Did you know that half of all trips within cities are 3 miles or less? According to CLIP, a Brooklyn, New York-based clean mobility startup, if all urban commuters switched to e-bikes, from gas cars, electric cars, and even public transportation, 5% of global urban carbon emissions would be cut each year.
And while public transport has far fewer emissions than gas cars or even EVs, for short trips, bikes account for a fraction of what would be released. However, biking through steep streets is strenuous. While fear of injury from cars is the biggest reason people report not riding bikes to work according to a 2023 study that was conducted in Melbourne, Australia, 20% of respondents reported not feeling physically fit enough to commute via cycling, while a third were put off by the distance and time of riding.
E-bikes solve these two major deterrents, but they are expensive, with the average cost being between $2,000 to $3000. Not to mention, at least 2 billion bikes are already floating around the world, Somnath Ray, the co-founder and CEO of CLIP said.