Forget Jetpacks, Here Come Electric Bikes!

The EZIP Coastline zips around at 15 mph, with a range of 10-15 miles, but what's news is that you can buy it at WalMart.

Alan Durning at Sightline has embarked on a new series on the future of electric bikes, and as the slogan says, you're going to being informed, involved, and inspired. If, like me, you haven't had electric bikes on your radar recently, there's news. His first post, "Juice Hawgs," explored the appeal of an electric bike in the first place.

For some people it's steep hills, but some use them for a power-assist when hauling heavier loads. People whose knees need low-impact bicycling appreciate them, and so do people who want to add extra range to their rides.

Part Two, "Charging Up," gets straight to the sexy, with photos of the bike options. Durning runs down a few trends associated with electric bikes, starting wisely with the trend toward technological improvement: a new Giant electric with lithium ion batteries boasts a 50-mile range! (There's also an awesome emerging electric bike trailer market.) Trend two is that everyone in China is doing it and trend three is a box of steak knives.

Actually, no, trend three is that there's a growing movement toward electric transportation in general. Durning points out that if an electric car is energy efficient in comparison to a gas-powered model, an electric bike beats the pants off both:

Bicycles, even ones loaded with batteries, weigh less than their riders. Electric cars, in contrast, weigh many multiples as much as their drivers.

It's funny: When you ride a bike as your first option, you really get to look forward to the exercise involved. Not only are you getting somewhere, but it's good for you. That said, I know exactly how lazy I am, and if I had to choose at any given moment between an electric scooter and pedaling, the bike would probably lose 70 percent of the time. The new breed of electric bikes offer both a good biking experience as well as a power assist for longer trips.

Now--and I have a feeling this is coming up in Sightline's series--we've just got to make bicycling the roads safer.