Can e-cargo bikes really replace your car for daily trips? We dive into the results of The Elevate project, a three-year UK research project that logged 8,000 kilometers of real-world use to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly. The findings reveal what people really think, the barriers they face, and how these bikes are already changing lives.

In association with @boschebikesystems 👉 https://gcn.eu/ecargo

📖 *Extra reading!* 📖
Glachant, C., Séjournet, A. de, Philips, I., Behrendt, F. and Cairns, S. (2025). Experienced and Imagined Barriers to E-Cargo Bike Adoption: Findings from Trial Loans in the UK. Preprints.org. [online] doi: https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202508.0437.v1

Philips, I. et al. Domestic Use of E-Cargo Bikes and Other E-Micromobility: Protocol for a Multi-Centre, Mixed Methods Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 1690. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121690

Philips, I. et al (2025). E-Cargo Bikes as a Personal Transport Mode in the UK: Insights from National Surveys and Suburban Trials. Preprints.org. doi: https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202503.0726/v1

More research outputs from the project are available here: https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/elevate/research-outputs/

Chapters: ⏱️
00:00 – My E-Cargo Bike Experience
00:51 – Participant first impressions
01:41 – The Elevate Research Project
03.46 – How the research was conducted
05:09 – Results
08:40 – Who’s Using E-Cargo Bikes?
09:19 – Participant usage data
10:53 – Car trip replacement potential
12:04 – What Happened After The Trial
13:33 – Perceived vs.Actual barriers
14:59 – Bosch technology & Battery safety
16:44 – Security features & app functionalities
19:21 – ABS, motor power & automatic gears
20:10 – Overcoming Societal Barriers
22:38 – Confidence and safety on the road
24:16 – Conclusions and recommendations

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After watching this video, what daily trips would you consider using an e-cargo bike for? Let us know in the comments below!👇

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I tried an e- cargo bike four years ago and I bought one soon after. I’ve told you about my experiences before, although quick recap, it’s almost exclusively positive. I have therefore been eulogizing about mine to anyone who will listen. But those are the opinions of just one person. What do other people think? I mean, would you use one or is it just a niche products for eco warriors and weirdos? Well, I know just the people to ask. A team of researchers and academics here in the UK have just spent the last 3 years conducting trials with the public involving 8,000 km of riding to find out. So, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly. [Music] Trying to do sort of 40 km a day by bike actually was quite enjoyable. And then I couldn’t steal the bucket bike at all. I tried and tried and tried. Absolutely hated it, but then loved the turn. We weren’t just recording the miles they did. We were also asking them about the miles that they didn’t do. The cargo is just um perfect compromise. I guess you are still on the road, but you’ve you’ve got to help with the bit of power. Bought it thinking this will be nice. I’ll drop them off at nursery, go to work, come back, lock it up. You know, that’ll be it. Yeah. And then suddenly it it it replaces more car journeys than it does bike journeys. starting to think I don’t really want to have to push this thing home cuz they’re quite heavy. Lots of questions that are as yet unanswered. First week I think we’d probably only use the car one day maybe that week almost. Yeah. Don’t think about what you’re doing as being cycling necessarily. It’s it’s just a different mode of transport. I traveled up to the University of Leeds in the north of England to meet the team who had embarked on this multi-year project called Elevate. It was funded by the governmentbacked organization UK Research and Innovation in part because the initial proposal included seeing how much micromobility like e- cargo bikes could potentially reduce carbon emissions from transport. What they discovered though was so much more as we will see. Before we go any further, I do want to quickly thank Bosch for their help in making this video. They supply ebike systems. That’s batteries and motors to over 100 ebike brands including e- cargo bikes. And in my opinion, they do a blooming good job. Not only of that, but also with their responsible approach to ebikes, which I think we can all agree is much needed. But it is important to note that Bosch were not involved in the Elevate research project at all, other than the bikes that they were using had Bosch batteries and motors on there. So what I’m telling you in this video is data and insights that come from independent scientific research and it’s not some global ebike conspiracy. Not that you thought it would be but you know to be clear. Um so the original concept of the project was well there are all sorts of devices from the ones that we see around a bit now to some more um esoteric things. Um and the idea was just to try and understand something about where and in what circumstances and for who these things might be useful. We were thinking well what of those micromobility devices are are the ones that we still don’t know much about. I mean by that point there was uh a scooter trial. So some people were looking at scooters. there had been more work about electric bicycles um globally and in the UK as well specifically. But uh one thing where we thought that we really didn’t know much was what’s the what’s the potential of electric cargo bikes but used in a in a household and family setting rather than in a delivery setting. So for our our our trials that’s what we focused on. The main point of the trial was to not try and prove that everyone can use one of these bikes. Not to say that it’s for everyone, but to try and work out who the best people are to target with uh e- cargo bikes. What kind of situations are the best for people to use e- cargo banks in? So, we asked people about what they did in their daily lives anyway, and we said, “What kind of trips are you likely to replace with the e cargo banks?” We wanted to make sure that the banks got as much use as possible. That research consisted of two main parts. Firstly, an online survey of 2,000 people here in the UK that asked a variety of questions in order to try and understand the general public’s perception of e- cargo bikes. Then a secondary part where the researchers look to recruit people in three different urban areas. So Brighton in southern England, Oxford in central England and Leadeds in the north of the country. They elect to recruit them in order to be able to loan them e cargo bikes for several weeks at a time to see if and how they might use them and then try and understand some of the barriers or problems that they might face. 8,000 km later and there is now a treasure trove of information that helps us to understand real world usage, problems and solutions. And yes, this research is UK ccentric, but I think the lessons learned here can be applied far and wide. So, let’s dive into the results, shall we? 56% of people see cargo bikes as a viable alternative to cars for some journeys. That number, though varied from city to city, with as many as 71% agreeing with that in the city of Oxford. However, that number dropped to 11% nationwide when asked if you could see yourself riding an electric cargo bike, but that is still significantly more than the 3% of people who actually already used a cargo bike at least once a month. I’ve really enjoyed it. I mean, we’ve done kind of trips around Leadeds where we’ve gone out, you know, even the summer holidays if we’re not going the school run. You know, if I’ve got Agnes for the day, sometimes we’ll go out to the playgrounds and go to the kind of parks and what have you on the other side of Leadeds. Um, so yeah, we did we eventually ended up buying a second battery for the bike. So we were getting sort of a little bit of range anxiety cuz we were sometimes kind of doing over the kind of 2530 mi that you’d get out of a single battery and starting to think I don’t really want to have to push this thing home cuz they’re quite heavy. I think it was all about efficiencies. We felt like everything you know time is very very precious and then we felt at that stage 2021 2022 we were figuring out how we are going to you know maintain the job sort of 5 day a week whilst you know being good parents and how we managed to get to the office both of us and back and what’s the most efficient way of doing things and we just thought car isn’t going to get us there. So we were thinking well either we will put um the bike seat at the back which we’ve done for a bear but we didn’t feel like it was a safe and also perhaps the physical aspect was a factor especially for my wife so doing it 6 and a half miles each way every day is quite a lot and yeah they would always prefer it to the car and we do it all year round by the way so we all season based yeah to me that shows that whilst e- cargo bikes are still super niche here in the UK the potential is there for there used to be much more widespread. So what’s stopping it? Well, we’ll get on to that in a minute because what I also found really interesting from that survey data is that whilst there’s this culture war that seems to be going on in the UK and actually worldwide between cyclists and car drivers, actually when you look at it, the number of people who felt that e- cargo bikes were not a viable alternative to some car journeys was actually just 20% which is way less than the majority that it’s often perceived to be. And this is super important, right? because 56% of people said that they did think e- cargo bikes were a viable alternative. So whilst if you’re riding an e- cargo bike, you might currently be in the minority, you have the support of the majority. And you know what? This is something that actually is borne out on the road that you can feel it when you’re riding the e cargo bike. I feel it and also it was reported by trial participants too. I think people treat a cargo bike, especially with children on, very, very differently from a person in Lyra hering down the road. I think it’s very different. People want to look, they want to know what it is. Especially if you’ve got the rain cover on the back cuz you look a bit like a horse and carriage going down the road. So, I think mostly people don’t know what they’re coming across. It’s luminous. It’s great. It’s very bright. It’s always well lit. So, I feel safe. In the national survey, 100 people already used e cargo bikes. So, who are they? Well, it’s suggested that the current e-cargo bike usage is dominated by younger age groups, males, and by people based in London, a place with a high use of e- cargo bikes that are used for commercial purposes. So, potentially it was for people’s work. And what are the people that were loaned the e- cargo bikes then? Well, unlike the national survey, this was a self- selected group of people. They’d had to reply to an advert. And so all of them must have had somewhat of an interest in e- cargo bikes before signing up. But even so, usage varied quite dramatically between the participant families. One only used the bike twice, whereas others rode it pretty much literally every day. The average though was about three times per week and the median trip length was 2.6ks. The mean trip length though was 7.8K 8K, suggesting that some people were more than happy racking up some pretty big miles on it. Around half of the trips made and half of the distance traveled involved carrying passengers, usually children. We did find that our participants were more likely than average to be middle-aged, to be over £50,000 income in the household, to be a kind of competent cyclist at least, uh, and also to have young children. So we expected that people with young children would be particularly attracted by the the project. So these people did self- select themselves in a sense and and we weren’t trying to say that the results are applicable to the whole of the UK. You know there’s 60% of all car trips are 5 km or less. So you can say that the technical potential for the cargo bike is to replace all of that and you could come up with a figure. But the point of doing the qualitative research is to talk to them and say, you know, why are you able to use this bike and what is it that stops you using it for all of your trips so that we get a better picture of what is actually realistically feasible in terms of replacing car trips with electric cargo bikes or with ebikes or with cycles. Of all the journeys reported, 50% of them replaced a car, which is brilliant. What’s also brilliant is that 10% of those journeys wouldn’t have happened at all if it wasn’t for the e cargo bike, suggesting that the bike itself opened up new opportunities and showing to me anyway that induced demand is also relevant to cycling. That is to say that if you make cycling easier, people will cycle more. We don’t think they’re a magic bullet. You know, do not give one of these to every person in the country because not it it’s not the right thing for everyone. But for some households, we think that it really helps them to make some journeys that previously they would have felt they needed a car for things where they needed to carry things like shopping or or carry their kids to places. For example, we found that when we lent bikes to people, um so the the first set of trials we did over summer 2023, the bikes traveled about 8,000 km and about half of that distance was replacing car usage, which is that feels like a very positive thing. Perhaps the biggest question though, what happened after the trial ended? Well, 65% of participants said that they were more likely to now buy an e- cargo bike. Although 67% of people said that cost was an issue, but nevertheless, 20% of participant families went on to buy an e cargo bike. Now, you couldn’t say that 20% of all families nationwide would therefore buy e cargo bikes if they’d been loaned them. You could say still that that 20% in some areas would be 20% of a very big number indeed. We also did some number crunching at the end and we found out that um it was 37% of people had increased their ownership of bicycles. So normal bicycles. So we had people buying electric cargo bikes. That was 20% of our participants. The household bought an electric cargo bike. 10% of the households um had added to the number of ebikes they had and 37% of the households had actually just increase the number of bikes in the household. So it it it definitely got non-cyclists to be more confident cycling. It also uh kind of electrified the ones who are keen cyclists anyway and some people made the switch from bikes to e- cargo bikes or from ebikes to e- cargo bikes. Now, whilst it is great to hear from people who like me are e- cargo bike converts, it might also be enlightening to try to understand what some of the barriers that people might face are. What’s putting them off? Well, brilliantly with the two data sets that we have with the Elevate project, the nationwide survey, remember, where 97% of people hadn’t ever ridden a cargo bike plus the participant study where people were loaned e- cargo bikes, we can actually directly contrast perceived barriers with the actual barriers that people face when they have an e- cargo bike. A great piece of research from Glacantetal from the Elevate team summarizes exactly this. They split the barriers into three categories. Spatial, material, and societal. Spatial being aspects like cycling infrastructure and parking. Material being things associated with the bike like the cost or batteries. And then societal being the wider perceptions of it, like they’re not for me. I’m not an eco warrior or they’re not for me because I would feel like a weirdo. I was particularly interested to hear what participants felt were the barriers regarding the bikes themselves. in part because I am a cycling nerd, but also in part to see whether or not the recent tech developments on the latest generation of e- cargo bikes have actually already addressed them. Of course, it depends on which bike you are looking at specifically. But given as we’ve already heard that Bosch supply batteries and motors to over 100 ebike brands, I’m going to talk you through it from their perspective. Now, batteries is a particularly hot topic, no pun intended. Illegal ebikes are everywhere and they’re making the headlines from everything from their dangerously fast, illegal top speeds to horrendous battery fires. And I think it’s the latter that’s leaving people with anxiety about owning their own ebike. But to be clear, this is absolutely not the same thing as an illegal ebike. Not at all. No one has anxiety about owning an electric car from a reputable brand. And so the same is true owning an ebike fitted with a Bosch motor and battery. There are various ways that safety margins are built in to these batteries. I will spare you the details, but a quick thing to know when you’re buying an ebike or an e cargo bike is to check that the battery has the relevant certifications on there. So in this case, look, you can see Europe and UK. So it’s built to the relevant standards. Now, another thing to know is if you’re buying a secondhand ebike, which has a Bosch system on there, is that you can input the serial number of the battery into a place on the Bosch website and they will be able to tell you whether or not a service case has already been registered for this particular battery. So, you can have confidence that it works properly. Effectively though, the short answer is that if you’re buying a reputable ebike from a reputable ebike dealer, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Plus, I think it’s also worth noting that brands like Bosch are really well placed to advise and lobby governments to make sure that ebike standards are maintained and that everyone is aware that there is a clear distinction between an electric bike and effectively an electric motorbike. What else? Well, security concerns were high on the list both of the general public and also the participants who tried the e- cargo bikes. And fair enough, right? because bike crime is a pretty major issue and these bikes are particularly desirable, quite expensive. However, it is worth noting that there is a lot of tech built into these bikes that makes them harder and less desirable to steal. So, one of the things was people were asking for some kind of removable starter. And with some Bosch equipped ebikes, you have exactly that. So by removing the display, the ebike motor is disabled until you put the display back. On others which have something called the Bosch smart system, not only do you have a removable display, but you can also set up your phone to act as a key as well. So if you wish, you can connect it to the ebike via Bluetooth, meaning that if your phone isn’t present, then the ebike will be disabled. Some ebikes with a Bosch smart system have something else as well called the connect module which enables a raft of additional features like an alarm so that if the ebike is moved when you’re not nearby the alarm is triggered and you get an alert on your phone. Nothing to see here everyone. Nothing to see. This is a feature actually that comes with a subscription that you can get on the Bosch ebike flow app which has a whole load of additional features on here as well. So one of which is that affforementioned connect module also has a tracker built into it as well. So, if you get that alert, so your ebike has been moved and you’re not with it, you can see its precise location at all times and then should you need to, you can also share a tracking link with other people so they can see it too. Dare I say it, the police, for example. And to be clear, that connect module tracker, it’s not a passive tracker like an Air Tag. It actually uses mobile phone signal to broadcast its location. And it’s not just security features on that ebike flow app either. So there is a route planning function and satnav as well. So you can always find the best routes to ride. But particularly cool as well is that it will then give you accurate information about your battery range relating to the route that you’re about to ride. Cuz range anxiety was something that one or two of the participants said they felt. But this feature effectively means it’s a thing of the past cuz you will be able to see that your battery does have enough range in order to reach your destination. Some people wanted better brakes and you can now get ABS fitted to some e- cargo bikes so that it prevents the front wheel from losing traction or skidding when you’re braking heavily. Some people also wanted even more power so they could propel themselves up steep hills even faster. And with the latest generation of Bosch cargo line motors, you get exactly that. Again, using that ebike flow app, you can tailor the precise output of the motor. You can give yourself up to 400% support in cargo mode, which is pretty cool. And then lastly, other people really wanted automatic gears on their e- cargo bike. And again, the tech is there. You can get e- cargo bikes with automatic gears on there. Trying e- cargo bikes also help participants to overcome societal barriers, i.e. the stigmatization of cyclists. Here in the UK, research has shown that people regard cyclists as being risktakers or assertive or just deviant from the norm. Some people even think that cyclist a political statement, which I think is absolutely bonkers. But nevertheless, those opinions were picked up in the nationwide survey. But participants who’d used the e- cargo bikes actually found that their interactions with people in real life were way more positive. Once again, perception differs from reality. And what of the spatial barriers? Well, they did still exist for some. I mean, if you don’t have anywhere to store an e- cargo bike, you don’t have anywhere to store an e- cargo bike. Although, it is worth noting that there are different types of e- cargo bikes. As you can see here, you’ve got front loading e- cargo bikes and those with the carrying capacity at the back. Now, typically you get more space in a front loader, but the bike is clearly larger and it is less maneuverable, whereas a rear loading bike tends to feel like a normal bike. You can still get two kids on the back and it’s a little bit easier to store. And what about infrastructure? Well, this, as with all cycling, can be a deal breaker. Some people just simply don’t feel comfortable riding if there aren’t enough dedicated cycle routes to ride on. However, lots of participants in the trial weren’t. And it’s interesting when you look at the GPS data of where people cycled in each of the three cities in Leeds, the area with the lowest positive perception of e- cargo bikes among the general population. Remember 50% of all kilometers ridden were on main roads and only 10% of the kilometers were on cycle paths. But in Oxford though where 71% of people thought that e- cargo bikes were potentially a viable option for them, 36% of kilometers ridden were on bike paths and only 5% were on main roads. It’s a hard one to unpick this, right? because Oxford also has a really strong culture of cycling for transport and that’s existed since long before the introduction of dedicated cycling infrastructure and it’s also a very different kind of place. I mean it’s much more compact. It’s much flatter as well. So it’s hard to say that infrastructure is therefore the only important thing. Riding on busy roads or main roads is perfectly possible though. We saw that with loads of the participants. I guess a bit just depends on your confidence levels, but actually lots of the participants commented on how the bikes themselves gave them more confidence because there’s a bit more presence to a bike this size and it feels stable and secure. Like the the fat tires allow you to bounce through potholes without really noticing them. And then there’s the fact that you will never ever go over the handlebars on one of these. I find it actually much safer being on a cargo bike even if I’m on my own than on a normal bike. So, for example, as I was commuting on my normal bike, just to sort of keep, you know, a little bit more fit than what you get from the electric bike. And yeah, I just feel like having something, you know, a bit of metal in front or if you get the back one still, you just feel a bit more protected. I guess a little bit more sort of education on the part of other road users would be massive. I think there are I think a lot of people are put off by that. when I talk to other parents and go why don’t you get a bike they go oh god I’m not going on the road it’s terrifies people um so I think you know more infrastructure that’s segregated more training and knowledge for other road users to just be a bit more respectful would go a long way um but on the whole I think it’s broadly a positive experience and I think for a lot of people those fears would be allayed by doing things like the trial you know like getting a bike and having a go at it I think would help people to go actually this isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. So there has been a lot of data thrown at you. What are our conclusions then? Well, ebikes can be life-changing. We heard that from the participants. They’re not necessarily right for everyone at every stage of life, but there are plenty of people they are right for. And if that’s you, they will help to save you money. They will get you fit. They will save you time, increase your well-being, increase your leisure opportunities, help you have fun. The list goes on. People who are already cyclists will have no problem adapting and feeling comfortable. Although do try out different types of e- cargo bikes. It seems to be personal preference as to whether people are more comfortable on front loading cargo bikes or rear loading cargo bikes. And if you’re not familiar with cycling already, well, it’s still perfectly possible to feel comfortable riding an e- cargo bike, but perhaps your local area might be more important. So, the amount of cycling infrastructure available or the types of roads that you have available to ride on. My take on this, which I don’t think is grounded in data, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot. If you buy an e cargo bike in the hope that you will use it, you might use it, but you also might not. If however there are clear journeys that you want to use it for, then I think you will use it. Perhaps that’s the school run and the commute or to kids activities or shopping. I think having a routine helps you establish a clear use case and then it also helps you to build habits as well. And what are the wider conclusions then? Well, hopefully authorities, policy makers, governments sit up and take note because there is clear evidence here that shows the potential benefits to society that come from encouraging people to use e cargo bikes. And it doesn’t take much encouragement, but there are also a few last remaining barriers, of course, things like infrastructure that can still be improved upon. Now, I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on all of this. If you’re already an e- cargo bike user, do your experiences tally up with those from the survey and from the participants? And if you haven’t yet got an e- cargo bike, has this been helpful? I’d also really like to give a few thank yous before leaving this video, particularly to the people on the Elevate project, null, Theresa, and Ian been so generous with their time, their expertise as well. And of course to Bosch as well for their support and helping make this video happen. Feel like that was like an Oscar speech there. Thank you guys.

29 Comments

  1. After watching this video, what daily trips would you consider using an e-cargo bike for? Let us know in the comments below! 👇

  2. As I move into retirement I would very much like a front loading e-cargo bike. The city I live in I can get to all the things I need, grocery stores, hardware store etc on paved trails. It comes down to price for me. Starting at $6k and going up from there it is hard to justify and I’d have to see if it would actually save me money. Yes my road bike cost more than $6k but I didn’t buy that with retirement a few months away.

  3. I'm always amazed that people fear a fire in reputable, maintained bike but are fine with poorly maintained automobiles running around with a bombs worth of explosive gasoline (petrol?) in the tank just waiting for a sprark.

  4. So interesting how culture plays a role! I'm in Germany which is nowhere near the Netherlands in terms of bike infrastructure. But cargo bikes are totally normal here, especially for parents and delivery people. Go to any playground on a nice day and you will see cargo bikes parked outside. Definitely don't feel like a "weirdo"!

  5. I think it was Grant Thornton in ‘Just Ride’ who suggested that leaving tools visibly sticking out of your pannier makes drivers resent cyclists less and take more care around them. I suspect a similar effect is achieved with cargo bikes.

  6. I think the important thing to keep in mind is, that people generally care less about what they travel in or with, and more about how easy and convenient it is. Infrastructure and City Planning play the biggest part in whether or not Bikes or Public Transportation are strong choices.

  7. Sounds like a huge waste of taxpayers money. Why not go to the Netherlands and get all the data you need with a few street interviews? Its stuff like this that blocks any progress

  8. I have a reise muller tinker 2. 2 panniers plus a rucksack =. I months shopping , will go up any gradient, 30 mile range, no issues at all over my 4 years. Great fun, easy ride.

  9. Love you SI, i love cargo bikes.
    BUT come on, "carbon emissions". Its a big fat lie.
    Carbon is the gas on life. We are at a historical ALL TIME LOW of CO2 in the air. In the time of the dinosaurs CO2 levels were in the 1000's per million.
    Now CO2 levels are on the increase greening of areas like the Sahara are now happening.
    What do plants like? CO2.
    Enough of this insane narrative.
    Now, where's my bike.

  10. E cargo bike owner since 2023 (in Canada though) ..used to avail of taxi rides for doing my grocery runs 3 or 4x per month. Haven't paid for a ride in a car ever since I got it 💪 The only downsides for me are all weather related. Being only powered at the real wheel, it's absolutely dangerous to take around my town during the cold times.. from about December to March. Already had 2 wipeouts thanks to unseen ice lol 🙈 Then there's the rain.. I absolutely hate going out in the rain. I do it, because groceries wait for no man, but boy do I ever hate it. Wondering why there aren't more bikes out there with some kind of enclosure for the driver (rider?) like there are for passengers 🤔
    The vibes from the public yield the same results on my side of the pond too. I've had probably over a hundred people go out of their way to come up to me to ask some questions about my setup. And not one of them has been anything but a positive interaction. I'm 100% certain my chats have resulted in at least a few people pulling the trigger and buying one of their own 👌

  11. For my work (mobile cargo bike repair) I make all of my journeys on a cargo bike. The growth of cargo bikes in London is amazing, the amount of people I speak to that have ditched the car is incredible. There is such a push and such a love for cargo bikes. The kids love them and it frees the city up, it's only good news.

  12. It’s good to see cargo bikes are coming down in price as more models/manufacturers hit the market. Would love a Tern, but not an outlay I could justify. But hopefully quality bikes sub £2k aren’t too far away.

  13. State funded discounts might increase the take up of e cargo bikes among those that don't earn £15k above the national average wage. The biggest barrier I find though is the fact we don't offer decent secure parking areas for cycling like we do for cars.

  14. 4 years ago, we bought out first e-cargo bike. Now we have 2 of them and we ride about 8.000km per year on them. They changed our mobility completely. We still do own a car. But for everything up to 30km distance, the cargo bike is the tool of my choice.

    It's just more relaxing for the mind, than driving a car. (And we do drive a pretty comfy car!).

    My transportations are from daily shoppings, my 7 and 10yo kids to my complete photographic setup (working pro photographer) up to 80kg or more of payload.

    Our bikes are both from Riese+&Müller. One Load75 and one Packster80 HS.

  15. I watched the video with some trepidation as I have just bought a Tern HSD. So far I've only done two short trips but it's an easy ride. I live in the country, four miles from the nearest town and I found that most of my car journeys were ten miles or less. So I took the plunge.

    Too early to give an opinion on real world usage, but as to storage problems – it's in the corner of my lounge on its rear end with the handlebars folded down. It would unobtrusively fit in a normal hallway or outside passageway.

    I'll be keeping the car for longer journeys but I am sure it will help with my wellbeing too.

  16. I have a long tail non e e-bike! It's the best… shopping at the supermarket, rubbish to the recycling centre, grandkids to school, 14 mile round trip to get 30kf of animal food. I wish i had had one when my children were small enough to get on the back rather that the wasted money on driving them to school every day

  17. Car's are Bigger Squarer Heavier, drivers more distracted with 21" screen in their view. UK Law still totally Car centric, you'd be irresponsible to go on UK roads until some of these change. Its worse than ever.
    Helmet, full protective gear, insurance and a powered capable motorcycle is the only plausible way to have 2 wheels on UK roads.
    And how many motorcyclist are killed / injured in a year?
    I loved cycling in my 20's but soon cottoned on.

  18. 10 years ago I gave up a stressful 45 min- 1hr school run/commute by car and switched to a cargo bike. The door-to door journey now takes only 25 min. My only complaint is maintenance costs: somehow I spend more annually on my GSD than on my car.

  19. It's awesome how GCN continues to lean into cycling advocacy. The absence of the "bike industry" in the advocacy space is as egregious as it is baffling. You'd think a big bike brand would want to increase general ridership to increase sales. Instead, they rely on incremental new features to get existing cyclists to "upgrade".

  20. Loved the bit about having a plan of some use before jumping in and buying one. To justify buying ours, we determined that we would ride to the nearby local farmers' markets a couple of times a week, and that's exactly how it's worked out. The habit has formed.

  21. 100% an e-cargo bike can replace a short journey runaround car. I have used my Burley trailer bike to ferry my little one around town, to school, she loves it. That being said, the weather is starting to change and it will be the first time we tried it through the Autumn, Winter, I'm really hoping we can both keep it going.

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