E-Bikes May Be More Sustainable Than Regular Bikes, But How?
Written by: Rémy Rossi | August 8, 2025 | Time to read 4 min
Think traditional bikes are always the greener choice? I was shocked to find out that e-Bikes may actually win when it comes to carbon emissions.
More about the Author: Remy Rossi
Rémy Rossi is a bike writer, mechanic, and educator who got his start in community-based bike shops and co-ops. With a decade in the industry, he still wrenches on bikes when he can and plays bike polo on a fixie.
But how can this be? E-Bikes are more energy-intensive to manufacture because of the battery and motor, and require electricity to run. The secret lies in just how efficient e-Bike motors are, compared to the human body, which fully powers a traditional bike. Here’s a look at the data behind this shocking finding.
Oh, and you probably don’t need reminding— but all forms of cycling are sooo much better than driving, always.
The key finding
“Electric bikes have an even lower carbon footprint than conventional bikes because fewer calories are burned per kilometre, despite the emissions from battery manufacturing and electricity use.”
For a much more detailed analysis and rundown of all the numbers, please read Stott’s well-researched longform piece. In this article, I’ve condensed his calculations and focus mainly on the carbon footprint of e-Bikes vs. standard bicycles.
Emissions from using a bike
Emissions from the initial production of a bike or e-Bike
Electric bikes, however, produce more emissions in the production stage due to the lithium-ion battery and motor. The ECF says electric bikes emit 134 kg of CO2e, while Trek puts the number closer to 165 kg of CO2e.
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Food-based emissions from cycling
Human power is what turns the pedals on a traditional bicycle, and that energy comes from the food we eat. You can think of that food and calories as the fuel required to use a bike. The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) conducted a study quantifying the CO2 savings from cycling, and found that cyclists burn an additional 11 calories per kilometer compared to if they weren’t cycling (our bodies are constantly burning calories, even when we’re inactive). Those calories come from food, which requires energy to produce— data from the ECF estimated emissions of about 1.44g CO2e per calorie.
Riding an e-Bike, however, requires less human power and burns fewer calories. The ECF study reports that cycling with pedal-assist, on average, burns just 4.4 calories rather than 11 calories under your own pedal power. Making the calculations, the food-based emissions from a non-motorized bike are 16g CO2e per kilometer, while the emissions from an e-Bike are just 6.3g CO2e per kilometer from food production.
There are caveats to these calculations, though. Seb Stott recognizes that his rough analysis may overestimate cycling’s food-based emissions, or at least have limitations. For example, not every calorie burned is a calorie eaten (active people may have a calorie deficit), and the analysis assumes that cyclists don’t eat differently from other people, though different foods have different environmental impacts. Also, there’s the possibility that cyclists may participate in more polluting activities, such as doing more laundry or taking more showers— these are just examples, but contribute to what environmentalists call the rebound effect.
Total emissions of riding a bike
Now, let’s put all these numbers together.
How can e-Bikes produce fewer emissions?
The secret to sustainability for electric bikes stems from their amazing efficiency as machines. E-Bike motors are extremely good at converting electric energy into physical work to move you on the bike, all without losing much of it to heat or other undesired functions. E-Bike motors can achieve efficiency levels of 80% or more, while the human body typically operates at around just 20-30% efficiency.
And considering that around three-fourths of the total emissions from standard bikes come from food production, reducing that need for human power (and calories burned) can significantly reduce total emissions. Instead of wasting energy via unused calories, e-Bikes leak less energy due to high efficiency. The analysis found that riding an electric bike is so efficient, it’s even greener than walking! All this data about burned calories sure is food for thought…
For more discussion, check out Upway’s other blogs on the environmental impact of e-Bikes and how e-Bikes are part of sustainability solutions.
Key Takeaways
- Riding an e-Bike burns fewer calories per kilometer, which means lower food-related emissions—16g CO2e per km for traditional bikes vs. 6.3g for e-Bikes.
- Despite higher production emissions, e-Bikes still emit about 30% less CO2e overall per kilometer than standard bikes over their lifetime.
- E-Bike motors are highly efficient, converting up to 80% of energy into movement, compared to the human body's 20–30% efficiency.
