Since 2005, the federal government has offered buyer tax credits of up to $7,500
for hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles. That makes sense: if you want to use economic nudges to address climate change, you should focus first on the most popular behaviors, like driving. It’s been an impressive success. Just 17,763 plug-in EVs were sold in 2011 nationwide. In 2018, as further federal incentives for both buyers and carmakers drew more manufacturers into the market, EV
sales zoomed to over 360,000.
But up to now, we’ve largely ignored one of the most powerful tools for shifting away from internal combustion engines: the e-bike. After all, the best way to lower emissions from personal travel is to get people out of cars altogether. And bikes are arguably the most energy-efficient form of transportation we’ve ever devised: 25 times better than a car.