Why e-bikes beat traffic in 9 out of 10 city trips

Over the summer we followed 120,000 anonymised trips in Lisbon, Lyon, Utrecht and Valencia. For each one, we compared the e-bike ride with the same journey by car at the same time of day, counting parking and the walk at each end.

Door to door is what matters

Cars won on open roads. But inside the ring roads, finding a space and walking to the door added eight minutes on average, enough to hand the win to the bike on 91% of trips under 7 km.

“The fastest car in town is still waiting at the same red light as everyone else.”

What this means for you

• Trips under 5 km: the e-bike wins almost every time.
• 5–10 km: it's a draw at rush hour, and the bike is cheaper.
• Over 10 km: combine an e-bike with the train for the best of both.

We'll publish the full dataset for city planners next month. If your city wants it early, get in touch.