These reductivist arguments really aren't helpful.
It's really not a binary choice between having to put in lots of effort to get up hills or getting a moped. The OP was asking about illegal ebikes for his commute. I entered this debate by constructively trying to help the OP understand that there are bikes meeting current EAPC rules that would be fine for his use case and giving a couple of real world examples (mine).
The emission free transport argument is completely valid. We need more people to ditch the cars and there are a lot of people who live in hilly areas, or who are unfit or lack mobility who might potentially bike more if they could get where they're going without a huge effort. But what I'm saying is that middle ground is where EAPCs sit, and they don't need to get an illegal moped as many (not all) compliant EAPC bikes would be perfect.
Additionally, people who buy ebikes tend to ride more and further, and most will end up getting fitter as a result even if they're "not putting in much effort"
It's really not a binary choice between having to put in lots of effort to get up hills or getting a moped. The OP was asking about illegal ebikes for his commute. I entered this debate by constructively trying to help the OP understand that there are bikes meeting current EAPC rules that would be fine for his use case and giving a couple of real world examples (mine).
The emission free transport argument is completely valid. We need more people to ditch the cars and there are a lot of people who live in hilly areas, or who are unfit or lack mobility who might potentially bike more if they could get where they're going without a huge effort. But what I'm saying is that middle ground is where EAPCs sit, and they don't need to get an illegal moped as many (not all) compliant EAPC bikes would be perfect.
Additionally, people who buy ebikes tend to ride more and further, and most will end up getting fitter as a result even if they're "not putting in much effort"