Do You Really Need A Car? | Why E Bikes Could Be The Future Of Personal Transport

Everyone, even cyclists generally accept that cars are essential for everyday modern life. They can carry your shopping, you don't get sweaty while driving them, and you can take your kids to school in them. But are they really that vital?

With the advancement of e-bikes, there are more and more solutions for replacing cars in your everyday life, from commuting, to going to the shops. We wanted to see if Si could actually go without his car, using a pedal assisted cargo bike and a more conventional e-bike. As it turns out, he wasn't the only one to enjoy it, which left us wondering whether you really need a car at all?

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Do you think you could get by with one of these e-bikes instead of a car? Let us know your thoughts in the comments 👇

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[gcn]

Do you think you could get by with one of these e-bikes instead of a car? Let us know your thoughts in the comments 👇

[inakilrg]

We were about getting a second car, but we decided for the Urban Arrow cargo bike. We soon realized that we could actually go without our first car as well!
Here in the Netherlands is common to spend more on bikes than on cars.

[mikemazzantini]

17 mile hilly commute each way. It's doable without an ebike, but it's enjoyable with an ebike. I haven't given up my car, but it only get's used once or twice a week. I find that I'm in a much better mood when I ebike to work or to the grocery store. It's just more satisfying.

[philgiblin]

Good to GCN featuring e bikes. My partner will now come out on rides with me, because she has an e bike, doesn't have to wear special clothing apart from a helmet and more importantly doesn't have to worry about hills. The more people cycling can only be a good thing in my book.

[SwazersC]

Ditched the car a few years back. Had my e-bike for around 14 months now, done around 4500 miles on it so far. THE BEST thing I have ever purchased. As a 48-year-old bloke a complete game-changer. Amazing.

[RidingBikesinSanDiego]

This is one of the best videos GCN has ever uploaded. As much as I love the road bike, covering ebikes and how to replace the car is the practical step that we all need to take.

[bendavis]

When will Marc and Hank do a cross England ride on one of these. One of them can sleep in the cargo while the other pedals 😆

[MattSwain]

The bikes aren’t really the problem, it’s the UK’s appalling infrastructure that it is. Big sections of my commute have no space for bikes; fast roads with some substantial hills, no space for bikes, only a matter of time until I’d end up in hospital. Given that the infrastructure is unlikely to be fixed, the miserable speed limit for e-bike assistance need to be raised from 25kph.

[jimmarshall]

Love this type of content. I've been a year-round cyclist for 40 years, and you can keep the race stuff (yeah I know, burn the heretic...) but this is the way forwards. This should go wider than just GCN, love the channel (GCN+ subscriber) as I do

[jeffreylee]

I use my e-bike instead of my car almost all the time for errands and for commuting on many workdays. I use my car also but usually for longer trips, rainy days, snow days, and larger cargo. I think my e-bike saved my car from a lot of wear and tear and saved me thousands of dollars. It also meant I could ride to very distant parks and trails instead of using a car to get to a trail etc.

[mosantos]

Si's kids on it reminded me of a year when I took one of my kids to school on a weehoo trailer for the entire year. We lived 800 meters from the school so we made a 2km loop because it was really fun. He was 5 at that time; 12 now and those rides are what he remembers the most from kindergarten.

[dan..........]

If more workplaces and public buildings provided secure facilities for bikes and the ability to get showered and changed (workplaces), maybe more people would ride their bikes, but the logistics of owning a bike without these facilities put many people off using them for their daily commute/errands

[mantas]

buy an ebike, rent a car when you _really_ need one

[scossar]

I gave up my car 20 years ago. Just using a regular bike has worked for me, but I can see how e-bikes will make it a viable option for greater numbers of people. The money savings are significant. It's cheaper to pay for the occasional cab ride or delivery of large items than it is to own a car. The fitness benefits are huge too. I recently started working from home and took up recreational cycling to make up for not doing a daily bike commute to work. In the past, riding to and from work was one of the highlights of the day.

[madfx]

This is awesome, here in Southern California the Detroit lobby has totally done a number on the infrastructure of our cities since the post-war era. It's so car centric it's ridiculous, most of the roads have cars flying by at 40-60 mph within three feet of cyclist, even roads with bike lanes!

[jamesslatter]

Bought a cargo bike about a month ago! Absolutely love it. They are the future of urban travel!

[aliancemd]

Those kids are adorable, congrats Si :D

[UpperEchelon]

Si got kids, i thought he was a college student.😳
Years and Years of Cycling made him immortal. 😂😂😂

[rotary]

What a refreshing and unexpected video from GCN! Despite the quick review format of the show, you did a great job demonstrating the vision of cargo e-bikes. It is clear to me that such bikes are the key to shifting urban planning from car centric to bike and pedestrian centric. To me, it's the size of these bikes which you clearly demonstrated driving though city streets with cars, slowing the traffic and making it safer. Your kids summed it up perfectly: "it will be better for the world".

[grandbuba]

I think the biggest hurdle is hiding in plain sight in Si's vid: not a bicycle lane in sight.. That's actually what is keeping a lot of people from using it as a commuting tool. Sure, it's all fine and dandy riding a bike in a rural area, but in the end most of us still need to get to our destinations, and those are in the city centre.. :-(