Everybody has a favorite mode of transportation and it’s a deeply personal preference. What’s yours?
It’s no wonder that transportation is so personal. It touches our lives each day and affects how we look at the world around us. It’s quite amazing to see how transportation evolved alongside us over thousands of years.
Trains, bikes, ships, planes and other modes of transportation help us to connect with other people and travel faster and more conveniently. Those methods of transport continue to evolve, too, and make travel even more convenient.
Electric bikes are at the forefront of that evolution. In fact, the EU estimates that an astonishing 150 million electric bikes will be sold throughout the EU by 2030.
Curious about what’s powering this big transition to electric bikes? Here’s a closer look.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cars or Bicycle – Which Is Better?
Do you prefer to move around using a car or a bicycle?
There are benefits to both, of course, but more often than not you will find that a great bicycle is a right choice.
Cars are great if you need to travel across greater distances and they’re more effective whatever the weather. It’s possible to transport greater amounts of cargo, of course, but all of this comes at a high cost.
Cars are very expensive to maintain or run. Wear and tear can dramatically affect the resale value of your car and finding parking is never fun – plus it’s expensive if you do manage to even find it! Aside from the stress and upset that traffic jams can cause, cars are also awful for the environment and really expand the size of your carbon footprint.
Bikes, on the other hand, can save you money on both fuel and maintenance. You’ll never get stuck in traffic, either, or have to worry about things like parking and speeding fines. Best of all, you can reduce your carbon footprint while keeping yourself healthier and happier than ever before.
Electric bikes are particularly great. These powerful machines offer you a lot of flexibility and extra assistance so that you can explore some truly stunning locations that would otherwise be inaccessible by car.
Take our Montjuic eBike Tour, for example. Our clients love their ride up to the castle so that they can enjoy the beautiful panoramic views over the city. Our fantastic electric bikes make it simple for our participants to explore four districts over three hours.
Energy Saving and Sustainability
The first gasoline-powered automobile was invented by Karl Benz in 1885. A single-cylinder four-stroke engine powered the machine and as it lurched forward, it ushered in the age of the petrol and diesel motor vehicle.
There are now countless millions of petrol and diesel vehicles around the world. Every technology comes with its unique cost, but petrol and diesel vehicles are problematic for a range of reasons:
Gas-powered vehicles are among the largest sources of pollution around the world.
Vehicle emissions are linked with a range of conditions like asthma and lung cancer.
Nitrogen oxide can create urban smog.
A range of rare minerals and materials are needed for the production of motor vehicle parts.
Those issues are pushing people further toward electric vehicles. In fact, some experts believe that 2018 was the peak of internal-combustion car sales. As those vehicles are phased out and banned by a growing number of cities and nations, electric vehicles are benefitting.
Help the Environment Today
If you are passionate about reducing your carbon footprint while elevating your health and protecting nature, an electric bike is an obvious choice.
Many experts believe that electric bikes and vehicles could become a key tool in the attempt to mitigate climate change, given the way that they help to protect the environment.
As the name suggests, these bikes rely on electric and human power. If that electricity is provided by a green energy source, the bike becomes a 100% environmentally-friendly transportation option. It’s little wonder that so many cities around the world are making it easier than ever before to access and use electric bikes.
The Future of Electric Bikes
If you are anything like us, you’ll be very excited about what the future holds for electric bikes. These amazing machines are in their first real iteration but we can expect them to change dramatically over the years.
Here’s what we think might change as electric bikes continue to evolve:
More sophisticated designs
Now that the electric bikes have proved themselves as a viable transportation method that packs a lot of power, we can expect for premium manufacturers to employ some of the best designers in the business.
At the moment, it’s generally possible to spot an electric bike when you see one. As those designers begin to work their magic and unleash their creativity, we can expect for electric bikes to look more futuristic, natural, and beautiful than ever before.
There are lots of rumors about new manufacturers and designers working on their own electric bikes – we will see how those rumors evolve over the years and which exciting new products hit the market.
More efficient batteries
Our ability to understand and create excellent batteries has improved a great deal over the years. That developed understanding is one of the main reasons that electric bikes and vehicles are becoming viable transportation options.
Those batteries will continue to improve. They will become lighter and offering a greater capacity to store energy. This will lead to electric bikes that can last longer and provide cyclists with even more power when they need it.
Catered components
Electric bikes are so much more than just a regular bicycle with some batteries attached. These are sophisticated machines that deserve a lot of attention and we are starting to see manufacturers create components that are built specifically for electric bikes.
Transmission systems and motors are changing, too. When these components are created specifically for electric bikes, they can help to preserve the health of the batteries and improve the overall performance of the bicycle.
Improved connectivity
There’s a lot of potential for electric bicycles to become more deeply ingrained within the lives of cyclists to help them better understand their performance and their impact on the environment.
We can imagine, for instance, a range of devices or applications emerging that help cyclists to track their distance covered and energy saved with pinpoint accuracy. There is a lot of potential for exciting things like gamification, too.
Closing Thoughts
Are you excited about the prospect of trying out an electric bike for the first time? Why not try an electric bike on one of our amazing Barcelona ebike tours? We offer a range of exciting tours to show you the best of what Barcelona has to offer.
