It’s not an ‘electric bike craze.’ You’re looking at the future of transportation
As electric bikes become increasingly popular in cities across the US, some in the media are trying to wrap their heads around this reported “electric bike craze.” But make no mistake, this isn’t some short-lived enthusiasm or a passing fad. This widespread adoption of e-bikes by young and old alike is merely the first signs of a paradigm shift.
That’s right, welcome to the future.
Sure, the car is still king in the US. But not like it once was.
The rate of US teens seeking driver’s licenses has continuously dropped for decades. The reasons are myriad. Cars are more expensive than ever. Wages haven’t kept up with inflation. Cities are slowly becoming more navigable without cars. Young people care more about the environment because they’re the ones who will have to survive it. The reasons go on and on.
But the newest reason added to the list rolls in on two wheels. Not the traditional bike, but the electric bike.
Unlike pedal bicycles, whose sales have been on a steady decline outside of the pandemic-induced boost, electric bicycles are skyrocketing in popularity. They give the same freedom of movement as a pedal bicycle, yet are easier to ride with the motor-assisted pedaling. That lets people go faster and travel longer distances than they previously thought possible. Throttle enabled e-bikes are even easier to use as they don’t even require pedaling – they can basically be used as 20 mph (32 km/h) mopeds. At that speed, they’re fast enough for people to cruise through a city easily yet don’t come with the same power and speed concerns that have traditionally turned most commuters away from motorcycles.
Add in the free parking, low entry cost, nearly zero maintenance cost, as well as turning commutes and errands from slogs into joy rides, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a new transportation paradigm.
While electric bikes were once the domain of elderly riders in the US that had discovered a way to get back on two wheels for recreational rides and light fitness, now the new technology is found across the age spectrum from kids to adults. And it’s no longer just about Sunday morning cruises or getting in a workout; electric bikes are now widely used as serious transportation and utility vehicles in their own right.
As much of the media is still trying to understand the phenomenon of this massive growth in e-bike use, cities are already grappling with just how to handle it. Not only are cities around the US seeing their own rise in e-bike usage, but several are helping to support the shift away from cars by providing incentives for purchasing electric bikes.
Even without incentives though, e-bikes are surprisingly affordable. Like anything, you’ll find fancier expensive options. But a good e-bike can be bought for under $1,000. When you compare that to the cheapest $40,000 Tesla, you can see why young people are moving to e-bikes in droves.
That massive adoption rate among younger riders though has also lead to questions about safe riding. Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez, himself an electric bike rider, explained to the Independent that he wholeheartedly believes that most e-bike riders are “law abiding, responsible, and considerate,” but that some reckless riders are “bad actors” that give a bad name to everyone.
Cities and states around the country are seeking solutions to help regulate and manage the growing influx of e-bike riders. Many are quickly adding bike lanes to help provide safer cycling areas away from the leading cause of death among bike riders: cars. Others are proposing rider education programs for those that don’t yet have driver’s licenses, such as a new bill proposed in California that would create a simpler “rider’s license” e-bike riders that use public roads but have never taken driver’s education or gotten a driver’s license.
On one side of the issue, some argue that cities should take a light touch, making it safer to cycle with better public infrastructure but without imposing burdensome regulations that could disincentivize cycling. Others believe that the increased number of riders, especially teens and young adults that have sometimes demonstrated a penchant for reckless riding, should be met more heavy-handedly with police crackdowns.
If you know me, then you may already know what I think. But if not, that’s what the next section is for.
Electrek’s Take
To me, this is a very simple issue. No matter who you are, as long as you are a road user, you should like seeing more usage of e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, pedal bikes, a solid pair of shoes or any other personal transportation device. Studies have shown that a mere 10% shift from car drivers to bike riders has resulted in a 40% reduction in traffic congestion. Even if you never touch an e-bike, you would benefit from supporting their increased use.
That being said, I absolutely understand the safety issue related to dangerous riding. Anyone being reckless on the roads should be held accountable. No one should use the roads recklessly, whether you’re on a 50-pound electric bike or a 5,000-pound car. Hmmm, it almost seems like one of those is drastically more dangerous than the other, now that I think of it.
You’ll often hear complaints about cyclists running red lights, and that certainly can be dangerous. The implementation of rules like the Idaho stop can help make it safer for cyclists to navigate stops signs and red lights.
But to me, I think there is still room for compromise on e-bike safety. We’re going to see more riders every year, so we need to figure this out. In parallel to creating more safe, protected cycling lanes to separate bikes from the same roadways as cars, we should also enforce reckless driving laws, whether that means ticketing drivers or riders who endanger others on the road or in the bike lanes.
The tricky part, as it often does, comes down to enforcement. Police departments are often stretched thin, and ticketing bike-riding hooligans or car drivers parking in bike lanes isn’t a top priority. Perhaps we can find a little more funding (cough, tax car registrations, cough) to create an “E-bike Force” of bike cops who focus on this primarily. It could even be a force of good, not just doling out punishments. They could carry tire pumps and tools, helping cyclists and handing out education just as often as ticketing rule breakers. Who knows, maybe I’m a dreamer. But I think that if we actually care about making our cities safer, then we should prioritize getting more people on bikes and also find a way to educate riders and drivers while simultaneously enforcing rules that are designed to keep people safe.
Perfect, now people from both sides of the argument can crap on me in the comments section below.
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Members of media chat before the start of a press conference by Aramco at the Plaza Conference Center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia November 3, 2019.
Hamad I Mohammed | Reuters
Saudi Aramco’s first-quarter net profit fell 5% year-on-year amid lower oil prices and production.
Net income for the three months to March 31 came in at $26 billion, down from $27.3 billion for the same period last year, the company reported. The figure was slightly above analyst expectations of $25.3 billion.
Aramco announced its free cash flow for the quarter at $19.2 billion, down from $22.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024, and cash flow from operating activities at $31.7 billion compared to last year’s $33.6 billion.
The figures signal continuing strain for the Saudi state oil giant’s balance sheet as crude prices show no sign of recovering and global demand slows in line with pressures on trade.
The company in March announced it would be slashing its performance-linked dividend payout for the fourth quarter of 2024 to $200 million — down from $10.2 billion the previous quarter — and repeated that $200 million figure for the first-quarter of this year, to be paid in the second quarter.
Its first-quarter base dividend excluding the performance-based payouts increased by 4.2% year-on-year to $21.1 billion. But if assessed in total, the dividend fell from $31 billion in the same period last year to $21.36 billion now, due to the cut to its performance-linked element.
“Global trade dynamics affected energy markets in the first quarter of 2025, with economic uncertainty impacting oil prices,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement accompanying the earnings report.
“In this context, Aramco’s robust financial performance once again demonstrated the Company’s unique scale, its reliability and flexibility, the value of its lowcost operations … Such periods also highlight the importance of disciplined capital planning and execution while we continue to take a long-term view.”
Nasser added, “In volatile times Aramco’s resilience underpins both our financial performance and our sustainable and progressive base dividend.”
Bearish oil market ahead
The massive dividend reduction eases pressure on Aramco itself, but means less revenue for the Saudi government as it faces widening deficits and mounting debt due to costly megaprojects and lower oil prices.
The kingdom also constrained its oil revenue potential by maintaining months of coordinated OPEC+ production cuts meant to stabilize the market. That policy changed dramatically after Saudi Arabia and several of its OPEC+ allies announced a shock acceleration to production increase plans in April, even as markets and crude prices were tanking on the news of U.S.-imposed global tariffs.
In early May, OPEC+ again raised its production target for June by 411,000 barrels per day — the second consecutive month of accelerated unwind of the 2.2 million-barrel per day voluntary cuts that had been in place since the start of 2024.
Banks and energy agencies have steadily downgraded their oil price outlooks for the year, anticipating large supply gluts and weak demand. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest forecast sees Brent crude averaging $65.85 per barrel this year, while Morgan Stanley cut its price outlook to $62.50 per barrel in the second half of this year, down by $5 per barrel from the bank’s previous forecast.
Morgan Stanley also predicts a market glut of up to 1.1 million barrels per day in the second half of 2025 — an increase of 400,000 bpd from its previous surplus call.
Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, sees Brent averaging $60 per barrel in the remainder of 2025, compared to $63 previously, and $56 per barrel in 2026, compared to $58 previously.
Saudi Arabia needs oil at more than $90 a barrel to balance its budget, the International Monetary Fund estimates. Goldman Sachs in mid-April warned that Brent crude at $62 a barrel — its price forecast at the time — could more than double the kingdom’s 2024 budget deficit of $30.8 billion.
“In Saudi Arabia, we estimate that we’re probably going to see the deficit go up from around $30 to $35 billion to around $70 to $75 billion, if oil prices stayed around $62 this year,” said Farouk Soussa, MENA economist at Goldman Sachs. The bank’s forecast for the rest of 2025 now sits at $60 per barrel.
“That means more borrowing, probably means more cutbacks on expenditure, it probably means more selling of assets, all of the above,” Soussa told CNBC last month. “And this is going to have an impact both on domestic financial conditions and potentially even international.”
While Washington continues to threaten America’s economic security and position as a global technology leader by toying with the idea of killing the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit, the ENERGY STAR program, and other energy efficiency incentives, the private energy sector is stepping up with massive investments in battery storage, charging infrastructure, and commercial EV rebates – and helping fleet buyers navigate those new incentives is becoming part of the broader business plan.
The inspiration for this article was a recent announcement by Ford Pro, which is baking its incentive sourcing plan into its new new Electric Vehicle Incentive Consultation Service – a new offering designed to help Ford’s commercial customers navigate the rapidly-changing world of EV incentives.
The approach is working, too. In the few short weeks since launching the Consultation Service, tFord Pro helped customers discover over $40,000 in available incentives for charging purchases and $1.5 million for electric vehicle purchases.
Case(s) in point
Joliet Junior College in Illinois wanted to take advantage of the reduced air pollution, noise, and operating costs promised by EVs, but faced budget constraints that made the up-front costs of electrifying seem like an insurmountable obstacle. Consultants from Ford Pro were able to identify a number of state and local utility incentives the college was eligible for, which resulted in ra free L2 EV charger and an $8,000 EV charging infrastructure make-ready rebate from ComEd that, when combined, covered 100% of the college’s installation costs.
The college was also able to qualify for a $7,500 commercial EV rebate (also from ComEd) that was applied at the point of sale, allowing the college to begin realizing fuel savings on day one.
“I recently worked with Ford Pro to learn more about rebates for a 2025 Ford Lightning truck that will be used as a police patrol vehicle for our college campus,” explained Tracy Williams, Deputy Chief of the Joliet Junior College Police Department. “They went above and beyond my expectations in this process. The rebate we were eligible for was proactively added upfront to our quote. This service was a significant help to our small department, allowing us to allocate resources more effectively and reduce the initial outlay.”
Ford Pro isn’t alone
Startup manufacturers like Orange EV, ReVolt Motors, and Windrose – even 3PLs like YMX, Nuvve, and Highland Electric – have made cursory fleet assessments a core part of their initial go to market strategies.
Even giant legacy brand Ford, with its Ford Pro E-Switch Assist, is offering to take telematic data from existing gas- and diesel-powered Ford F-150 and Transit models and track each vehicle’s individual energy use to determine whether it’s a good candidate for replacement with a Ford EV.
“Smart tools informed by data like E-Switch Assist are opening up many new conversations with our commercial customers large and small about EV readiness; we’re already using E-Switch Assist regularly in consultations to help organizations determine if electric trucks and vans are right for them,” says Nate McDonald, EV strategy and cross vehicle brand manager at Ford Pro. “The importance of these tools and technologies goes beyond selling a customer a new vehicle—it changes mindsets about whether electric vehicles will work for their business while potentially saving them time and money.”
There’s no question, then, that E-Switch Assist is a great product, but it kind of highlights one of my big criticisms of using fleet assessment and grant sourcing products as an integrated G2M strategy for OEMs.
Electrek’s Jo’s Take
The problem with tying this kind of fleet assessment and incentive sourcing into a sales pitch of any kind is the question of credibility. Imagine you’re a fleet buyer for a large bakery looking to replace your aging diesel fleet with some new electric box vans. You’ve read about the Motiv fleet proving itself over millions of real-world miles, you’ve read about the incredible deals on the Chevy Brightdrop, and you even got to check out the new Bollinger B4 at an ACT Expo ride and drive. They all seem great, and they all seem to work – but will they work for you?
Maybe they will, but if you got a fleet assessment from Motiv, another one from Chevy, and a third one from Bollinger, do you think any of them would tell you to go hit your local Isuzu dealer if that was, indeed, the most cost-effective choice for your fleet’s specific needs? Or do you think that each analyst would, through a miracle of miracles involving novel pivot tables and a sketchy misrepresentation of the law of large numbers, discover that their company’s products were ideally suited to meet your fleet’s needs?
In fairness to Ford Pro, their E-Switch Assist product only looks at Ford products, identifying when ICE-powered F-150s and Transits can seamlessly be switched out for F-150 Lightning pickups and E-Transit electric vans. I’d also say that, in my experience, ReVolt founder Gus Gardner and Highland Electric CEO Duncan McIntyre are stand-up guys who would probably be the first to tell you if their company’s products aren’t right for you – but that’s easy for me to say when it’s not my millions of dollars and my job security on the line, you know?
That’s why I look at programs like what we have here in Chicago, where both Scooter and I are based, as real standouts. The local utility ComEd, which is mentioned in the Joliet Junior College example from Ford, above, offers an unbiased and complimentary Fleet Electrification Assessment to qualifying commercial customers. That assessment not only helps identify what assets are primed candidates to electrify, but also looks into the customers’ site, helping them understand their charging options and maximize savings with smart metering, intelligent off-peak charging schedules, and a $90 million EV rebate program to help fund their suggestions. (!)
On a national level, companies like ICF have a fifty year track record of providing fleets with the tools and information they need to maximize their fleets’ energy efficiency with solutions that include electrification, better route planning, and right-sizing, while companies like GNA (now part of TRC and hosts of the ACT Expo) have been doing similar work, sourcing billions of dollars in grants for fleets in California.
When it’s all coming together with the right information, product offering, and utility involvement, you see results – which is why Illinois’ EV growth is outpacing the rest of the nation by 4:1. Here’s hoping other states and utilities are paying attention, and start getting this EV thing right, too.
Original content from Electrek.
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U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he gives remarks outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
President Donald Trump is standing in his own way when it comes to passing crypto legislation.
Lawmakers this week rejected the GENIUS Act — a bill meant to establish federal rules for stablecoins — due in part to concerns that President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency ventures have created an unprecedented conflict of interest.
“Currently, people who wish to cultivate influence with the president can enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency he owns or controls,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement to CNBC explaining his opposition to the bill. “This is a profoundly corrupt scheme. It endangers our national security and erodes public trust in government.”
Stablecoins are digital currencies that are pegged to the value of other assets, like the U.S. dollar.
Getting anything passed in Congress is a steep uphill battle for Republicans given their razor-thin majority in the House, filibuster-proof requirement in the Senate, and Democrats’ increasingly unified stance against President Trump’s agenda. But enough Democrats appeared to be on board with a stablecoin law to bring about a rare bipartisan win for the president.
That’s until $TRUMP got in the way.
The president’s meme coin, which he launched just before the inauguration in January, has added billions of dollars of paper worth to his coffers. Its value soared last month after the project ran a promotion offering top $TRUMP holders a dinner with the president and a “VIP White House tour.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called it a “pay-for-play scheme.” First Lady Melania Trump has a coin as well.
The GENIUS bill failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday. It needed 60 votes to move to the Senate floor for final passage. The final tally was 48 in favor and 49 against. Three senators didn’t vote.
Earlier in the week, Senate Democrats unveiled the “End Crypto Corruption Act,” spearheaded by Merkley and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, meant to prohibit elected officials and senior executive branch personnel and their families from issuing or endorsing digital assets.
But the key defections to the stablecoin legislation came last weekend, when a group of nine Senate Democrats — four of whom had previously voted for the bill in committee — said that they wouldn’t support it and called for stronger provisions to address “anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, and national security.”
‘Ongoing self-dealing’
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware was one of the four. She pointed directly at Trump’s financial entanglements.
“I also remain concerned about the ongoing self-dealing and financial conflicts of interest being carried out by the Trump family,” she wrote in a statement on Thursday.
It’s not just about the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins. There’s also the Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial, which was established last year and launched a stablecoin just as the administration pushed for looser regulations on digital assets.
Reports have indicated that Abu Dhabi-based MGX is using Trump’s stablecoin for a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, creating yet another potential conflict of interest for a sitting president.
For some investors and entrepreneurs in the crypto industry, the president’s pursuit of personal profits is creating a major impediment to long-awaited advancements. After years of setbacks during the Biden administration, the crypto lobby became a powerful force in funding Trump’s 2024 campaign and in successfully backing industry-friendly candidates for Congress.
“It’s unfortunate that personal business is getting in the way of good policy,” said Ryan Gilbert, founder of fintech venture fund Launchpad Capital. “I would hope that everybody in the administration, including the president, gets out of the way of good policy.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. At a press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, when asked about the meme coin dinner, that “the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws.”
“The president is a successful businessman, and I think it’s one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office,” Leavitt said.
A number of top Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have joined the parade of critics, targeting President Trump’s personal pursuits. Gillibrand helped introduce the GENIUS Act earlier this year, but she said this week that there are “a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed before the bill could pass the full Senate.”
“I believe it is essential to the future of the U.S. economy and to everyday Americans that we enact strict stablecoin regulations and consumer protections where none currently exist,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “I remain extremely confident and hopeful that very soon we can finish the job.”
Sen. Blumenthal called for an investigation into Trump-linked coins, demanding financial records from World Liberty Financial and slamming the president for “the attempted use of the White House to host competitions to prop up the value of $TRUMP.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, had supported the GENIUS Act but said he couldn’t move forward this week after Republicans declined to provide more time to negotiate.
“Without more time to at least finish the bill, there was no true bipartisan path forward,” he wrote on X.
Launchpad’s Gilbert said the GENIUS Act is just the first piece. More broadly, the president’s conflicts could have an impact on hopes for other legislative achievements and deregulation efforts as well as the reputation of the U.S. crypto industry on the world stage.
“We will be the laughing stocks of the world for this particular reason, and it will hold back continued investment and innovation,” Gilbert said. “There was hope for the past six months that that we could lead in the United States, and that investment should pour into crypto-related businesses, and then it will be simpler and doable again, for all companies to take a lead and to invest in crypto assets.”
However, he said, “if the GENIUS Act doesn’t pass, we’re back to square one.”
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