Here at Electrek we cover all sorts of electric vehicles, from cars and trucks to planes and trains. But one type of electric vehicle outsells all others combined many times over: the humble electric bicycle.
And yet, for some reason, electric bicycles have been plagued by a running misconception that switching to an e-bike means a slow decline into sedentary demise. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The simple fact is that switching to an e-bike is one of the best things you can do to get more exercise. Don’t believe me? See why, below.
What is an electric bicycle?
First, let’s set the stage with some quick definitions. Electric bicycles are nearly the same as pedal bicycles, except for the inclusion of an assist motor and a battery pack. They use the same pedals, wheels, seats, tires, handlebars, etc. An e-bike is just a pedal bike with a helper motor.
There are multiple types of e-bikes, with the main two groups being pedal assist (where you have to pedal to engage the assist motor) and throttle-enabled (where you usually have the choice of using pedal assist like the first style or alternatively using a hand throttle that doesn’t require pedaling).
Both types are capable of offering great exercise, since both include pedal assist functions where you only get motor assistance when you’re also pedaling. But keep in mind that if you’re exclusively using the throttle on the e-bike instead of pedaling, you’re not getting much more exercise than you would on a horse. The good news is that as long as you’re using pedal assist, switching to an electric bike means you’ll be getting more exercise and living a healthier lifestyle.
“But switching from what?” you may be thinking. Oh! Now you’re asking the right question!
It’s not e-bikes versus pedal bikes
For some godforsaken reason, the e-bike argument is often reframed as electric bikes versus pedal bikes. It’s not uncommon to see comments on e-bikes articles to the effect of “Just what a country with 40% obesity epidemic needs. Less exercise.”
But that’s the wrong way of looking at it, and the numbers prove it.
When someone “switches to” an electric bike as a form of transportation, they are almost always switching out of a car. Sometimes it’s a bus or a train. But it’s almost never switching from a pedal bike to an e-bike.
And do you know why? It’s because almost no one rides a pedal bike.
If you’re a pedal cyclist then you’re surely scoffing right now. I’ll give you a minute. But then climb down from your high saddle, come back to me and look at the numbers. Surveys vary, but nationwide studies from 2019 found that around 0.6% of the US commuters used a pedal bike. That’s not nothing. It’s around 760,000 people, actually. But out of 130 million commuters in the US, that’s almost nothing.
To be fair, bicycle commuting numbers grew after the COVID-19 pandemic amid a renewed interest in cycling, but we’ve still barely broken into integers here in the US. (Side note: Europeans, your numbers are much higher. That’s awesome. Keep doing you.)
But the fact remains that somewhere between 75-90% of all commutes in the US occur by car (numbers vary widely depending on the city and whether ride-hailing/taxis/car-sharing are included).
So if someone is switching to an electric bicycle, they’re almost guaranteed to be switching away from a larger vehicle like a car, truck, bus, or train.
And when that’s the case, which it almost always is, they’re essentially guaranteed to be getting more exercise.
Electric bikes are great for exercise
Study after study after study has reported the health benefits of e-bikes for exercising. Boosted cardiovascular health. Better fitness test results. Improved mental health. Lower BMI from weight loss. The health benefits of e-bikes are long documented. They probably make you better in bed too. I have no study to cite for this but think about it: a healthier body and mind surely aren’t going to hurt in the bedroom.
Most Americans find it hard to fit 30 minutes of moderate exercise into the day. And that’s fair – we all live busy lives. But a quick 15-minute e-bike commute to work gets you that 30 minutes per day without forcing you to set aside a specific block of daily exercise time. And many people cite e-bike exercise via commuting as a convenient level of exertion that gets your heart pumping without being so strenuous that you arrive at work sweating and in need of a shower.
In fact, I’ve heard the same story over and over again from new e-bike converts: They bought an e-bike to get to work but found it to be so enjoyable that it turned into a recreational activity too. Their e-bike is a daily commuter vehicle and a weekend pleasure ride.
Can you get most of these benefits from riding a pedal bicycle? Of course! And if you can make it happen on a pedal bike, that’s great! If you can walk to work, that’s great too! But you know what? You probably won’t. It’s nothing against you, personally. It’s just a numbers game. Due to the exertion required (and that resulting “sweaty at work” situation from pedal bikes), there are just so few out there that the odds of you being one of them is miniscule.
If you ARE a pedal bike commuter or a walk-to-work person, that’s awesome and I applaud you. But you’re in a teeny, tiny minority. To be honest, I don’t even know how you found this article. You’re practically an endangered species at this point. Screw the pandas. We need bumper stickers that say “Save the cyclists!”
So sure, I’m not saying pedal bikes aren’t great for exercise too. But again, that’s not the argument here. That’s reframing the whole idea incorrectly. Pedal bikes are great for the 1% of folks who ride them to work. For the rest of Americans, e-bikes could be the fun, fast, and efficient form of exercise that gets you out of the glass box and into the world, experiencing your city around you while improving your health.
With more cities improving their cycling infrastructure (one of the top reasons commuters often cite for not cycling to work), it’s becoming easier than ever to leave the car in the garage and hop on an e-bike. To be fair, the US has a long way to go in building safe, protected bike lanes. But progress, however slow, is headed in the right direction. Many advocacy groups and individual bike/e-bike commuters alike are making their voices heard, with more cities listening and installing better bike lanes.
That’s important progress, but it shouldn’t stop those who already can bike from considering making the switch today.
The “I live on the side of a 50 mph highway and can’t bike to work” crowd get a pass, but please understand you are also the minority. For the rest of you that live in a city, consider how biking, e-biking, walking, skipping, kick-scootering, or any other form of active personal transportation could improve your commute, your health, and your life.
And for those of you that are dead set on never leaving the comfort of your SUV, just understand that cyclists help you too. The next time you see one zip by you while sitting in your captain’s chair, realize that you’re waiting in a little bit less traffic because of them. You’re welcome.
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More than 3 years later, the vehicle never went into volume production. Instead, Tesla only ran a very low volume pilot production at a factory in Nevada and only delivered a few dozen trucks to customers as part of test programs.
But Tesla promised that things would finally happen for the Tesla Semi this year.
The goal was to start production in 2025, start customer deliveries, and ramp up to 50,000 trucks yearly.
Now, Ryder, a large transportation company and early customer-partner in Tesla’s semi truck program, is talking about further delays. The company also refers to a significant price increase.
California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) awarded Ryder funding for a project to deploy Tesla Semi trucks and Megachargers at two of its facilities in the state.
Ryder had previously asked for extensions amid the delays in the Tesla Semi program.
In a new letter sent to MSRC last week and obtained by Electrek, Ryder asked the agency for another 28-month delay. The letter references delays in “Tesla product design, vehicle production” and it mentions “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics”:
This extension is needed due to delays in Tesla product design, vehicle production and dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics. These delays have caused us to reevaluate the current Ryder fleet in the area.
The logistics company now says it plans to “deploy 18 Tesla Semi vehicles by June 2026.”
The reference to “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics” points to a significant price increase for the Tesla Semi, which further communication with MSRC confirms.
In the agenda of a meeting to discuss the extension and changes to the project yesterday, MSRC confirms that the project went from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks while the project commitment is not changing:
Ryder has indicated that their electric tractor manufacturer partner, Tesla, has experienced continued delays in product design and production. There have also been dramatic changes to the product economics. Ryder requests to reduce the number of vehicles from 42 to 18, stating that this would maintain their $7.5 million private match commitment.
In addition to the electric trucks, the project originally involved installing two integrated power centers and four Tesla Megachargers, split between two locations. Ryder is also looking to now install 3 Megachargers per location for a total of 6 instead of 4.
The project changes also mention that “Ryder states that Tesla now requires 600kW chargers rather than the 750kW units originally engineered.”
Tesla Semi Price
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2023. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
New diesel-powered Class 8 semi trucks in the US today often range between $150,000 and $220,000.
The combination of a reasonable purchase price and low operation costs, thanks to cheaper electric rates than diesel, made the Tesla Semi a potentially revolutionary product to reduce the overall costs of operation in trucking while reducing emissions.
However, Ryder now points to a “dramatic” price increase for the Tesla Semi.
What is the cost of a Tesla Semi electric truck now?
Electrek’s Take
As I have often stated, Tesla Semi is the vehicle program I am most excited about at Tesla right now.
If Tesla can produce class 8 trucks capable of moving cargo of similar weight as diesel trucks over 500 miles on a single charge in high volume at a reasonable price point, they have a revolutionary product on their hands.
But the reasonable price part is now being questioned.
After reading the communications between Ryder and MSRC, while not clear, it looks like the program could be interpreted as MSRC covering the costs of installing the charging stations while Ryder committed $7.5 million to buying the trucks.
The math makes sense for the original funding request since $7.5 million divided by 42 trucks results in around $180,000 per truck — what Tesla first quoted for the 500-mile Tesla Semi truck.
Now, with just 18 trucks, it would point to a price of $415,000 per Tesla Semi truck. It’s possible that some of Ryder’s commitment could also go to an increase in Megacharger prices – either per charger or due to the two additional chargers. MSRC said that they don’t give more money when prices go up after an extension.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 500-mile Tesla Semi ends up costing $350,000 to $400,000.
If that’s the case, Tesla Semi is impressive, but it won’t be the revolutionary product that will change the trucking industry.
It will need to be closer to $250,000-$300,000 to have a significant impact, which is not impossible with higher-volume production but would be difficult.
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British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
British oil major BP on Friday said its chair Helge Lund will soon step down, kickstarting a succession process shortly after the company launched a fundamental strategic reset.
“Having fundamentally reset our strategy, bp’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value,” Lund said in a statement.
“Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover,” he added.
Lund is expected to step down in 2026. BP said the succession process will be led by Amanda Blanc in her capacity as senior independent director.
Shares of BP traded 2.2% lower on Friday morning. The London-listed firm has lagged its industry rivals in recent years.
BP announced in February that it plans to ramp up annual oil and gas investment to $10 billion through 2027 and slash spending on renewables as part of its new strategic direction.
Analysts have broadly welcomed BP’s renewed focus on hydrocarbons, although the beleaguered energy giant remains under significant pressure from activist investors.
U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management has built a stake of around 5% to become one of BP’s largest shareholders, according to Reuters.
Activist investor Follow This, meanwhile, recently pushed for investors to vote against Lund’s reappointment as chair at BP’s April 17 shareholder meeting in protest over the firm’s recent strategy U-turn.
Lund had previously backed BP’s 2020 strategy, when Bernard Looney was CEO, to boost investment in renewables and cut production of oil and gas by 40% by 2030.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss, who took the helm on a permanent basis in January last year, is under significant pressure to reassure investors that the company is on the right track to improve its financial performance.
‘A more clearly defined break’
“Elliott continues to press BP for a sharper, more clearly defined break with the strategy to pivot more quickly toward renewables, that was outlined by Bernard Looney when he was CEO,” Russ Mould, AJ Bell’s investment director, told CNBC via email on Friday.
“Mr Lund was chair then and so he is firmly associated with that plan, which current boss Murray Auchincloss is refining,” he added.
Mould said activist campaigns tend to have “fairly classic thrusts,” such as a change in management or governance, higher shareholder distributions, an overhaul of corporate structure and operational improvements.
“In BP’s case, we now have a shift in capital allocation and a change in management, so it will be interesting to see if this appeases Elliott, though it would be no surprise if it feels more can and should be done,” Mould said.
On today’s hyped up hydrogen episode of Quick Charge, we look at some of the fuel’s recent failures and billion dollar bungles as the fuel cell crowd continues to lose the credibility race against a rapidly evolving battery electric market.
We’re taking a look at some of the recent hydrogen failures of 2025 – including nine-figure product cancellations in the US and Korea, a series of simultaneous bus failures in Poland, and European executives, experts, and economists calling for EU governments to ditch hydrogen and focus on the deployment of a more widespread electric trucking infrastructure.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
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