some 800,000 are also sold each year in South East Asia, he says, where they replace the noisy and smelly petrol scooters that are ubiquitous in many places.

Typically, an electric bike can run for 30-50 kilometres (20-30 miles) between charges. Recharging a battery can take 5-8 hours, but costs only a few cents a day. But some advanced new bicycles can store energy when they brake, meaning they can go many times further, and some advanced new batteries can charge up in a fraction of the time.

Your correspondent borrowed the new A2B electric bicycle from Ultra Motors, a British firm, and took it for a spin in London. The ease with which you can slip in and out of traffic, without breaking into a sweat, is intoxicating. The pedals are there should you wish to use them. And there is no battle of wills between pedestrian and cyclist. It is no sweat to restart, so the temptation to zip through a red traffic light, menacing people as you do so, is removed. A twist of throttle sends the A2B silently zipping away at speeds of up to 25kph. There are no more scary moments when, as a cyclist, you struggle to gain the necessary speed to cope in busy traffic. The A2B is at the top end of the market at £1,949 ($2,850), but there is a huge variety of electric bikes available, starting from only £600.

So why don't more people use them in America and Europe? The reason is that western governments are not much interested bicycles. If more road space were given over to them, and roads were designed with two-wheeled transport in mind, that might change. Safe places to park and recharge are also needed. All these measures would be far less costly than subsidies proposed for electric cars. The British government, for example, announced recently that, in a few years, motorists will be able to get up to £5,000 in incentives to buy an electric car.

Such bribes would not be necessary to encourage people to switch to electric bicycles. People actually love the idea of a bicycle that does not need pedalling. The point is that everything else needs to be made easy. As your correspondent waits at a light, a fit pedal cyclist pulls up beside her. “What is it? An electric? Is it for very lazy people?” Yes, it is. For very lazy people indeed.

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