Despite the gradient and winds, cyclists in Oamaru have been cruising up Tyne and Wansbeck Sts with ease this week.
As part of the 2015 Sustainable Skills Summer School, a variety of electric bikes and a 100% electric car, a Nissan Leaf, were on display for people to test drive and their owners and importers talked bout their practicalities.
Zim Sherman, of Oamaru, who had three of his electric bikes on display, said ''any old bike'' could be converted.
The kit he imported was a motor that came in a wheel - just take the tyre off the old back wheel of a bike and put it on the new electric wheel, he said.
The throttle, cruise control and a horn are all on the handle bars.
Electric bicycles were becoming an ever more common sight on our roads, he said.
The choice of battery drove the cost, which ranged from about $800 to $1100.
Anything more powerful than 300W was classified as a moped, and a licence was required.
On a flat, 300W electric bikes could reach about 30kmh.
Mr Sherman had an engineering background, particularly in scientific instruments, and spent time working at a climate change research laboratory in the United States.
It was at a Greenpeace event last year that his interest in electric bikes was sparked, as guest speaker Bob Lloyd stressed the importance of immediate change.
''He said 'if there's anything we can do to reduce our carbon emissions we need to do it right now. There's no time to delay','' Mr Sherman said.
He believed the bikes were well suited to Oamaru.
''Everything is pretty compact and very few people travel more than 50 to 60km in a day.
''We're really blessed for good weather and since I've got this [bike] there are cobwebs on my car now.''
Everyone who tried it came back with ''a great big smile on their face'', he said.
