New electric bike: costly but greener
Print Edition
A new energy-saving electric bicycle was unveiled this month. It runs longer on less power, but it doesn’t come cheap.
Developed by Minhang-based Shanghai Hongliang Electric Bicycle Co, the cycle is called Hongliang Marathon No. 1. It can run for 200 kilometers using only two kilowatt-hours of electricity. That’s four times longer than ordinary electric bicycles, the company said.
The lead batteries commonly used in electric bikes have been replaced with lithium batteries, which are more environmentally friendly.
“Traditional electric bicycles need recharging almost every day, but this bike needs charging only once every five days, and the power cost is less than 10 yuan (US$1.62) a month,” said a spokesman for the company.
Here’s the catch. The bicycle costs between 6,000 yuan and 8,000 yuan, double the price of common electric bicycles. The company said it fears the price will scare off buyers.
“Energy saving is the developing trend in the transport industry,” said the spokesman. “So we wanted to give this a try and see what happens.”
According to the Shanghai Bicycle Industry Association, the city now has some 10 million electric bicycles on the road, and 95 percent of them run on lead batteries. Due to lax monitoring, many of those batteries don’t meet China’s environmental protection standards.
“We have long called for government aid to promote the production and purchase of cleaner-operating electric bicycles,” said Fang Jialiang, director of the association.
The city government, which does have a subsidy program to encourage the purchase of electric cars, has yet to extend incentives to bicycles.
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