In Vancouver, BC, Canada, the team at Shocke Bikes conducted an experiment to examine the efficacy of commuting to work using an electric bike as compared to a car. You may be surprised to see how it all turned out! What initially started out as a challenge between two co-workers ended up as quite a telling tale.
Given the importance of proper documentation, both parties were strapped with synced cameras, allowing the creation of a timed split-screen video comparison. The two parties began their commute at a McDonald’s fast food restaurant near the intersection of No. 3 Road and Granville Road in Richmond, BC. The final destination was Oakridge Mall on the intersection of Cambie Street and 41st Avenue in Vancouver, BC.
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A checkpoint was devised at River Rock Casino on River Road in Richmond, BC. The point of this checkpoint was to determine how the two vehicles fared in a head to head comparison to a Translink Sky Train station that many commuters often utilize to travel to Vancouver. From this checkpoint, both vehicles took their respective routes to the final destination at Oakridge Mall in Vancouver.
The distance traveled was approximately 12 km for the car and 9 km for the electric bike.
It is also important to recognize the restrictions governing this head to head comparison:
- Both car and bike must obey all their respective transportation rules and regulations
- The routes that both these vehicles took were as similar as possible, in order to increase the validity of the experiment
- The time stopped when each party met at the final destination on foot, meaning that the comparison factored the time spent parking the car and locking the bike.
Here’s a video that shows the experiences of the cyclist and the motorist in this race.
Lo and behold, the electric bike beat the car to both the checkpoint and the final destination. The electric bike arrived at the checkpoint in 9 minutes and 1 seconds, beating the car by approximately 3 minutes.
Indeed, Translink’s “Cycling For Everyone” report states that bikes are faster than cars for trips under 5 km. What was more surprising however was the difference in time to the final destination: It took the electric bike an overall 24 min and 22 seconds to arrive to Oakridge mall, compared to the car’s time of 33 min and 35 seconds.
The Cambie Street uphill climb did not appear to be a deterrent to the bike rider as he utilized the pedal assist functions of the electric bike.
Disclaimer: This is a Press Release from Shocke Bikes. The experiment was done in the spirit of “Bike to Work” week and is in no way intended to promote any products nor methods of transportation in general, though Shocke Bikes highly encourages cycling. It was meant to display a fair head to head comparison between two methods of transport to a popular destination. Above all, it was meant to be a fun experiment with no intention to offend anyone.
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