Western Europe and Northern Europe are the first countries to enter the era of bicycle wheels, and they are also the areas with the best maintenance and development of bicycle riding. That is to say, when people have cars, we are in the era of great development of bicycles. However, when we have private cars, people also vigorously promote cycling. The starting point is that it is powerful for environmental protection and health, and leisure is the same. When traveling in Holland, I once asked the local guide, "which one is more popular with local people, E-bike or traditional bike?" The director answered me without hesitation that the local people would never make such a comparison. There is no comparability between the two, because their uses and functions are different. For example, traditional bicycles can strengthen the body, but electric bicycles can't. Therefore, the electric bicycle can only be compared with the motorcycle, which has more advantages than the motorcycle. The most important one is that it does not pollute the air.

When traveling in Western Europe and Northern Europe, cars run on the motorway and traditional bicycles run on the bicycle lane. Careful observation shows that there are not many electric bicycles. The motorcycle era seems to be out of date. In the highway service area, most of them are professional motorcycle racing riders, riding high-grade motorcycles. Because Europeans either drive or ride bicycles when they go to work or do business, they are two common means of transportation. As for the domestic media reports that China's electric bicycles are exported to Europe in large quantities, it is also a fact. That is because the quantity of electric bicycles produced by others is small. Just like Switzerland, which can produce high-grade watches, it does not produce simple alarm clocks. Moreover, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and other big countries, the traditional bicycle can reach one person, while the electric bicycle can not reach one per household.

However, novel coronavirus pneumonia has increased the demand for electric bicycles in Europe, according to foreign media reports. This is because people are afraid to take public transport, and for safety and distance between commuters and commuters, they are not driving private cars or riding electric bicycles. However, only relatively speaking, after all, every family has a motor vehicle. If you drive a little farther away, you can walk or ride a traditional bicycle when you go shopping in a supermarket nearby.

Europeans generally believe that riding an electric bicycle has a lot of shame and is regarded as cheating on a bicycle. Electric bicycles can only be called green motorcycles, not bicycles. This kind of explanation is reasonable, both literal and practical.

A group of data from China bicycle association can best illustrate the problem. In 2019, China exported 52.51 million bicycles, a year-on-year decrease of 11.4%; the export volume was 2.85 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 12.4%; the average export unit price was 54.2 US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%. The export of electric bicycles reached 14.0643 million units, an increase of 0.19% over the same period of 2018; the export amount was 2.894 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year increase of 0.15%. Overall, the demand for electric bicycles in the international market is still rising. However, in 2019, China's top ten countries in terms of export value accounted for 59.21% of the total export value, of which the United States accounted for 24.29%, ranking first. However, the Netherlands ranked second only accounted for 9.08%, Germany ranked third accounted for 5.90%, and France ranked fourth accounted for 3.99%. From this group of data, it is not difficult to see that China's largest export of electric bicycles is the United States, not a European country. Moreover, the term "electric bicycle" is not appropriate. Since it is electric, it can no longer be called "bicycle". The scientific name should be "electric two wheeled vehicle".

The advantage of E-bike is that it reduces obstacles such as hills and long distance. The inconvenience is that European countries have traditional bicycle lanes instead of electric bicycle lanes. If you drive an electric bicycle in a traditional bicycle lane, its speed is faster than that of a traditional bicycle, but the lane is narrow and it is not easy to overtake (bicycle lanes are basically single lanes). If the electric bicycle is driving in the motorway, the speed is slow, which affects the normal driving of the motor vehicle, which is very unsafe. And for the traffic management department, the traffic regulations also need to be adjusted.

Local people in Europe said, "if I were allowed to choose, I would also choose traditional bicycles. Traditional bicycles are both fitness and walking, while electric bicycles have no soul.". For a long time, electric bicycle is a very difficult existence in Europe. People don't understand why bicycles should be electric? In Western Europe, where more than 80% of the families have cars, the function of bicycles is always the first in fitness, and the second is in walking.

As a result, e-bikes have been a niche product in Europe for the past few years. It is also an opportunity that electric bicycles will not be brought to the front stage until 2020 when the epidemic situation is widespread in all parts of the world. It is just as the epidemic has ignited the mask industry, and it is a truth that it can not be stopped. During the epidemic period, it is not safe to travel by bus, which is also understood by Europeans. Some Europeans can not accept the forced wearing of masks. Therefore, most European countries are even more enthusiastic about bicycles. In some streets, there was no bicycle lane, so the government had to build another one for bicycles on the already narrow road, which made it more difficult for private cars to travel. Electric bicycles have to be crowded on this road, which brings many unsafe factors to the traditional bicycle travel, which is one of the reasons why some people don't like electric bicycles. But the government still supports people riding electric bicycles, which are more environmentally friendly than motorcycles.

In general, electric bicycles can not be compared with traditional bicycles, only with motorcycles

Can only compare with motorcycle which is better. Some people compare it from a practical economic point of view. Motorcycles need to get a license plate, take a driver's license test, burn oil, and the cost is high. A good car's life span is only about 10 years. And electric bicycle is no license plate, driver's license, electricity is cheap, speed is slower than motorcycle, relatively speaking, also safe, so, electric bicycle has many advantages. Unfortunately, the life of the battery is not long. Generally, the battery needs to be replaced after one and a half years. It is also necessary to prevent the battery from catching fire when charging. This is the disadvantage of electric bicycle. As a result, most Europeans prefer traditional bicycles. In this way, it is not surprising that the "bicycle craze" in Europe.

Source: China Environment News