Have you ridden an electric bike? If not, you should probably stop reading this article and go find one. Hire one on the street. Borrow your neighbour’s. Steal one if you have to. Sat on the saddle, with the help of the motor, you will magically become half as old and twice as fit. You will feel like Lance Armstrong, in his prime, after an appointment with his doctor. It turns out that it is about the bike.Electric cars get the hype, but in 2021, e-bikes far outsold them in the US and nearly matched battery vehicles in the UK. They democratise cycling, converting those who don’t want to arrive at their destination sweaty and exhausted. On an e-bike, hills are no problem. You can carry a couple of kids as passengers and transport 150kg of cargo. Under UK law, the motor cuts out above 15.5mph, but you can still make short trips with ease.

E-bikes have reinvented the wheel, in a helpful way. They break the dynamic of cyclists versus other road users, because nearly everyone can now be a cyclist. I’m convinced the main reason more people don’t ride e-bikes is that they don’t know about them. A mile on one can produce fewer carbon emissions than the food required to cycle a mile on a pedal bike.

But it’s not all good news. The London Fire Brigade has been called to an e-bike or e-scooter fire on average every two days this year. Tragically, in January, a 21-year-old woman became the first person to die in an e-bike fire in London.