How To Choose The Right Ebike For Families
The costs of driving are spiraling out of control. The environment is being severely damaged by regular transport, and we all need to be more active to improve our physical and mental health. This is where opting for cycling over driving has its benefits. However, all these things are easily forgotten when you're late for an appointment and trying to deal with screaming, uncooperative kids, and you just want to jump in the car and go.
With this in mind, you may not have considered how an electric bike can be used as a family vehicle. But there are electric bikes that improve your quality of life. They provide the necessary exercise, offer versatility for running errands, and are even suitable for the school run, all while saving money.
Let's go into the details of families using electric bikes. We will talk about the electric bikes that will suit your needs, go through some benefits, and discuss the practicalities of using them.
Why Ebikes Are The Most Economical And Practical Travel Tool For Families
Electric bikes are more practical than you may realize. But this is down to the type of bike ride and how you use it. They are also cheap ways of getting around, even for families.
Electric Bikes Can Save Families Money
Electric bikes are now becoming more affordable thanks to the economies of scale and technological improvements. This means you can have a cheap electric bike with refined and practical characteristics that make them very user-friendly.
The costs associated with purchasing, insuring, maintaining, and fueling the car are much higher than using an electric bike. Even if you only use your electric bike to replace some car journeys, you will notice a reduction in your monthly outgoings.
Electric Bikes Are Incredibly Practical
There are electric bikes that suit all sorts of people and their situations. The level of practicality you get from it depends on which bike you buy. We will go into some details shortly, but the main benefits of riding Electric bikes include load-carrying capacity (including people), faster commuting, easy storage, and easy pedaling.
How Many Ebikes Can A Family Own?
When it comes to owning electric bikes, you can have one for every family member as long as they can ride a bike. However, you may not need to do this. For example, an electric cargo bike has a high level of practicality for small families; a great example of this is the electric cargo bike.
Some electric cargo bikes can be fitted with a child seat allowing you to quickly and safely take a child to school without needing to use your car. These electric cargo bikes are also suitable for running errands. Thanks to their extra load-carrying capabilities, especially if you choose one with a more powerful motor. Therefore, you may be able to get away with just owning one or two electric cargo bikes for transporting your family and going shopping.
If you have an older family, you can ride electric bikes together. Even if you had an electric bike for every family member, the cost would still be significantly lower than if you drove everywhere. And on top of this, your family would have a much more active lifestyle, benefiting their physical and mental health.
However, you need to be aware of your local laws and regulations regarding the use of electric bikes. This is because some areas don't allow kids to ride Class 2 and 3 electric bikes, while others don't let anyone under the age of 16 ride electric bikes at all.
How Does A Family Choose The Right Ebike?
As we've already mentioned, there are many different types of electric bikes to choose from. Therefore if you are new to the electric bike world it can be tricky to choose the best one for your family. Let's look at the considerations for choosing an electric bike suitable for family life.
Think About Your Regular Journeys
One of the most critical aspects of choosing an electric bike is the kind of terrain it is suitable for. With this in mind, it is best to think about the types of journeys you plan on making with your electric bike.
If you spend most of your time riding on smooth surfaces, you don't need anything too robust. However, if your journey consists of different surfaces, such as dirt tracks, cobbled streets, and poor-quality roads, you may need an electric bike with features that make your trip much more comfortable.
Features that improve comfort include suspension components, fat tires, and plush seats. All of these things reduce vibrations and shock that translate from the road into your body, creating a much more pleasurable riding experience.
What Safety Features Does It Have?
When transporting family members with an electric bike, you want to be as safe as possible. When you are carrying extra weight, you must have good stopping power. Therefore it is best to buy an electric bike with powerful disc brakes. It is much better to choose an electric bike with hydraulic disc brakes as they are the most powerful, but they also make it easy to control your bike as the brakes are easy to modulate. In addition to this, they work well in wet weather.
Your electric bike should also have bright lights that keep you visible to other road users in lowlight conditions. You may even find an electric bike with built-in indicators, further improving your safety when riding in the city.
Some electric bikes have fat tires fitted to their wheels. These improve your right quality, but they also provide lots of grip in different weather conditions giving you extra confidence. Therefore, you stand less chance of the front wheel washing out in wet weather.
Look At How Much It Can Carry
If you are thinking of using an electric bike to replace car journeys as a family vehicle, you need to consider how much it can carry. One of the best electric bikes for families is the electric cargo bike.
Electric cargo bikes come in a variety of configurations, but the most common has storage racks and the ability to fit an additional seat, allowing you to transport family members and//or shopping safely.
Consider The Electric Bike's Motor
Electric bikes usually have two motor configurations, mid-drive or hub-mounted. A mid-drive electric bike has its motor between the cranks, while a hub-mounted electric bike has its motor concealed within the rear wheel hub.
Electric cargo bikes with hub-mounted motors work best in areas with lots of flat roads and suit people who need to ride long distances. However, electric bikes with mid-drive motors are more efficient and powerful. This is because the motor position gives the bike more torque while improving balance, both of which make the bike easier to ride.
Generally, electric cargo bikes have motors that range from 250 W to 750 W. The more power the electric bike has, the easier it will be to climb hills and carry heavy loads. However, electric bikes with powerful mid-mounted motors are generally more expensive.
Check Out The Battery Capacity
A significant factor in how far an electric bike can travel with assistance is the size of its battery, which is indicated in Watt-Hours (Wh). The number of Watt-hours a battery is rated at indicates the number of hours it can produce one Watt of electricity. Most electric cargo bikes have batteries with between 500 and 700 Wh. Many factors make a difference in how far you can ride. Still, the larger your battery capacity, the longer your range will be.
What Accessories Does It Have?
An electric cargo bike is designed as an alternative to a car. Therefore, they often come with many features that make them more versatile and attractive to families.
These accessories can include additional cargo racks, baskets, lights, fenders, extra seats, panniers, and many other things that make them more user-friendly.
Even if these accessories are not available from the manufacturer, there are many aftermarket options and modifications that can increase the usefulness of electric cargo bikes.
Value For Money
As we've already said, electric bikes can be costly; however, if you are smart, you can find relatively inexpensive ones. For example, with some research, you can get excellent value for money by buying two or more expensive electric bikes for the price of one expensive one. Doing this will mean you have more value for money and usability for moving your family around.
Final thoughts
As we have illustrated, one or more electric bikes are an economical and practical way of replacing your car as a family vehicle. It may not suit every situation, but with some thought, you may find that riding the correct electric bike could be the best solution for local travel.
The most practical electric bike for families is the cargo bike. Why not check out the Fiido T1 to see if it suits your needs?