Experts suggest that electric bikes are more effective than electric cars in reducing oil use



Electric vehicles (EVs) are attracting attention as a means of transportation that can replace gasoline cars, which consume fossil fuels and emit exhaust gas. Experts have proposed that

electric bikes such as electric assist bicycles and electric scooters are better for household finances and the environment than driving alone in an EV that carries a heavy battery for daily transportation.

The world's 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars
https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-280-million-electric-bikes-and-mopeds-are-cutting-demand-for-oil-far-more-than-electric-cars-213870

According to Muhammad Rizwan Azhar and Waqas Uzair, engineering researchers at Edith Cowan University in Australia, there will be 20 million EVs on the world's roads in 2022, and 1.3 million commercial EVs such as buses and trucks. thing.

Meanwhile, in the same year, more than 280 million electric mopeds , scooters, motorcycles and three-wheelers were on the road, with electric two- and three-wheeled vehicles completely outnumbering four-wheeled EVs.

It has been reported that the popularity of electric bikes is reducing oil demand by 1 million barrels a day, which is about 1% of the world's total oil demand. This is equivalent to four times as much.



The strength of electric bikes is that they are cheap and environmentally friendly. While EVs have lower fuel consumption and maintenance costs than gasoline cars, in other words, running costs are low, their bodies are expensive and initial costs are high. For example, the price of Tesla's 'Model Y',

the best-selling EV in 2022, is 5,637,000 yen at the time of article creation.

Also, EVs are certainly more environmentally friendly than gasoline cars, but they are still cars, so they occupy the same amount of road space as gasoline cars, consume significantly more electricity than electric motorcycles, and therefore require larger and heavier batteries. It is equipped. Mining the rare earths needed to make batteries puts a strain on the environment , so 'EVs are much more environmentally friendly overall than internal combustion engine cars, but battery production negates some of that benefit.' 'This is a possibility,' the experts said.



Of course, electric bikes have some disadvantages, such as not being suitable for long-distance travel, but if you use them regularly, this is not a big problem. For example, in the United States, 60% of all car trips are less than 10 km.

If electric bikes are used for short-distance trips such as commuting to work, school, picking up and dropping off children, and shopping for groceries, carbon dioxide emissions from urban areas will be reduced and the last mile problem that plagues public transportation systems will be reduced. will also be resolved. For example, a study on e-scooters conducted in the UK found that traveling by e-scooter produces up to 45% less carbon dioxide emissions than other modes of transport. Another study found that if electric bike trips accounted for 11% of all vehicle trips, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation could be reduced by 7%.

Azhar et al. In contrast, electric bikes use less energy to transport one or two people, and are much cheaper to buy and run than EVs.''

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