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Transform your local journeys with an e-bike

Here's how to cut your emissions and embrace the joy of travel on two wheels, with a bit of an extra boost...

We'd all like to lower our carbon emissions, but sometimes you need to get from A to B more quickly and easily than via foot or public transport.

Enter: the e-bike.

Here's how to make one work for you...

Transform daily trips with an e-bike

Designed to make everyday cycling a breeze, these upgraded bicycles are fitted with a battery-powered motor to give you more power in your pedals. Think of it like a hand on your back giving you a gentle push!

While we're never going to replace longer car rides or big shopping trips with a bike, there are many practical ways you can incorporate one into your daily life.

Since 71% of our journeys are less than 5 miles, this means that most of our day-to-day car journeys could be achieved by less than 30 minutes on an electric bike - think trips to the local shop, visiting nearby friends, gym sessions and coffee runs. When you consider every time you hop in the car, there are usually a few great opportunities to opt for a bike instead.

As well as emitting health-harming pollution and climate-changing carbon, short journeys are bad for your car, too. With the engine having less time to warm up, it'll be running inefficiently, burning more fuel and pumping out more fumes.

Since e-bikes make hills and longer trips a much more achievable feat, you could be cutting your emissions, skipping the traffic jams, saving money on petrol and getting a light workout in too!

You can read how Katharine switched her daily journeys for an e-bike here.

Spin your wheels on the way to work

Beginning your working day by sitting in traffic is never the best start to the day. If your workplace is withing cycling distance, riding an e-bike to work could cut your petrol costs, and transform your commute into one that actually benefits your physical and mental health.

Halfords' brilliant 'cyculator' tool shows you how much money you could save on petrol if you biked to work, as well as roughly how long your new commute could take.

Great news for employers: e-bikes are now included under the government's Cycle to Work Scheme, meaning that your employees could purchase e-bikes via salary sacrifice with up to a 48% saving, making an e-bike much more affordable. You can even buy clever folding electric bikes, ideal if you're tight on storage space at home or at work.

The scheme also details how employers can offer loans to employees, as well as offering bike sharing schemes, making active travel that much easier for everyone.

With more than 1.6 million people now cycling to work under the scheme, it's well worth investigating!

Read how Leah makes cycling part of her everyday life, as she travels Bristol on two wheels, here.

Transform your local journeys with an e-bike

Here's how to cut your emissions and embrace the joy of travel on two wheels, with a bit of an extra boost...

Transform daily trips with an e-bike

Spin your wheels on the way to work

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