Five great reasons to give an ebike a go in Scotland

With National Bike Week upon us, Frazer Clark, Consumer Transport Advisor at Home Energy Scotland, shares the benefits of taking an ebike for a spin.

It’s amazing for your mental health

When you go cycling you get physical exercise, which releases endorphins and makes you feel so much better. Physical activity has so many wellbeing benefits such as reducing the risk of becoming depressed, helping manage stress and improving sleep. Plus, the physical act of getting on a bike and going somewhere else takes you away from where you are, which is so important right now with many of us working from home or simply spending more time in the house. Your mindset changes when you’re in a new and different environment.

An ebike is easier to cycle

Because ebikes have an electric motor and battery, they don’t require as much physical energy. That means they make it much easier to cycle long distances and up steep hills. A lot of ebike retailers talk about the ‘ebike smile’ which is when someone goes on an ebike for the very first time and finds themselves being propelled uphill when previously they might have struggled to cycle up it. It puts a smile on everyone’s face!

They’re great for the environment

One key aim of Home Energy Scotland is to help people cut their carbon footprint, and a simple way to do this is by reducing the use of your car. Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone is set to extend to all vehicles next year, with the aim to improve air quality by restricting the most polluting vehicles from entering the zone penalty free. We’re encouraging the use of ebikes because they are a great alternative to driving – you get the benefit of physical exercise as well as the advantage of being able to travel from A to B easily and quickly.

They’re cost efficient

Cutting back on driving doesn’t just benefit the environment – it’s good for your bank balance, too. There are so many associated costs with driving, not only for the vehicle itself but its maintenance, tax, insurance and of course fuel, which can be very expensive. Travelling 100 miles in a conventionally fuelled car costs on average 15 pounds, whereas an ebike can cost between 5p and 10p for a full charge. That can get you between 25 miles and 100 miles of assistance depending on the type of bike you buy. The cost savings add up!

You can try an ebike before you buy

At Home Energy Scotland we can help by advising you on the different programmes available in Scotland that can allow you to try an ebike and, depending on availability, even booking you in for a trial with us. This allows you to experience cycling on an ebike before you make the purchase. There’s also help available if you would like to buy one, in the form of an interest-free ebike loan. Energy Saving Trust can loan up to £3,000 interest-free over the course of four years which makes the payments really manageable. The loan also covers cargo and adapted cycle options with a higher cap per application.

To find out your eligibility for an ebike, just call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 or contact us here to find out more.