We hop in the car to get groceries or drop kids at school. But while the car is convenient, these short trips add up in terms of emissions, pollution and petrol cost.
Close to half (44%) of all Australian commuter trips are by car – and under 10km. Of Perth’s 4.2 million daily car trips, 2.8 million are for distances of less than 2km.
This is common in wealthier countries. In the United States, a staggering 60% of all car trips cover less than 10km.
So what’s the best solution? You might think switching to an electric vehicle is the natural step. In fact, for short trips, an electric bike or moped might be better for you – and for the planet. That’s because these forms of transport – collectively known as electric micromobility – are cheaper to buy and run.
But it’s more than that – they are actually displacing four times as much demand for oil as all the world’s electric cars at present, due to their staggering uptake in China and other nations where mopeds are a common form of transport.
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Unfortunately where I live small electric scooters qualify as a motorcycle but also can’t be registered making them de facto illegal for transportation. The laws haven’t quite caught up everywhere.
What about electric push bike?
Bikes would be even more popular if we had decent infrastructure to accommodate them in the US. It’s almost like gambling with your life to ride around here with narrow dilapidated sidewalks and bike lanes wedged in between lanes where giant F150s and SUVs roam.
I am extremely lucky to live a block away from the South Bay bike trail. I can take that thing to the trolley and not see cars. Between the trolley and my E-bike, I basically only use my EV if I’m picking up a friend.
Same here in small town California. From constant flats to dodging giant trucks you put your life on the line every time you hop on your bike.
It makes perfect sense, AND if micro-mobility includes human powered vehicles, and walking then we can reduce oil demand even more. We’re building a culture of micro-mobility, and that’s awesome.
Damn right! This is where induced demand comes in: better sidewalks and dedicated bike/scooter lanes will make this happen even faster.
The USA needs some electric tuk tuks
Good! Let me get the money to get one and I will gladly join the numbers.
If you have a car anyway they are not cheaper. You need tires more often along with chains and casettes as they wear out fast. A car that you use for many things is cheaper for those trips too.
i wish it wasn’t but having an ebike that I use more than my truck that is my conclusion
Of course there areelarge fitness benifits and you are not spending that much more so still worth it. Just that unless you can get rid of a car they are not cheaper.
I have a car and an electric bike. The bike cost $1400 and we’ve had it for 3 months. In that 3 months my car has cost me $512 in insurance, ~$300 in fuel, $70 in maintenance (oil change and air filters), and $890 for new tie rods. Ignoring the repair cost, my car has cost me almost $900 in normal expenses, aka almost as much as the bike. And I’m due for a new clutch, which will probably cost me as much as the bike in parts and labor. By February my normal expenses for the car will eclipse the price of a brand new e-bike
My wife rides the bike to work 5 days a week, 8 miles round trip. The maintenance costs have been $6 for a bottle of chain lube and a combined 30 minutes to clean the chain a few times.
Most of those car cost are the same if you leave it sitting in the garrage.
You do realize how that’s worse right? In the same time that car is draining my wallet by doing literally nothing, the bike could be sitting there as well costing me, at most, the price of a new set of tires and tubes. Over a long enough period, the car will get even more expensive as seals, tires, and hoses dry rot, the battery drains, the gas goes bad, and the other fluids degrade. Worst case scenario on the bike you might need to replace a battery on an e-bike if left for long enough. For my bike that would run me about $150. That wouldn’t even scratch the surface of a worst case scenario for getting a dormant car up and running again.
If I could ditch my car for an e-bike I would in a heartbeat but my commute is too long
Fuel costs certainly offset that FAST
I think most people wouldn’t wear out a cassette nearly as quickly as you imagine (besides, overhauling a drive train (new chain, new cassette, new chainrings) can be done with decent parts for $50-70)
I have 3,000 miles on my chainring and about 2,000 miles on my chain and cog these components are still good and probably have another 2,000 miles available easily
Tires do wear out and I spend about $200 a year on those (I could spend 80 if I got cheaper tires)… but I spend between $600-800 every two years for tires on my EV
I’ve been pretty into riding my bike around my city and working on bikes for the last few years. Most bicycle repairs start at $20 and top out at $100 where as most repair jobs on cars start at $300-500
I just replaced my chainring after about 1600 miles and a year and the tire is about to be replaced. Most of my chain trouples are from a few emergency stops to avoid a car and so I ended up starting in high gear - it should have lasted longer. 80 gallons of fuel costs about 240 and at that little use time is why you do most other maintenance so we can ignore those costs - they are much higher but you would pay them anyway.
the key to the above is you keep the car and so are paying the costs just keeping it even when you don’t use it. if you drive more per mile costs add up but you quickly get out of ebike range.
[…] truck […]
of all vehicles you could choose from, why do you own a truck? Do you move large quantities of cargo that often you require such an otherwise cumbersome car?
A couple times per year I do. And it turns out you cannot rent a truck - truck shaped cars no problem, but to use it as I do isn’t allowed by the contract.
I drive it about once a month, mostly things that a car would do but having a car and a truck is even more expensive. I’ve regularly asked if I could use somthing else but there are some things I can’t figure out and so the truck ends up staying for now.
I drive a rented vehicle daily, for work reasons, and that damned Ranger is put through the grinder as any other vehicle. It was rented with that specific purpose in mind and there is no objection to its use.
