They're fun

骑电动车很有趣

You know that dream where you're cycling or jogging or pushing a boulder¹ up a mountain and suddenly the effort vanishes? A wind comes from behind you and makes the strenuous² task simple-you could ride forever, run forever, what was impossible now seems a cinch? Well, riding with pedal assist is like that dream, but it's real. You're cycling along, you come to a hill, you're exerting effort. Then, like a magical wind from behind, the pedal assist kicks in and you're sailing up the incline. You're still pedaling, but you've got help. It's exhilarating.

你有没有幻想过这样的场景：你在骑车或慢跑或者将巨石推上山，但突然所有的努力都消失了。风从身后吹来，困难的任务变得简单起来--现在你可以一直骑车、一直跑了，曾经不可能实现的事情现已成为可能？助力电动车看上去遥不可及，但这是真的。你一个人骑车、爬山、十分卖力。之后，像风从背后吹来一样，踏板突然助力，你可以不费力气的沿着斜坡往上骑。踏板还是踏板，但它能助你前行，真令人振奋。

You really can bike to work

骑车上班

It doesn't take much to get me sweaty, so even with assistance, I arrive at work with a nice sheen of perspiration³ (or more, depending on the humidity levels). But less sweat-prone cyclists, as well as those who can heed⁴ their mind's continuous warning not to work too hard in the 90-degree heat, can arrive at work as unmussed as if they'd taken a bus or train. On the few days that temperatures dipped below 80 this summer, I was able to ride the four miles to work (including one considerable hill) without breaking a sweat.

我很容易出汗，即使有了助力车的帮助，我也会满头大汗的来到单位（流汗多少取决于湿度）。但对于不易出汗的自行车手以及那些能够时刻提醒自己不要在90华氏度下辛劳工作的人而言，助力电动车能让他们依旧体面地抵达单位，就像坐公交车或火车上班一样。今夏气温低于80华氏度的那几天里，我可以骑四英里而不出汗（其中还翻过了一座相当高的土丘）。

You can save money

可以省钱

The average cost of a new car is around $36K. The average used car costs over $19K. The ebikes I tried cost about $3000, which is about average. Is that a lot for a bike? Hell yes. But if you have a car that you're using mostly to travel the "last mile"-from say, the train station to your house-and for errands on the weekend, an ebike could easily be a lot more cost-effective. When you factor in the cost of gas (~$2.80/gallon right now) or the monthly rate for public transportation⁵ ($121 in NYC), the numbers start to favor the bike, provided you don't leave it in the garage picking up dust.

一辆新汽车平均花费36000美元，一辆二手车平均花费19000美元以上。我骑的电动车只要3000美元，差不多是电动车的平均售价。买辆自行车花这么多是不是挺贵的？当然了。但如果你买一辆汽车只是用来走"最后一英里"--比如从火车站到家--或者周末的时候去买买东西，那电动车也可以做到啊，而且更划算。如果考虑到油费（现在大约是2.8美元每加仑）或每月乘坐公共交通的费用（纽约市为121美元），电动车的价格就没那么昂贵了，只要你不把它遗弃在车库里落灰就行。

You could lessen⁶ your carbon footprint

减少碳足迹

There are a lot of studies that compare the environmental impact of an ebike to that of a regular bike or a car. I saw this one that argues a regular bike produces 8.5 times more carbon emissions⁷ than an ebike, which stretches credulity but is interesting nonetheless.

很多研究都将电动车对环境的影响与自行车或汽车作比较。我看过一篇研究，它认为自行车的碳排放量是电动车的8.5倍之多，这虽然令人难以置信，但的确是个有趣的观点。