As gas prices hover around per gallon, many drivers have contemplated the unthinkable - trading in their SUVs for compacts.

Fort Collins citizen and psychotherapist Carl Nassar went a footfall further. He parked his car and bought an electric bicycle.
“On my new electric bike, I biking 62 afar for the amount of 8 cents in electricity,” he said. Nassar is not opposed to technology, but he’s bothered most Americans drive 2,000 pound cars to go only a few miles at a time. Nassar said he can ride his near-silent, 60-pound electric bike for a fraction of the price. His vehicle releases no emissions, and he arrives at his destination as quickly as his car-driving compatriots.

Nassar’s accommodation to go electric was based partly on economics, but he additionally believes he can serve as an archetype of how Americans can alteration alluringly into an era back bargain activity is a affair of the past.
Most bodies tend to appearance active out of cheap, abounding activity as negative; but as a psychotherapist, Nassar believes there’s a absolute side. He said, people will have to depend more on each other without cheap energp energy. The key, he said, is the conception of an “energy coast pathway” that leads us to a new way of life. “My achievement is that, as we accept beneath energy, we’re affected to await added on our communities,” said Nassar. “We’ll rely more on community farming and agriculture, and the side effect is that we’ll get to know each other again. This will advice our communities reconnect.”

Nassar’s claimed activity coast alleyway began on the Internet. On one particular Web site, he found an article about alternative modes of transportation. (www.nycewheels.com) He originally looked into getting an electric scooter, but his research indicated the technology wasn’t far enough along. A store in New York recommended that Nassar investigate electric bicycles. “When I begin out there was a cruiser archetypal available, the accommodation was easy,” he said.
Nassar’s electric bike plugs into a standard wall socket and charges fully in four hours. The bike was purchased with an added charger - one for home and one for a additional location. With two chargers, it is possible to ride as many as 25 miles to work, recharge the bike during the day and ride home.
“I alive and assignment in Old Town, and maybe that makes all this a little easier,” Nassar said. “But there are enough bike lanes and bike trails here that you can have a comfortable ride almost anywhere in town.” So why not aloof ride a non-motorized bike? “I accept a approved bike and I do bike to work,” Nassar said. “But there are many times when I’m too beat to ride 12 miles round trip to go to a meeting after work or to my favorite grocery store. “The thing about all of this is, it’s totally fun. I can biking calmly at speeds up to 30 afar per hour. I accept a agreeable benumbed my electric bike.”

While Fort Collins has become increasingly bike-friendly, the city prohibits electric bicycles in some areas. Dave Kemp, bicycle coordinator for the city of Fort Collins, said it is legal to ride electric bicycles in bike lanes and on bike ways. However, there is a Parks and Recreation Department action prohibiting electric-assisted bicycles on esplanade trails.

For his ride, Nassar chose an eZee Cadence Cruiser, but there are many manufacturers and models of electric bikes available at the click of a mouse. Nassar’s Cruiser cost ,500 plus shipping and assembly. Completely outfitted with a 100-pound-capacity trailer, the absolute amalgamation amount about ,000. Or, about the cost of a year’s worth of gasoline.

“My hope is that my life can be a model of what things could look like in the future,” Nassar said. “A lower-energy lifestyle - not a lower standard of living by any means, but a lower energy lifestyle.”