Electric bicycles are often described as cleaner than other motorised transport. Several life-cycle and exposure studies are consistent with findings that e-bikes emit pollutants at levels similar to buses, but several times lower than motorcycles and cars.
Most of this research compares vehicles on a per passenger-km basis (emissions per kilometre travelled by one passenger) over their full life-cycle (vehicle production, energy use in operation, and in some cases disposal). A widely cited analysis for the European Cyclists’ Federation estimates average life-cycle carbon emissions of about 21 g CO₂e per passenger-km for a bicycle, 22 g for an electric-assist bicycle, 101 g for a bus and 271 g for a passenger car (Blondel et al., 2011). These figures place e-bikes very close to buses in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre, and far below typical private cars. Similar results are reported in later work on private mobility and in secondary summaries used by cycling and transport organisations (McQueen et al., 2020; PeopleForBikes).
Detailed work in China, where electric two-wheelers are widely used, reaches a similar conclusion for a broader set of pollutants. A comparative study of electric bikes, buses, motorcycles and cars found that electric two-wheelers emit several times lower pollution per kilometre than motorcycles and cars, have emission rates comparable to buses, and higher emission rates than bicycles (Cherry et al., 2009). A related doctoral thesis on electric vehicles in China, which includes e-bikes, reports that electric two-wheelers generally have the lowest overall environmental health impacts per passenger-km among the motorised modes studied, largely because of their high energy efficiency and the spatial separation between power-plant emissions and urban populations (Ji, 2012).
Numerical results depend on assumptions such as average occupancy for buses, the carbon intensity of electricity generation, vehicle lifetimes and typical trip lengths. Newer assessments in European cities and other regions still place e-bikes at the low end of life-cycle emissions, often close to or below public transport on a per passenger-km basis and well below private cars and motorcycles (Montoya-Torres et al., 2023). Across these studies, the overall pattern is consistent: electric bicycles cluster with buses among the lowest-emitting motorised modes and perform substantially better than motorcycles and private cars on most environmental indicators.
References
Blondel, B., Mispelon, C., & Ferguson, J. (2011). Cycle more often 2 cool down the planet: Quantifying CO₂ savings of cycling. European Cyclists’ Federation, Brussels.
Cherry, C. R., Weinert, J. X., & Xinmiao, Y. (2009). Comparative environmental impacts of electric bikes in China. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 14(5), 281–290.
Ji, S. (2012). Electric Vehicles in China: Emissions, Health Impacts, and Equity. PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
McQueen, M., MacArthur, J., & Cherry, C. (2020). The E-Bike Potential: Estimating regional e-bike impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 87, 102482.
Montoya-Torres, J. R., et al. (2023). Measuring life-cycle carbon emissions of private mobility options in urban areas. Sustainable Cities and Society.
PeopleForBikes. (2024). Environmental statistics summarising European Cyclists’ Federation life-cycle emissions for bicycles, e-bikes, buses and cars.
