Electric bikes are really taking off in China. I wrote down my thoughts a while ago. Will copy and paste here: Like a car, they offer cheap on-demand transit t

Electric bikes are really taking off in China. I wrote down my thoughts a while ago. Will copy and paste here: Like a car, they offer cheap on-demand transit to your exact destination. Unlike a car they do not support long distances, heavy loads or more than 2 people, but often those features are not needed by the urban commuter. Furthermore they lack many of the drawbacks of a car; getting stuck in traffic, the need for parking, the need for insurance, licensing requirements, high fuel requirements etc. Furthermore an e-bike is a signifigantly smaller investment than a car. Having it lost, stolen or damaged poses less of a personal risk to your finances. Unlike a classical bike, e-bike's do not require the user to be in shape or even exert effort to operate. Thus we see that in the personal transport market, e-bikes represent the best of both worlds for the urban commuter. We can see proof by demonstration that in the right conditions they can be enormously popular (China). Why haven't they taken off all over the world yet? 1. Topography. They are generally not powerfull enough to go up steep hills. Sadly this rules out San Fransisco which would otherwise be quick to pick up on an eco-friendly trend. 2. Regulation. These vehicles neither qualify as motorcycles nor bicycles and thus are often ambiguous or de facto illegal in many parts of the states. 3. Weather. Driving at 40 Km/hr in the cold of winter is unpleasant. The otherwise perfect markets of the flat mid-west and dense+flat New York may find this a deal breaker. Sun-belt cities without too much sprawl (Eg San Diego) are the only place in the states that are a perfect match. The Chinese have invented a rather unfashionable "bike apron" to make the cold weather driving tolerable. I think point 2 is a huge mistake. If the US is serious about green technologies, deregulating e-bikes would be a huge boon.