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+--- Thread: We praise e-bikes for being green, but what about their toxic battery graveyards? (/showthread.php?tid=24)
We praise e-bikes for being green, but what about their toxic battery graveyards? - letsgogreen - September 1, 2025
The battery is both the hero and villain of pedal-assist bikes. It enables long commutes but creates recycling problems, fire risks, and mining concerns. Should e-bike companies be forced to take responsibility for battery life cycles, or will that make e-bikes too expensive for everyday riders?
RE: We praise e-bikes for being green, but what about their toxic battery graveyards? - SurfinBird - September 7, 2025
Traditional bikes are definitely the most environmentally friendly, but e-bikes open up much longer commutes that would otherwise require a car. In areas without strong transit or cycling infrastructure, they can be the only realistic alternative to driving. Ideally, people would combine walking, biking, and public transport, but e-bikes are still a meaningful step toward reducing car use. The harder issue is that most e-bike companies are based overseas (China!), so enforcing battery lifecycle responsibility is complicated.
RE: We praise e-bikes for being green, but what about their toxic battery graveyards? - galaxymorph - September 12, 2025
Batteries aren’t the existential "villain" of ebikes, and holding manufacturers accountable for the full life cycle is both not reasonable nor practical. I would be more open to the safety argument such as battery fires.