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Replace Car Miles With Trike Miles

Posted by Jim Dewan on

What if we kept our cars parked for trips three miles or less?

 

Many of us drive our cars for short trips. We drive three blocks to work out at the local gym, grab groceries, run short errands, or to have a local lunch or dinner. And if you're lucky enough - your work might be close enough to bike!

Don't get us wrong, some short car trips are necessary — especially for those who with health and heavy mobility issues. However, some short car trips might be easily made by e-trikes. What if we all chose to bike for just half of our car trips of 3 miles and under?

This electric Fat Trike has a large rear basket with a 33 liter drybag that could securely hold grocery items.

What's the bottom line?

Car trips of under a mile add up to about 10 billion miles per year, according to the 2009 U.S. National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS). That’s like the entire population of Chicago driving to Las Vegas and back! If we all chose to power half of these short trips with our trikes or bikes, we'd definitely see a boost in health — for the planet and our bodies. Here a couple of other good points to keep in mind:

Good for your health

This one's a no-brainer. One study found that eliminating car trips under five miles round-trip in the urban areas of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin would result in almost $5 billion in health benefits associated with improved air quality. This same study estimated that replacing half of these car trips with bike trips could save almost $4 billion in avoided deaths and reduced health care costs by increasing physical activity. Aside from it being good for your heart, it will make you happier. It's a mental boost.

It's way more fun 

Certainly cars can be fun, but realistically, even the most exciting vehicles suck to drive on public roads. Speed limits, other traffic, safety laws, stop lights: all these things can strangle the fun and performance out of driving. 

Riding an e-trike on the other hand is all about freedom. Sure, the cliche wind-in-your-hair type of freedom, but also the freedom of ripping downhill at 40mph, accelerating faster and faster, and dipping the bars around that one corner so low you feel the adrenaline surge through the back of your neck. The kind of excitement that, let’s face it, we probably would get from boring and stressful car commutes. 

You'll save 

Another perk? You'll pocket more gas money — a major bonus in today's world when gas prices are at a whopping $5-$6/gallon. 

Explore new areas, new roads, new routes

Is your commute, well, boring? Turn it to an adventure with an e-trike! The same stop lights, that one turn that takes forever, the inevitable slow down where the roads merge? How about a little life sized choose your own adventure? This is especially true for city-commuters where congestion is no joke.

Ducking through an alleyway, shortcutting through a park, sneaking out the back of a dead-end street, these little detours and so many more are just waiting to be exploited on a bike. Even cutting through parking lots and finding the narrow spot where kids jump across the creek are fair game on a bike. 

Simply put, a bike presents loads more opportunities for route-finding than a vehicle that’s bound to the road. 

Variety of e-trikes

The cool thing is that at Electric Bike Technologies, we offer a few different e-trike models to choose from: Fats, Traditional Bikes, and a few cool Recumbents. Head to the site to learn about all the features and which one will best suite your everyday needs.

 

With a large wired rear basket, the electric step-through trike would be ideal for a small order of food at a grocery store.
 

 

Do you already implement this into your life? We'd love to hear more - email us you story to support@electrictrike.com.


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