The link between society's addiction to oil and environmental degradation is now well established so developing an Electric substitute for cars has become a global priority. Below are tables and graphs illustrating the beneficial effect that widespread adoption of Ebikes would have on various environmental problems. The market opportunity that Ebikes present is obvious.
smartEbike is no ordinary Ebike; its proprietary design improves rider comfort as well as providing greater cargo capacity and versatility. The efficiency of smartEbike's "Me2U" automated sales strategy dramatically reduces marketing costs and this makes owning one affordable to virtually everyone. Product development has advanced to the point that smartEbike can be quickly commercialized.
How cars are in fact used:
They're really single-occupant vehicles!
1) These vehicle occupancy statistics confirm what we intuitively know: that passenger cars typically carry only a driver. These low observed vehicle occupancy rates are typical of urban commuting environments. From a mass transit perspective, it's therefore obvious that a car has only a very small advantage over an Ebike in terms of its carrying capacity.
2) When compared to traditional, single-posture Ebikes, smartEbike provides greatly improved comfort and practicality. This new Ebike functionality makes it easier to convince car-addicted commuters to switch to this much saner form of personal transportation.
But can Ebikes really replace cars for commuting?
The graph below illustrates that, even in North America, the majority of car trips are actually less than 10 miles ... that's well within the range of any Ebike!
Due to it's restricted, 20 MPH top speed, that typical 5~10-mile car commute takes about 15~30 minutes on an Ebike. A 30-minute commute is considered "tolerable" by most commuters however an Ebike commute is often quicker and certainly more enjoyable than the same commute done in a car. This apparent paradox is due to:
1) An Ebike rider is legally permitted to operate on bicycle paths and this privilege often shortens their commute distance. Also, Ebikers tend to navigate the shortest distance between two points, using back streets and residential routes not frequented by commuter traffic. There's less waiting in traffic-jams when riding an Ebike so the car's higher top speed is not really a big time-saver in real-world traffic. Here's an interesting fact to consider: the average speed of cross-town traffic in New York city has dropped to 5.2 miles per hour (down from 5.6 mph just five years ago).
2) Parking a car downtown is time consuming and costly however bicycle parking is both free and available virtually everywhere.
3) The comfort and cargo-carrying capability of a smartEbike rivals that of a small car however it costs only a tiny fraction of what a car costs to own and operate. That cost savings doesn't actually reduce commute times however it does make each mile seem a bit shorter than the same mile traveled in a car or bus.
The following three graphs are reproduced from the excellent
technical analysis of Ebikes presented here and here:
1) This graph illustrates the worldwide yearly sales figures for cars, bicycles and Ebikes. The 20 million Ebikes manufactured in 2007 were sold almost entirely in China (North American sales were < 10K). 2008 sales figures are not available however it's obvious that car sales will be down from the 50 million shown above.
2) Current economic and environmental concerns dictate that Ebike sales are headed up.
3) For the purposes of estimating smartEbike annual sales, it's assumed that Ebike sales will continue to rise to 30M/yr and that smartEbike will be able to capture 5% of that Ebike market (i.e. 1.5M/yr).
4) smartEbike's Me2U marketing plan (geometric sales growth targeting low income commuters) combined with smartEbike's proprietary features(dual-posture comfort + cargo-handling versatility) insure that this 5% market penetration estimate is quite conservative.
1) This graph is from a comparative study of energy consumption that included the caloric intake of bicycle riders. When the rider's diet is considered in the overall energy analysis, an Ebike turns out to be even more energy and pollution efficient than a bicycle!
2) If the undeniable health benefits of daily exercise were somehow factored into the analysis used to produce this graph, then the overall social benefit of bikes and Ebikes might tend to balance out.
3) This energy analysis presumed that an average commuter is equally disposed to choosing either a bicycle or an Ebike ... that's not a statistically valid assumption. In fact, human nature is such that effortless transportation (by commuting on an Ebike) will be chosen by far more people than those who would choose to exercise (by commuting on a bicycle). If that statistical reality (human laziness) were factored into computing the above graph, then commuting by Ebike would undoubtedly be more energy efficient than commuting by bicycle.
1) The left-hand vertical bar on this graph illustrates the truly gigantic positive effect that switching from cars to Ebikes would have on global carbon emissions.
2) It's obvious that widespread adoption of Ebikes is the most cost-effective and timely solution at our disposal.
3) As political pressure grows to actually do something to solve the environmental problems associated with carbon emissions, focus will shift from investing vast sums in the relatively ineffective abatement options detailed in the graphic above onto the obvious urban transportation solution that's both affordable and easy to implement immediately ... Ebikes!
4) Any objective comparison of smartEbike to conventional Ebikes reveals it has:
• Superior comfort
• Superior energy efficiency
• Superior cargo capacity
• Superior versatility
• Superior sales channel
These are unique and proprietary advantages that insure smartEbike will not only win sizable market share in the existing market but also expand that market to include many people who could not otherwise consider riding an Ebike.
Take a good look at these three images
1) In terms of giving city dwellers "room to breath", the crowd of bicyclists on the right put the 4-wheeled crowd on the left to shame.
2) The bus riders in the middle appear to be at least as socially responsible as the bike riders however that image is deceptive. In reality, their bus runs on lots of polluting fossil fuel while the worst emissions that the crowd of bicyclists might give off is some Body Odour on a hot day.
3) More importantly: each bicycle rider has their own autonomous vehicle that goes exactly where they want it to go. The bus riders are captives to the bus's route and schedule while the cyclists enjoy true freedom!
4) Now imagine a fourth picture added onto the right of this collage that shows a similar crowd of smartEbike owners ... they'd obviously look identical to the bicycle riding crowd. However, due to their electric-assist propulsion system, the smartEbike riders would also enjoy much greater range and cargo versatility than their bicycling cousins (and no Body Odour on hot days ;-) Each smartEbike rider's comfort and cargo carrying capability would in fact rival those of the evil smog producers shown on the left.
smartEbike
The evolution of bikes >>> The devolution of cars
Is this the future of cars?