An electric bike is a pedal-powered electric bike with an electrical motor added to the drive system to assist pedaling. Many different types of electric e-bikes are currently available on the market, but they more generally fall into two general categories: those that directly support the user’s pedal-power via a battery and those that incorporate a small throttle, usually adding more moped-like functionality to the bike. A lot of people tend to confuse these two terms as meaning the same thing, but the difference between a throttle and a battery is that a battery will release power when the pedal is pressed and release power when the pedal is released, so a throttle has less functionality than a battery. There are other differences as well, such as the amount of power supplied by the motor itself, how long it takes to charge the motor, how it is powered and so forth.
There are some advantages to riding an e-bike over a bicycle. For example, electric bikes can go uphill much faster than a bicycle because of the smoother riding motion. Also, because there is no physical contact with the vehicle, the safety aspect of riding an electric bike is not as great as that of driving a car or even riding a motorcycle. But compared to the damage done by other vehicles in collisions, the safety aspect is very small.
The disadvantages of electric bikes are also quite serious. For example, since e-bikes do not have a driver, accidents can occur when a child falls behind the e-bike. Also, because the user does not have control of the vehicle, an accident could occur if the rider loses control of the e-bike and crashes. Although electric bikes tend to be cheaper than comparable automobiles, they do have their drawbacks. This is especially true if the user does not practice good driving habits.