The current news reports about battery fires in apartment blocks has got many people wondering. Why so many people are storing e-bikes inside their apartments?
Monique Ewen has some insights! Monique is the Executive Officer of Better Streets and she is passionate about rolling back car-centric planning to create people-friendly streets. She founded the Sydney Cargo Bikes Facebook group and has built a community of like-minded young families who prefer urban life on two wheels.
Our multi-functional Redfern bathroom
Beside the shelves of kids’ shoes, rain gear, sandpit toys and picnic mats, we have an e-bike that lives in our downstairs shower.
The Tern GSD slots into the shower cubicle in the downstairs bathroom of Monique’s Redfern flat (Image: Monique Ewen)
The bike is a Tern GSD. These are a common sight on the Bourke Street cycleway in Sydney’s inner east, which is our regular commute. It has a long rack on the back where you can fit two kids. The panniers are huge and carry lots of stuff. But even with all that capacity, the GSD is the same length as a regular bike. So it is ideal for squeezing into small spaces.
Most days, I use it to take the kids to daycare, get to work, pick up the kids, grab bread at the bakery, and zip everyone home again. On weekends, we adventure to Centennial Park, Sydney Park, or Bronte. We stick to the bike paths because, since having kids, I’m afraid of the roads.
The kids love riding on the Tern GSD (Image: Monique Ewen)
The bike is low maintenance. We charge it every few days, uncoiling the black extension cord past the trike, pram, kids’ bikes and beach trolley to the socket on the opposite wall.
I feel a bit sorry for it - living half in and half out of the shower door. It is a hassle to get out of the shower, through the bathroom door and the front door, down the long hallway, into the elevator, out into the foyer and onto the street. We have to line up each manoeuvre just right to make all the twists and turns.
Our hallway is very long! But it is easier to load kids and gear onto the Tern GSD right outside our front door rather than carry everything down to the basement first (Image: Monique Ewen)
The bathroom door frame now has more chips than paint. And I feel bad about the faint smudges on the hallway walls from the occasional brush of handlebars. Our front door is covered in scratches. I’m glad we own the place so don’t have to justify any of this to a landlord or agent.
E-cargo bikes are great for city families
Despite these small inconveniences, this is actually the best transport option for us. Living close to the city centre, there’s no need to drive a car. My dad lives three kilometres away and he delights in telling us that it takes him longer to drive his car to our place than to ride.
And it is handy to be able to load the children and bags onto the bike right outside our front door - particularly when the kids are too small to walk. You can’t do that with a car!
I experience chronic pain and I have to be careful about how much physical activity I do - and how long I sit still for. This makes an e-bike the perfect choice. I avoid the sedentary position of sitting in a car and keep active without the strain of a regular bike - especially with kids on it.
The storage is not ideal. We keep the bike in the shower because there isn’t anywhere else to put it. The basement garage of our building doesn’t have adequate or safe parking for regular bikes, let alone an expensive e-bike. There also aren’t any charging facilities in the basement. There’s no on-street bike parking.
There are more bikes than can fit on the stands provided in the basement garage (Image: Monique Ewen)
Many of the bike racks in the basement garage are inadequate for bikes with thicker tyres and front racks, and do not provide adequate security for regular bikes either (Image: Monique Ewen)
And anyway, I feel cool having an e-bike in my shower.
E-bikes are well-suited to apartment life
There is a myriad of reasons behind the uptick in e-bike ownership among people living in apartments.
Of course, the huge growth in e-bike sales is a big factor. In 2017, when states and territories adopted uniform laws on the use of e-bikes, about 9,000 units were sold in Australia. Since then, sales have doubled each year, according to Peter Bourke of Bicycle Industries Australia. More than 100,000 e-bikes were sold in 2022.
As cost-of-living increases, more and more people are choosing e-bikes as cheaper and more convenient alternatives to motor vehicles. Compared to motor vehicles, e-bikes cost less to own and have a much lower carbon footprint. They are quieter, easier to park and require less space to store. They also allow riders to carry a lot more cargo than a regular bike. And they provide similar mental and physical health benefits while causing less physical strain.
For families, e-bikes are a cost effective, space-efficient way to get around the city with small children. The e-bike lifestyle is particularly attractive for families living in medium- to high-density areas who are keen to reduce their environmental impact.
The exploding logistics sector is another big driver of e-bike ownership and use. E-bikes can move cargo quickly in dense parts of cities, while reducing congestion, noise and pollution. They are affordable for workers, breaking down barriers to employment. Riders don’t need a licence and bikes are easy to park.
And when this growth in e-bike use is combined with a growth in high-density living – with families leading the charge – it is not surprising that e-bikes are moving into apartments!
If you love e-mobility…
Consider becoming a a Bicycle NSW Member to support our advocacy for to make NSW better for e-bike riders.
Bicycle NSW is working with NSW Government and other stakeholders to ensure that appropriate legislation is in place to support the use and ownership of e-bikes by people living in apartments. Future articles will dive into work underway to address issues around unsafe batteries, security, storage and more.
