E-Bikes Overtake Buggies for Some Amish

In some Amish communities these days, e-bikes are beginning to outnumber buggies on the roads. Horse-drawn buggies, long a symbol of the Amish lifestyle, are finding less use as more people in Amish communities adopt electric-powered bicycles.

In small Amish towns across America such as Sugarcreek, Ohio, Napponee, Indiana, and Kalona, Iowa, e-bikes are gaining in popularity as a practical means of everyday transportation. In the Amish faith, members do not drive cars and trucks, so they have traditionally relied on horse-drawn buggies for commuting to work, shopping, and other local errands.

E-bikes are changing this tradition.

“It’s a lot quicker to jump on your bike and go into town than it is to bring your horse into the barn, harness it to the buggy, and go,” said David Mullett, owner of E-Bikes of Holmes County, a popular bike shop in Holmes County, Ohio. “It’s a lot quicker and you travel faster too.”

A member of the Old Order Amish Church, Mullett has seen phenomenal growth in the popularity of e-bikes among the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio, which rivals Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as one of the largest Amish settlements in the world.

“Back when I started the company (in 2016) only a small percentage of the Amish community were riding bikes in this area,” Mullett said. “Since 2017 to 2018, it really grew in our community.”

From Push Scooters to E-Bikes

Traditional Amish push scooter. Source: amishamerica.com

Not all Amish ride bicycles of any type, let alone electric-powered ones. It depends on local church teachings. In Lancaster County, for instance, bike usage is confined largely to push scooters, a bike design unique to the Amish that resembles a full-size bicycle but without pedals or gears. Most local transportation there is still by horse-drawn buggies.

“Some (Amish) are starting to use e-bikes here,” said Randy Martin, owner of Lancaster Bicycle Shop. “It varies quiete a bit from one district (of the church) to the other.” He confirmed, however, that most Amish there still use push scooters, if they ride at all.

Mullett explained why some Amish are using e-bikes while others are not.

“There are different denominations of Amish. Some don’t have any sort of bicycles. Each church can make their own set of guidelines. Just because one church has it doesn’t mean the neighboring church has allowed it. That’s not just for e-bikes but for anything.”

Commuting to Work

While many cyclists enjoy their bikes for recreation and fitness, for the Amish the e-bike is a practical choice for daily transportation.

“Commuting to work is probably the No. 1 way that electric bikes are being used,” Mullett said, nothing that he commutes by bike to the bike shop. “Some people are commuting eight to 10 miles, some only one or two miles, but they jump on their bike and go. With a traditional bike, that would never have been considered.”

An e-bike is faster than the traditional buggie and cheaper than hiring a non-Amish motorist to drive them to work, a common practice in Amish communities.  They are allowed to ride in cars that they neither own nor drive.

“They would have had to hire a driver or the place of work would have had to hire a driver to bring in their employees,” Mullett said.  “That still happens, but there are more people who commute to work every day on e-bikes.”

Riding to Walmart

Another common use for electric bikes is for shopping. The local Walmart store in Millersburg, Ohio, has covered parking for e-bikes and buggies that includes charging stations for bikes. Many Amish cyclists use trailers to carry groceries or use specially made storage bags like these Carry-All Pannier Bags made locally and sold in Mullet’s shop.

“We sell a lot of trailers for kids, child carriers,” Mullett said. “Women can go shopping and take their kids along and put the groceries in the trailer as well for the commute home.”

Three-wheel versions of electric bikes, often called e-trikes, are another popular option. They are ideal for carrying cargo or for riders who aren’t as confident about balancing a bike.

How the Amish Charge Their E-bike Batteries

Traditionally, Amish homes and businesses did not have electricity. This raises the question of how do the Amish keep their e-bike batteries charged? The answer is that many homes and businesses in the same Amish communities that approve of e-bike use also have adopted solar power and natural-gas generators. Mullett’s bike shop, for instance, has all the modern trappings that use electricity including computers, printers, lights, and power tools. The store is totally off the grid, something that is important to Amish families, but it is not lacking in electric power. It has 24 solar panels on the roof, a natural-gas backup generator, powerful lithium batteries, and twin 5,500-watt inverters.

E-bike charging stations are common in Ohio’s Amish Country.

Many homes, shops, barns, and offices in Ohio’s picturesque Amish Country have similar electric systems, which has helped transform Amish life in recent years. Not only are most of his customers able to charge their e-bikes at home, but Mullett said many employers and other locations in the community provide charging stations.

“A lot of businesses are doing this (charging stations) as a favor for their customers,” Mullett said.

As an aside, Mullet noted that Amish communities are probably the “greenest” communities in America with their absence of gas-guzzling autosmobiles and widespread use of solar power, bicycles, and buggies.

Safety Issues

As with buggies, safety issues are a paramount concern to the Amish who ride e-bikes on roads shared with cars and trucks. Most roads in Ohio’s Amish Country are two-lane rural roads and do not have wide shoulders. Due to the hilly terrain, many of the roads are twisty and do not provide good visibility when motorists come over crests.

Adding to the problem is that when e-bikes first became popular many Amish did not have experience riding bicycles, so safe riding techniques had to be learned.  Mullett said Amish community leaders and county government officials have cooperated to teach safe-riding habits and to make the roads safer. Wide shoulders suitable for buggies and bikes are being added to many roads.

“Safety vests and helmets are both gaining in popularity,” Mullett said.

At the same time, helmets pose special problems for Amish women. They grow their hair long and keep it wrapped in a bun covered with a cap. For this reason, most bike helmets do not fit Amish women. Mullett said he has talked with some helmet manufacturers and encouraged them to build helmets suitable for Amish women, so far without success. For now, far more men wear helmets than women.

The Future of Amish Buggies

Now that e-bikes have arrived in many Amish communities, what will happen to the traditional horse-drawn buggies? Mullet said he doesn’t foresee the end of buggies but thinks the popularity of e-bikes will continue to grow.

“Horse and buggies will probably always be a part of the Amish community, but bike transportation is becoming more popular than the horse and buggy in the denominations that have allowed it,” Mullett said.

Even with families who ride e-bikes during the week to work and shop, Mullett said they typically still take the buggy to church services on Sundays. Buggies are also better for longer commutes and for those people who, for various reasons, do not enjoy riding a bike.

E-Bikes Are Part of a Changing Lifestyle for the Amish

E-bikes may be the most visible change, but they are just one indication of a significant transformation in the everyday life of Amish people. Coupled with the use of power tools in their shops, solar power in their homes, and other modern innovations, daily life for the Amish people is changing perhaps more now than it has at any time in the past century or more. It’s still a very distinctive, faith-based culture that rejects much of the materialism and secularism of the broader Western culture, but change is still occurring.

Just as horse-and-buggies symbolized Amish life in the past, the e-bike is the symbol of changing times in many Amish communities today.

Lessons for the Rest of Us

Ironically, the Amish may now be ahead of most of the rest of American society when it comes to their embrace of e-bikes for routine, daily transportation. This is the way of e-bikes are increasingly being used in Europe and in parts of Asia. Not just for fun and recreation, but as a practical, serious means of transportation for short, everyday errands. Think about the benefits to public health if more people followed the Amish example and hopped on an e-bike for quick errands to the drug or grocery store. Imagine how much we could improve the environment if more of us rode e-bikes for short trips versus cranking up a gas-guzzling SUV or pickup truck? 

There’s much we can learn from the Amish lifestyle, and that definitely includes their integration of e-bikes into their everyday lives. 

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