Advantages of going car-free

With gas prices at an all-time high, the first advantage to going car-free doesn't need much of an explanation, but what are some other considerations when choosing an (e-)bike over a car?

Cost-savings

The rising gas-prices might be a clear and immediate reason to start looking for alternative modes of transport for your daily commute, your groceries or hobbies. But the long-term cost-savings can also be significant. Owning and running a car costs the average person around €9,000 a year: fuel, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, all the little things that quietly add up. An e-bike costs around €250 a year to run (tune-ups, brake pads, tires). That also includes the 'fuel' cost of running an e-bike which comes down to just €10-30 a year. That's a saving of roughly €8,750 every single year, just by making the switch.

(Mental) health benefits

Apart from the obvious physical health benefits, there's an unexpected bonus to ditching the car: you don't just save money, you save your sanity. Every ride is thirty minutes where nobody can reach you, no notifications, no to-do lists, just your legs turning and the road ahead. I hadn't realised how much noise was living in my head until the bike started clearing it out. It's not meditation, it's not therapy: it's just movement, fresh air, and the slow realisation that you've arrived somewhere feeling better than when you left. My mental health has improved more since switching to the bike than from almost anything else I've tried. That's not a small thing.

More Freedom

As cyclists like to say: "If it's got pedals, nobody meddles", and it holds true in a lot of cases: cyclists are exempt from road tax and legal insurances, and where the design of a car-trailer needs to follow strict regulations, a bicycle trailer only needs adequate reflectors on the sides and back. You are technically not even wild-camping if you park your bike-trailer somewhere in the woods and happen to sleep in it.