Inflation and rising petrol and gas costs also make our journeys more expensive. Electric two-wheelers can be a cheap and low-energy alternative to the car. Is the boom for micro electric vehicles coming now? Experts calculate for whom the switch is worthwhile.
If you want to save energy costs in the next few months, you probably think primarily of heating. According to the Federal Statistical Office, German households spend 233 euros a month on cars and 33 euros on buses, trains and taxis. In view of rising prices, spending this year is likely to be even higher. There is enormous potential for savings here, some of which the Germans are already exploiting.
In a survey by the digital association Bitkom, 41 percent of those surveyed stated that they were changing their mobility behavior due to the increase in petrol prices – i.e. giving up their usual means of transport or changing them. Other reasons for a change in behavior were the climate crisis and the corona virus. Among the winners of this turnaround in mobility are own bicycles (39 percent more frequent use) and sharing offers for bicycles, mopeds and e-scooters (14 percent more frequent use).
In recent years, the sales figures for electrically operated bicycles and scooters – so-called micro vehicles – have increased significantly. Pedelecs, in which a small motor supports the ride as soon as the cyclist pedals, are well known. E-bikes, on the other hand, drive at the touch of a button.
In view of rising petrol costs, the question now arises as to how much money can be saved with electric two-wheelers and whether they represent a realistic alternative to the car. According to the energy expert Markus Emmert from the Federal Association of eMobility, the travel costs for small electric vehicles are initially significantly cheaper than for a car. “Pedelecs and e-bikes consume around one to four kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers – i.e. 40 cents to 1.75 euros. E-cars consume six times as much energy over the same distance – that’s around 3 to 9 euros. It’s the same for combustion vehicles 9 to 18 euros per 100 kilometers at current fuel prices,” he told ntv.de.
Good reasons to switch at first glance. The catch, however, is that politicians would also have to rebuild the roads accordingly, according to Emmert. More separate lanes for e-bikes and e-scooters to ride on are needed both in the city and in the country. In addition, the electric two-wheelers should be able to be sensibly combined with buses and trains.
Andreas Knie from the Berlin Social Science Center conducts research on the subject of mobility. Among other things, he investigates the extent to which current crises are affecting how people move around. “The current increases in prices are still too recent for us to have reliable, up-to-date data on them,” he says, dampening high expectations. However, he concedes that people are aware of when things get particularly expensive for them in one area or another. They would then look for alternatives.
According to Knie, more car journeys could be saved than people generally think. “The rumor persists that people drive longer distances in the country. That’s not true. Whether in the country or in the city: 90 percent of the distances traveled by car every day are less than 10 kilometers, most of them 5 Kilometer long.”
According to the mobility researcher, studies would show that people from all walks of life are increasingly critical of combustion engines. However, it is more people with middle and higher incomes who also implement the switch to electric vehicles. “I’ll put it quite brutally: Electromobility is still something for the better educated and for those with higher incomes. The energy crisis hasn’t changed that,” says Knie.
In theory, sharing offers make electric vehicles accessible to a broad mass of people. For example, people can rent electric two-wheelers by the minute. So you don’t have to pay a high purchase price as with private use. According to Knie, the energy crisis could lead to people using alternatives to cars in the short term in the sharing sector. “We can literally measure it with our eyes: The e-scooters and pedelecs are at the public transport stations,” says the mobility researcher. “Here business models and usage concepts are needed to bridge the so-called last mile between the destination and a stop.”
Emmert sees the greatest potential in the combination of private and shared vehicles. “As citizens, we have different roles – sometimes we need something big for shopping or for the family, sometimes something smaller when we’re traveling alone.” When choosing a vehicle, however, most would decide according to the so-called maximum principle. “I then buy the largest possible, even if in most cases I don’t really need it. Then we quickly get to the SUV, which is expensive and inefficient.” That’s why it’s worth taking a closer look at the next investment, says the energy expert.
Emmert recommends that you consider your own circumstances when making the switch. “Putting things under the Christmas tree only makes sense if they really have a use. If I’m not using it as an alternative to other vehicles like the car, it’s just an additional resource and an expense”.
Above all, realism is appropriate. “Precisely the pedelec and the e-scooter are not the classic form of transport for the winter. You have to use a piece of truth as a basis.” With a purchase price of several thousand euros, the electric two-wheelers are therefore not suitable as a short-term savings measure. In the long term, on the other hand, you can save even more on energy expenditure. And the move could benefit everyone. “Especially at the level of society as a whole, the savings potential would be gigantic.”
