On your bikes for work | TheArticle

The Government has unveiled its plan to boost uptake of electric bikes. It didn’t make many headlines when Boris Johnson presented his ten-point plan for the UK’s “green recovery” but this

is the kind of policy which will make a big difference to many people’s lives.

Following the eventual legalisation of electric scooters, electric bikes are a logical next step. The bikes travel at speeds of up to 15.5 miles per hour but they currently cost more than

£600. Some of the more advanced models can cost as much as £2000. So a government-funded subsidy scheme to give sustainability-inclined commuters a leg-up makes a lot of sense. There is

clear demand for an accessible, environmentally-friendly alternative to electric cars.

Electric bikes are a fantastic innovation. They bring many of the benefits of cars – speed and ease of travel – into the cycle lane. Long distances and steep hills are no longer such a

burden for non-driving commuters. They make cycling accessible to workers of all ages, no matter their physical fitness.

A subsidy scheme for electric bikes is long overdue. Government grants are already available for electric cars, vans, lorries, taxis and even motorbikes, but only now are electric bicycles

finally getting a look in. The idea of subsidising greener forms of transport in order to nudge people into transitioning away from fume-belching diesel cars from the 1990s is nothing new.

But in itself, it is not enough.

If the government is serious about making electric bikes an integral part of the UK’s transport network, systemic change is needed to encourage people to use them. Even with subsidies, they

will remain more costly than their traditional, motor-free counterparts. Perhaps more importantly, cycle lanes are already overcrowded. In order to accommodate an influx of new cycle users,

those lanes will have to be expanded, especially in high-concentration areas like central London. That would have the added benefit of easing the traffic strain on other road users and

making our air much cleaner.

There is also the issue of charging. Electric bikes do not emit greenhouse gases directly in the same way internal combustion engines do, but if their electricity comes from power stations

running on fossil fuels, many of the benefits of their promotion effectively become null and void. Subsidising electric bikes is one small cog in a much larger machine. In order to promote

sustainability in a meaningful way, these kinds of small policies need to be accompanied by a widespread shift away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources. Hopefully, given the

government’s recent positive signals on nuclear energy, this is an attainable goal.

The outcome of all this might be a lessened reliance on the road network altogether. If the government really does ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars in just a decade’s time, the

way we approach private transportation will have to shift dramatically and quickly. But whatever happens, greater access to electric bikes in the short term seems like a very good thing

indeed.

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