How An Electric Bike Could Cut Your Gas Bill

I don't know how much gasoline is in your area, but it is just over $3 a gallon in ours. According to a relative who pumps gas for a living, it is expected to go much higher than that before the end of the summer.

Unfortunately, most of us can't just raise our salary every few days the way the gas stations do their prices so, in lots of families, something has to give.

In our family, the electric bike we have is one of the partial solutions we have found to the bites higher prices on everything is taking out of our income. We have a pickup and a 5^th wheel motor home which we only use for a couple of weeks during the summer, but, at only 10 or 12 miles to the gallon when we are pulling the camper, you can see why we don't go more than we do.

The electric bike has been a real help in paring down the gas bill for us. When we do camp, the bike is handy for quick trips to the store, a couple of miles down the road from our campsite to pick up a loaf of bread or some other item we may have forgotten to pack.

It is also great for sailing along on the bike path around the lake for on early morning rides to see magnificent scenery we don't experience so often at home. If we get bored with the easy ride, we can always pedal for a while to make sure we get some exercise just in case we decide to have calorie-laden s'mores for lunch. Then back to the campsite to plug the bike into our onboard battery for a quick recharge.

Well, maybe not too quick. It actually takes several hours to recharge if we have run it very long, but since we use a $30 solar panel to keep our on-board battery charged, our recharges seem almost free.

If we lived in a warmer climate, I think we would make much greater use of the electric bike at home. Living in Oregon, we have a lot of rainy days so at home, we use the bike less often, but it is still nice on a sunny day to whiz down to the corner store for a few items on the electric bike, rather than using high priced gasoline for the task.

This year, we are thinking of adding a second bike---one just for me---so my husband and I don't have to take turns with his. Believe me, I have been studying the subject carefully, and have a nice red beauty all picked out.

If you've been hit in the pocketbook by climbing gas prices, take a look at the rechargeable electric bike market. It isn't the total solution, but it can be an enjoyable partial answer for your family.