We praise e-bikes for being green, but what about their toxic battery graveyards?

[letsgogreen]

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?

[SurfinBird]

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.

[galaxymorph]

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.