Bike vs Car
January 11, 2008
I got my car serviced today. Adam and I share a 1999 Ford Laser called Princess Sparkle. It was the 200,000km service and it’s costing me $730. $730!!! I couldn’t believe it when the mechanic told me. And then when I said goodbye I told him that I was walking home (with Kaidin and Pepper) and he looked at me like I was crazy. I’m about to walk down to pick her up, but like all mechanics, when the man called me he said that there were several things ‘wrong’ that he just went ahead and fixed for me, so it will probably end up costing closer to a grand.
It got me thinking about how much I really need a car anyway. The only real reason I got a car when my old one died was to get to uni and to work. Now I’m working at the forum, which is a half hour walk away and we live about 500m from the new train station which goes close to my uni. The other reason I needed a car was that Kaidin attends after school care across town. It’s only a 7 minute drive, but it’s a little too far for little legs to walk and I have no way of getting his bike there everyday (well I could wheel it to him, but walking there with a small child’s bike and a hyperactive puppy is just not something I’m willing to do).
So while I’ll keep the car for picking up Kaidin (Adam also uses it for work), I’m thinking about buying a bike. My Dad bought me one for Christmas in 2006, but I stopped using it the next summer and when I moved into this house, I discovered it had been stolen from my back garage. One of the many, many items stolen from my last house.
I read in G magazine while I was waiting for the doctors about electric bikes – ones that you still pedal, but you don’t have to put as much effort into it as a regular push bike. This spiffy one retails at just over $2000 (or the same amount two car service will cost us). I like the Cruiser Nomad at $1299. According to G’s article electric bikes are the way to go – much more energy efficient, you can choose your level of workout (the article included pictures of a man who commuted to work via electric bicycle wearing a suit without breaking a sweat, or you can simply pedal as you would a normal bike and conserve the batteries) and they take a lot less materials to build and need fewer ‘extra’s’ – no $1000 service fee for an electric bike.
According to this site, “for a 250 miles/month average commute, an electric assisted vehicle is 100 times more cost efficient and emits only 3% of the CO2 of a car.” Which is some pretty good stats Ativ Solutions makes the Crystal Cannon Conversion Kit to transform existing bikes into electric ones. At US$695, this option would cost here about the same as buying a new electric bike. The equivalent in Australia of the Currie motor in the picture above retails at between $1100 and $1600 from Electric Vehicles Pty Ltd, again, much the cost of a whole bike. I’m guessing the conversion kits are more for people who want to convert their $3000+ already owned bikes.
I think it’s really an option I’d keep in mind. Adam and I talk often about buying another car as it’s quite impractical for me to drive him to work at 6pm and pick him up at 6am and my other option is to not have any transport for this time period. It’s also just annoying – I am so used to having my own vehicle that I get frustrated if he takes the car and is not back at the prearranged time. Instead of another car however, I would be content if I had an electric bike to use when he needed the car (shopping and errands etc.) and I just used the car to pick up Kaidin from afterschool care. This would not only cut our emissions, but also fuel costs and seeing as petrol is edging up to the $1.50/L mark where I live, it’ll make a big difference to our weekly budget if I can cut 60% of petrol consumption.
