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Comment by nazgulnarsil | Hacker News Reader

ebikes create a shift in how we should build neighborhoods, if not cities. The quality of life frontier has already shifted out from under the previous equilibrium: living in a place where you can comfortably ebike to amenities is a massive life upgrade.

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I have an e-bike (and a standard errands bike). For my small city of 100,000 people, it's great. The no-pedal range is about 15 miles, and it costs pennies to charge. And e-bikes are fun to ride.

When riding it, it's an interesting thought experiment to imagine all the cars on the road also being e-bikes. It would be an amazingly different experience.

All that said, I'm a big fan of the right tool for the job. When I ride to the store, about 2 miles away, I ride my pedal bike. When I go all the way across town 7 miles away, I ride the e-bike (for speed/time reasons). When I need to pick up heavy or bulky items or go farther, I drive the car. I found that in the nice spring, summer, and fall months, I really didn't need the car very often.

I'm basically in the same boat as you, minus the car.

I've found that renting a car when needed makes more financial sense and provides more flexibility depending my needs.

I'd considered that route, but my car is paid for and insurance and registration is pretty cheap in my state. Also, my recreation needs would drive the price of using rentals through the roof.

It would have worked better when I lived in a place with good public transportation.

I could not agree more. I’m a few years from the financial independence I need to pursue this fully, but my life dream is to build a large neighborhood / small town exclusively for bikes and pedestrians (minimal car access for deliveries etc worked in following Dutch safety standards).

Steve Jobs said almost the same thing about the Segway. He said it we would design cities around it. How often do you see one in use? The reality is that most people don't like to cycle. They like to drive. They like to be protected from the rain, cold, heat, and other vehicles as they move from place to place. Especially if they have kids, or elderly passengers, or have to move stuff with them, or have to travel any appreciable distance. eBikes are good for out-of-shape people who think they want to start cycling, and not much else.

I take my children to school in the rain regularly with this. Covered areas for ecargo bikes are relatively common.

https://www.ternbicycles.com/us/accessories/471/storm-shield

Bakfietsen are even better.

In 2020 the Netherlands bought more ebikes than pedal bikes for the first time. They also paid on average $2000 for their ebikes compared with $1000 for their pedal bikes. So in terms of dollars (or Euros) the market in the Netherlands is now 66% ebikes.

What people in the Netherlands found was that an ebike would allow them to do errands up to a distance of about 15km whereas with a pedal bike the distance was more like 5km before they would take their car.

My experience is similar. Ebikes in practice are more like a smaller car than they are like a bigger bike, when the roads or bike paths are suitable.

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