What’s fascinating for me is that Copenhagen is arguably the most bike-friendly city in Europe, and probably in the world - and very few people use e-bikes there! Why is this? Can somebody who lives there explain why?
Copenhagener here. People do use eBikes in Copenhagen, but I guess it depends on what you consider “very few”. My guesstimate would be that around one in five bikes is electric. As to why not more bikes are electric, Copenhagen - and Denmark in general - is very flat, so eBikes are more so used for:
long distances (say, people who live ~20 km from work but still want to bike there)
cargo/passenger bikes
letting people bike who otherwise wouldn’t physically be able to
I live in Copenhagen. We have plenty. They’re relatively expensive though, so obviously most bikes are not (yet) ebikes. We are also experiencing a bike theft epidemic, which discourages people from buying expensive bikes. Another factor is the country is flat as a pancake and the weather is rarely hot. It’s much easier to get to work without working up a sweat on a regular bike. In fact, people often relish the ability to get some exercise in the morning and evening. Lastly, Copenhagen isn’t very big. We don’t have the same crazy distances seen in American cities.
What’s fascinating for me is that Copenhagen is arguably the most bike-friendly city in Europe, and probably in the world - and very few people use e-bikes there! Why is this? Can somebody who lives there explain why?
Copenhagener here. People do use eBikes in Copenhagen, but I guess it depends on what you consider “very few”. My guesstimate would be that around one in five bikes is electric. As to why not more bikes are electric, Copenhagen - and Denmark in general - is very flat, so eBikes are more so used for:
I live in Copenhagen. We have plenty. They’re relatively expensive though, so obviously most bikes are not (yet) ebikes. We are also experiencing a bike theft epidemic, which discourages people from buying expensive bikes. Another factor is the country is flat as a pancake and the weather is rarely hot. It’s much easier to get to work without working up a sweat on a regular bike. In fact, people often relish the ability to get some exercise in the morning and evening. Lastly, Copenhagen isn’t very big. We don’t have the same crazy distances seen in American cities.
You can get a well-working used bike for very cheap. New e-bikes tend to be pricey, used e bikes are often still pricey or come with caveats.
Caveats such as “they’ll get stolen and require more money to replace”
Amsterdam would like a word.
In many surveys on bike usage and bike friendlyness, Amsterdam is a strong second after Copenhagen.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/09/19/cycling-in-europe-which-countries-and-cities-are-the-most-and-least-bicycle-friendly