According to the electric bike company Lime, e-bikes have helped Londoners save 92 metric tonnes of CO2 since their launch in December 2018 and have been ridden over a million times.
Electric bikes are very similar to regular bikes, except they feature a battery and a motor which helps to aid riders as they pedal.
There are currently thousands of Lime e-bikes across London and according to the company, they are most regularly used by residents for their commute or to connect residents to local public transport services.
The average journey length on a Lime bike is around 2km, but in total the bikes have travelled over 2 million km all across the city.
According to Lime, the bikes have saved a total of 92 metric tonnes of CO2 from avoided car journeys, this is the equivalent to 7,300 flights from London to Madrid.
Florence Milner, general manager for Lime bikes in the UK and Ireland said: ‘We’re delighted to announce that we have reached over one million rides on our e-bikes in London.’
‘Londoners are looking forward to new ways to travel and our emission-free, affordable, accessible and convenient e-bikes are playing a huge part in the green transport revolution.’
‘At Lime, we pride ourselves on sustainability and its great to see the impact that our e-bikes are already having on reducing congestion, carbon emissions and air pollution.’
In July earlier this year, the cycling retailer Halfords predicted that sales of e-bikes could exceed 1.5million in ten cities across the UK by 2050.
Using data from online transactions and Google trends, as well as predictions from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), Halfords said that e-bike sales are already likely to increase by 30% next year.
The retailer said that changes over the next decade, such as a move towards electric vehicles and an increase in dedicated bike lanes and electric bike hire schemes, could see the sale of over 8,000 bikes a year in ten UK cities including Belfast, Manchester, and London.
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