My experience with electric bicycles up to that point was fairly limited.  The bulk of electric bicycles that I’d run across were cheap, off brand machinery that looked more like low-end motorized scooters with pedals than actual e-bikes. And I hadn’t seen any locally – what I’d seen was, primarily, articles and blogs pertaining to the rapid growth of electric bicycles in other countries.  Needless to say, when I arrived at their showroom I was impressed.  Not only did they have a nice selection of well designed pedal assist electric bicycles, they even had a remote control electric skateboard!  Never built up enough courage to ride that though!   I did, however, try a few of their electric assist bicycles. Although I was riding on fairly flat ground, I was pretty impressed with the power of the assist on these electric bicycles. On “high” assistance mode I found that all I had to do was, literally, go through the motions of pedaling and I’d be off to the races.  That’s a nice feature to have if you’ve been pedaling around exercising, unassisted all day (which I also found was easy to do).  Another highlight was that I could control with my index finger what type of assistance I wanted – that is – if I wanted assistance at all.  The power could be turned on and off easily, even while riding, and the Shimano 7 gear thumb shifter set made switching between gears both convenient and effortless.  From the Kenda puncture resistant tires and self sealing tubes to the Zoom suspension forks and seat posts, it was obvious that eMoto didn’t skimp when it came to high end components.

The topper though, aside from the exceptional performance, was the Tonyon Integrated Dual Locking Systems that comes standard with most of their electric bicycles.  With this locking system not only can the bicycle be secured to a stationary object, it also has a locking mechanism to secure the rear wheel independently – all with one key.  And with their advanced lithium battery technology, coupled with their industry leading warranty, it is no wonder eMoto is one of the fastest growing lines of electric assist bicycles on the market today.

That is the question.  I’ve been asked this question so many times I can answer it on auto pilot.  Primarily because few companies offer color variations when it comes to electric bicycles.  Most of the time what you see is what you get.  That is until you see the line of Pedego electric beach cruisers.   If you like beach cruisers, and you want to be a little more original, Pedego electric beach cruisers are the way to go.  Offering the most color options in the electric bicycle market, coupled with high end performance components, Pedego is for those who not only want quality, but originality as well.  With over twenty different color combinations and upgrades available it’s no wonder why they are the one of the fastest growing lines of electric bicycles today.  And with a 5oo watt brushless, gearless motor, they also have plenty of power to get you where you want to go in style.  With or without pedaling.  Gotta love that!

I decided to use it for a while as a commuter to see how convenient it really would be.  It’s marketed as being the most powerful, compact lightweight electric scooter on the market with all kinds of patented technology and hype, so I had to see what the hype was all about.  My commute is about three miles each way, on a fairly flat surface, and it’s right through the heart of downtown Silicon Valley.   However flat, I was still looking forward to the seeing how this particular electric scooter handled potholes, curbs and the like.  I must admit though that when I first got on the GoPed ESR 750H I was kind of nervous; only because I’d never ridden a stand up scooter before – let alone one with top speeds of 20mph.  So I depressed the power switch, set the mode to turbo, simultaneously lowered the thumb throttle and stood upright on the GoPed, and I was off.  I couldn’t believe how easy this electric scooter was to ride, and more importantly keep your balance.  And speed, 20 mph is pretty quick when you’re standing up! The real kicker though was how unbelievably smooth the ride was; potholes, curbs, train tracks and small hills were more of like cheap thrills than challenges for this incredibly powerful, portable electric scooter.  And the standard Mad Dog Disc Braking system stops the electric Goped as quickly as you want it to.  It almost got to the point where I wanted to really challenge the GoPed – like maybe jumping off a park bench, a parked car or even a low hanging roof top – but fortunately those feelings, however real, were fleeting and I stayed on the ground (for the most part!).  I can’t emphasize the ride enough though.  There’s a reason that they’ve patented the suspension system on this electric scooter.  It’s arguably the best available.

So when I finally reached my destination the light depression crept in as I realized that the ride was over.  I got off of the GoPed, turned the power off and wheeled it into the office.  Once I got to my station I folded the electric scooter and placed it underneath my desk.   Cool, huh? The latch and hook on the GoPed make folding it both convenient and a breeze.  Then, since I had the charger in my back pocket (it’s just a cord after all) I plugged it in.  Although I had plenty of power for my ride home I just wanted to make sure that I had enough power just in case I wanted to make a detour on the way home.

The hard part then was trying to stay focused on work…because I couldn’t wait to ride home!

In China, the electric bicycle industry’s number one supplier and consumer, the growth in the use of electric assist bicycles has been phenomenal.  As a matter of fact, accordingto the 2008 figures, electric bicycles are dominating the transportation market.  In 2008 China bought 21 million of the 23 million electric bicycles manufactured worldwide, compared to 9.4 million cars.  While China has nearly 25 million cars on the road, it has four times as many e-bikes.  Thanks to government encouragement and a population well versed in riding two wheels to work, the country has become the world’s leading market for the cheap green vehicles, helping to offset some of the harmful effects of the country’s automobile boom.  A few of the reasons given by consumers for the rapid growth of e-bikes in China are that motorcycles are too dangerous, cars are too expensive, public transportation is too crowded and pedal bikes leave you tired.

While countries like China in the Asia Pacific region will continue to account for the vast majority of electric bicycles in the next several years, it is predicted that the fastest growth around e-bikes will occur in the Middle East (more than 50% growth),  Latin America (30% growth) and North America (24% growth).  Issues of perception and infrastructure, however, could combine to slow that growth.  While government funded incentives for light electric vehicles, including electric bicycles, are becoming more common, the infrastructure required for safe low speed vehicles is often an afterthought for government officials, particularly in developing countries.

For us here in the United States, it’s not really about the infrastructure.  It’s about the perception of bicycles as transportation and not just recreation – especially when it comes to electric bicycles.  The United States is well behind the world curve when it comes to two-wheeled electric transportation – even two wheeled human powered transportation for that matter, but with the world quickly approaching  what’s being referred to as peak oil, it’s not about “if” we can make the transition, it’s about “when”.  Are we ready?  According to Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports, U.S. electric bike sales were expected to double to 300,000 per year from 2009 to 2010.  According to preliminary reports it did, so we’re on the right track.  Still, only 500,000  e-bikes sold in the U.S. as of 2008 compared to the 120 million that sold inChina the same year.  At this point China is, without question, the world leader in green two-wheeled electric transportation, but it’s a long, competitive and important race – one that no country can afford to lose.

As we made our way towards Carmel from Monterey  I noticed that we were on a downhill slope – a long downhill slope. As a matter of fact it felt like almost the entire ride from that point was downhill. That made it easy heading down, but I was a little concerned about getting back. I mean, I’m in pretty good shape, but our plan was to ride the electric bicycles about 12 to 15 miles each way – and since the return was going to be uphill I was concerned about two things.  First of all, how much of the uphill section I could pedal, and more importantly, if the motor would assist my girlfriend and I enough to make the fairly steep ride back to Monterey enjoyable. As we made our way down 17 mile drive (tip –entrance is free if you’re biking!) it became more and more obvious that we wanted to see more – regardless of the decent. Each time one of us wanted to turn around the other would point something out just down the road that we just ‘had to see’.

By the time that we finally agreed to turn around I have to admit that I was a little nervous. Although my girlfriend is about average in height and weight, I’m not. I’m about 6’5” and weigh about 230lbs. Was this electric bicycle really going to help me get back to my starting point, or was I going to end up walking it back uphill – similar to a kid walking his bike home after his first ride – and his first flat tire?  As we started on our way back I put my electric bicycle in throttle mode. Although this model had both options, the pedal assist or the throttle mode, the throttle mode seemed to be the most logical choice because I could more accurately control the level of assistance – and at this point I wanted more help than what the pedal assist mode would offer. As I eased back on the electric bike’s throttle I was floored. I couldn’t believe that the electric motor on this particular model would not only make my uphill ride easy and enjoyable, but I didn’t even have to pedal if I didn’t want to – the electric motor was powerful enough to take me up the hills on its own!

Needless to say, the ride back was incredible. The best part was passing people on bicycles who were struggling to make it up the various hills. I only think of it as the best because I had options on the electric bicycle, and at that point I had opted out of using the rest of the days’ energy pedaling fifteen miles uphill.  Electric bicycles give bicycling a whole new meaning – options.  Because I did pedal though…just effortlessly!