200 Watt bicycle engines are often considered to be a poor environmental choice when, in fact, the opposite is true.

Electric powered bikes and cars are often though to be environmentally friendly.  In some cases, electric vehicles are less harmful to the environment than the equivalent petrol powered vehicle, however, our 200 Watt petrol motor proves to be more environmentally friendly when compared with a 200 Watt electric engine.

Electric bikes seem to be clean, and indeed they do not put hydrocarbons directly into the atmosphere.  When you think about how electricity is produced and  “clean” energy is far from what it appears. 

Keep in mind that 73% of electricity in Australia is produced from coal fired power plants. Although you do not see the pollution, the issue is simply shifted out of site.

Electricity is also massive inefficient. Energy is lost as coal is burned to heat the water needed to power electricity producing turbines. Turbines have mechanical losses before producing electricity. Electricity losses power to resistance and capacitance in the wires used to transport it over “the grid” before a portion of the coal energy is provided at the plug socket.

This is not the end of the issue though.  You then charge you battery by plugging in a transformer (more losses) which charges your battery.  The battery itself produces the biggest loss – The power that you get out of the battery is far less than the power that’s put in….

And then, there is the mechanical and electrical losses of the bicycle motor itself.

Petrol engines, by contrast, are highly efficient as they burn energy closer to the power output.  There is only the mechanical loss of the engine and bike and the chemical loss of the combustion.