E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

The actual title is a little bit different on the site:

"Here Come the Electrics. Could E-Bikes Be the Electric Revolution Cities Need?"

You can also apply Betteridge's Law of Headlines to the real one easier :-)

In The Netherlands which is the biking Mecca of the world, last year more than 400,000 e-bikes were sold. It helps that the cities hundreds of years ago were designed for horses and not for cars. Notably a lot of elderly use e-bikes which not only keeps them fit but notably increases the range that they travel.

I ebike 20 miles for work every day and live it.

I don’t use my ebike for small errands because it’s too easy to just rip expensive stuff off of it while locked up.

Also, the picture shows a rider with no helmet which is insane. I wear a motorcycle helmet and leathers. The speed limit for ebikes on roads in CA is 28, which is deadly with even a normal bike helmet.

Finally the article says that the new models are lighter because they’ve integrated battery in frames.

Totally false, the weight is not significantly lower and the in-frame battery means when your battery wears out in 3-10 years, you’ll have to pay the maker to replace it if it’s possible at all.

I highly recommend converting yourself using a bafang bbshd

Seems pie in the sky to get adoption of e-bikes in places like my home state of Texas. Our city has e-bikes for rent all along the city biking system, very cheap too!

These bikes are available for rent nearly all of the time, except for when we close down a few streets for the spring fair. So, adoption isn't going to happen very fast in places where there is no appetite. We have cheap gas here and A/C in our cars.

Helmets are for sports. Ebikes have a ~50% market share in Belgium where approximately nobody wears a helmet ever. It's really not an issue.