Electric bicycles!

The trend of bicycles to become battery-powered in our days, by reducing their prices and increasing their reliability, makes us wonder if we need an electric bike for our daily transportation.

For an electric bike, you do not need either a vehicle registration, driving license or vehicle registration plates, as long as you keep their speed limit (e.g. EU speed limit 25 km/h). Most riders can travel at a distance of 35-45 km with a full charge of bicycle's batteries but one of the main factors determining the electrical autonomy of an electric bike is the assistance the rider provides to the bicycle pedal. Another factor is the weight of the rider, because the larger the weight is, the smaller the distance covered by a fully charged electric bike.

Electric bikes do not stop being bikes and this translates into a variety of choices for all tastes and needs. So there are classic bikes, split, female, with the middle bar low or high, for soil, for the city, as well as of different diameter wheels. They can of course be equipped with all the well-known accessories such as bells, mirrors, baskets, lights and their main uses are as follows:

• Cargo transport
• Relaxed trips
• Trail riding
• Mountain biking

• Downhill
• Use in the village
• Moving children and shopping
• Road cycling
• Biking in sand and snow
• Tandem either tourist or trekking
• Urban cycling

As it turns out, a very wide range of uses is covered, starting with electric bikes that have very small wheels for easy transport on buses, trains, metro and airplanes, up to models like mopeds with an electrical autonomy approaching 150 km and with regenerative braking (incorporated mechanism which charges the bicycle's batteries when braking or when moving freely downhill).

The only shortcoming of electric bikes is the cost of buying them at the monent, if we are talking about a worthwhile and reliable choice. For such a choice, the purchase cost starts at $1,200 and can reach or exceed $3,000. It may seem a lot of money, and  it is at first glance, however, it is a serious life investment, with a payback period even of one year, if the use of the electric bike replaces other modes of transportation that are more expensive.