Why Everyone Around Me Is Suddenly Buying Electric Bikes
Why Everyone Around Me Is Suddenly Buying Electric Bikes
Why Everyone Around Me Is Suddenly Buying Electric Bikes
A couple of years ago electric scooters felt like something only a handful of people rode. Now I genuinely cannot walk to the market without passing at least three or four of them parked outside shops. My cousin got one last year and my neighbor followed a few months later and honestly at this point it feels less like a trend and more like the new normal. Petrol prices keep climbing every few months and people are tired of it. Add to that the subsidies a lot of governments are offering and suddenly the math just makes sense for a lot of families. Batteries have also gotten way better than they used to be so the whole range anxiety thing people used to complain about is slowly becoming less of an issue. All of this together is why electric bikes are not just some passing fad anymore they are actually becoming the default choice for a lot of riders.
If I am being honest the biggest reason people around me switched is money. Filling a petrol tank every week adds up fast especially if you are still a student or just starting your first job like most of my friends are. Charging a bike at home costs a fraction of that and you barely notice it on the electricity bill. Servicing is also way simpler since there is no engine oil to change and no exhaust system to worry about. A friend of mine calculated that he saves close to a couple thousand rupees every month just from switching and that alone was enough to convince him. When you are trying to save up for rent or just trying not to ask your parents for money every month that kind of saving actually matters a lot.
The tech side of things has honestly gotten pretty impressive too. I remember when electric bikes used to die out after barely thirty kilometers and took forever to charge back up. That is not really the case anymore since batteries last a lot longer and charge way quicker than before. A lot of the newer models come with an app that shows you battery percentage location and even lets you lock the bike remotely which honestly feels kind of futuristic. Some companies now let you just swap out a dead battery for a fully charged one at a station instead of waiting around which is a game changer for delivery guys who are constantly on the road. As these batteries get cheaper to make the bikes themselves are getting more affordable too so more people can actually afford one.
Where things are headed next seems pretty obvious to me. Charging points are popping up in more places so that whole worry about running out of charge somewhere random is fading away. Banks are offering easier loans for these bikes now too so people do not need to pay the full amount upfront. Even the food delivery guys near my place have slowly started switching their bikes over to electric ones. Basically every sign points to this only growing bigger from here. What started as a niche thing a few early adopters were into has turned into something my entire friend circle is now a part of and honestly it does not feel like a phase anymore it feels like this is just what riding a bike is going to mean going forward.