I E-Bike, Therefore I Am

Last year, I joined about 880,000 other Americans in doing something: I bought an electric bike, aka an e-bike.

They are bikes with pedals that employ a battery-assisted motor. E-bikes can range from models that give a mild power boost that kicks in while pedaling to others that offer a hot-damn, hold tight, throttle-assisted ride. My 750-watt Espin Nesta, which has a throttle, falls sort of in between.

The number of e-bikes sold far exceeds that of those who purchased fully electric cars, sales of which were about 487,000, according to Cox Automotive.

And while sales of conventional bikes have fallen significantly in 2022 as pandemic-fueled demand wanes, sales of electric bikes remain relatively strong, industry analyst Ed Benjamin of eCycleElectric told The?Wall Street Journal.

?Overall, e-bike sales more than tripled between 2019 and 2021. About 326,000 e-bikes were imported into the U.S. in the first half of 2022, most coming from China. My Espin Nesta was built in China and assembled in the United States.

While e-bike sales are strong in the U.S., they are dwarfed by what’s happening elsewhere. In Europe, 5 million e-bikes were sold in 2021, according to the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry, more than five times the U.S. figure.

In China, annual sales of e-bikes consistently top 30 million, according to Shanghai Metals Market Information & Technology Co. Bikes and scooters have, after all, been a staple of many cities across the world since their invention. Much of it is due to the significantly more bicycle-and-pedestrian friendly design of many non-U.S. cities.

Dallas is a Hard Road to Travel

I can tell you that Dallas, where I live, is not a particularly bike-friendly city. Bike riders get killed here, by either drunk drivers or those distracted by their cell phones. Advocacy groups have been trying to make Dallas and other American cities safer places for two-wheelers, but we still have a long way to go.

But the fact is that drivers and pedestrians have?always?squabbled over how to share the roads with bike riders. “As Americans, we’re conditioned to walk up to the curb and look for?cars,?and listen for?cars,” Jon Orcutt, advocacy director for Bike New York, told?The Washington Post. “Bikes don’t necessarily trigger that sixth sense.”

Dallas ranks the second highest for traffic fatality rates among the 15 most populous cities in America. And since 2010, traffic deaths in Dallas have increased by 80 percent. Thankfully, I have not yet been involved in an accident, and for that, I kiss my lucky stars.

The idea of bicycles powered by electricity dates back to the 1890s, though some of the first ones recognizable as ancestors of today’s e-bikes emerged? in the late 1980s.

As of 2020, the e-bike industry and most U.S. states have coalesced around a common (though broad) system of three classes: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3.

Class 1 e-bikes are limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, and the electric motor works only when the rider is pedaling. Class 2 e-bikes are also limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, but they have throttles that work when you're not pedaling.

Class 3 e-bikes can go up to 28 miles per hour (and more) and may or may not have a throttle. Certain states do not allow Class 3 e-bikes to have throttles, while others do. (I am considering buying a Class 3 e-bike, a 52-volt, 1,000-watt model that can top 30 mph with a 70-mile range. It's a beast.)

The exercise benefits are a draw for many, especially those who may be unable to pedal a conventional bicycle but still want to get some cardio in. I belong to a Facebook Group called Ebike Cyclists Over 60, Dallas Electric Bicycle Club, among others. I also own a conventional bicycle and enjoy riding it.

The photo above is of my e-bike, again an Espin Nesta, a fat-tired, foldable model that I bought last year. And that is my truck, which I have dubbed "The Grapes of Wrath." It's a rig that allows me to explore places offroad.

A final note: E-bike enthusiasts were hoping for a $900 tax credit in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which featured $369 billion in clean energy and other climate fighting tools. Well, that never happened, much to their disappointment. President Biden's original Build Back Better proposal included a refundable tax credit worth 30 percent of a new e-bike's purchase price, capped at $1,500.

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