I received my tax refund last week and spent most of it today buying an electric bicycle. The official term is “power-assisted” bicycle”, because there are legal issues in Australia about whether these machines are motor vehicles. While a person has to pedal to propel the bicycle it’s kosher. I’ve only had one test ride of 7km from the store to home, so these are just first impressions, but I am impressed. The bicycle looks and feels like a normal bike. It can be ridden like a normal bike. It has seven gears and weighs 23kg. The battery is fairly large, but is locked securely to the frame.