| In 2020, Americans bought more than twice as many electric bikes as electric cars. But test-driving a fleet of them shows that not all models are equal.  Illustration by Anna Haifisch As she huffed and puffed around New York on her conventional bicycle, the writer Patricia Marx used to look askance at her fellow-riders zipping around on motorized e-bikes, figuring them to be cheaters, like “Lance Armstrong on extra steroids.” But, at some point, cheating started to look pretty good. It helped that she received recommendations that sounded a bit like religious testimony. “My ebike is my favorite purchase of all time,” one person told her. “I love it, dammit.” And so Marx takes us on a journey through the growing world of e-bikes, from models that cost “rich-uncle money” down to barebones rides that go for closer to a thousand bucks. Along the way, she sorts out the differences between pedal-assist and throttle control, finds out how fast these bikes are allowed to go, and investigates just how illegal they are to ride in Central Park. —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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