eTrike Your Way Out Of The Pandemic & Into The Future

Very few of us could have known what a year 2020 would turn out to be. We knew it would be eventful. After all there was the Tokyo Olympics in the summer (although we are still waiting for an eTrike event) and the election in November. But who can really say that they paid much attention to the news of a new respiratory virus at the start of the year? Yet here we are.

There are many ways that our lives have been affected by Covid-19. Many ways that our lives have been limited, and even a few in which they may have been enriched. But us humans are a resilient species: where one path has been blocked off, we soon find a new way of doing things, even if it’s only in the short or medium term.

For us at eTrikeCo, there are two main ways in which we think our products allow you to flourish in this challenging time. Firstly, helping us improve our mental health and sense of wellbeing, and secondly helping us to take our working day into the future. If you’re doubtful, read on.

The mental health pandemic

As well as the many hundreds of thousands of lives that have been taken by Covid-19 across the world, there is another negative effect of the illness: a mental health pandemic. According to KFF, the healthcare information non-profit, 56% of Americans say that worry or stress related to Covid-19 has had a negative effect on their health or wellbeing (see fig. 11).

Now mental health is a complex matter, and we’re not going to give you the secret to eternal happiness in this blog post. But of the many techniques to improve your mood, there are a few that we think tally rather well with riding your eTrike.

Get outside, get in nature and meet your friends

Whether you live in a concrete jungle or a pristine wilderness, just getting outside is good for you. The simple fact of sunshine touching our skin and pouring into our eyes actually stimulates the body to produce more melatonin at nighttime, which helps us sleep better. It is also thought that sunshine also helps the body produce more serotonin, which correlates with feeling better.

The benefits of going outside are even bigger if you can connect with nature too.  Getting out in nature is good for your mind, and has been found to reduce depression, anxiety and stress. Amazingly it is also good for your body, helping reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol amongst other positive health outcomes, according to an analysis that looked at a number of studies.

Of course, most of us don’t live in the middle of the woods and have to travel to get to a park or trail. eTrikeCo vehicles are perfect to either get you to somewhere where you can enjoy nature on foot or to take a nature trail on your trike. An electric motor also means you will actually be able to hear the birds sing and wind blow in the trees.

One thing most of us have learned during the pandemic is that we miss our friends and family if we cannot see them; we are social creatures. Feelings of loneliness and isolation have been widespread during the pandemic, and according to Daisy Fancourt, associate professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, these feelings are “linked in with incidence of different types of disease [and] with premature mortality.”

Luckily, evidence also seems to be pointing to the fact that people are much less likely to transmit the virus when they are outside. So, what better way to meet up with your friends outdoors that on your eTrike or to go on an eTrike ride together? Plus, you won’t have to shout over the noise of the engine.

The C-19 effect, the new overview effect?

In 1987 the author Frank White coined the term ‘overview effect’ to describe the overwhelming feeling reported by some astronauts after they first saw Planet Earth from space. This feeling of “awe and wonder” at the beauty and fragility of the planet, leaves them with “a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment” according to White. Maybe some of us could also be experiencing a ‘C-19 effect’, where we want to preserve the smog-free atmosphere and quieter roads that has accompanied lockdown?

Certainly the pandemic has stopped us doing lots of things that we previously did without much thought. Many of us have also had to find alternatives to our habitual ways of doing things. We now have a chance to consider which of our old habits we want to stay broken and which of the new approaches we want to keep.

Is the commute is dead or just transformed?

One key aspect of modern life that seems to be changing is our reliance on the office as a place to do business. The pandemic has lead to the unstoppable rise of the acronym ‘WFH’, meaning ‘working from home’. But is the office really heading for the dustbin of history?

Many jobs cannot be done remotely. Further, although working from home might suit some jobs, all organizations benefit from people being physically present with each other. Organizations, unlike jobs, are built from relationships according to Beth Humberd and Scott Latham of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Trust and cooperation are key for building healthy productive relationships, and these are best found when face to face rather than face to screen.

So it looks like the commute in to work is not dead yet. However, surveys show that the pandemic has made most Americans fearful of using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft and less likely to use public transport.

Now must be the time for electric vehicles to take the lead. After all, running an electric vehicle costs less than a gas-powered one in all 50 US states. But if your first thought is an electric car, maybe a Tesla, think again. Even Elon Musk says his cars cost too much. An eTrikeCo vehicle costs far less than a Tesla, and you’ll still get to work on time.

Remember that the average driver in the USA travels 29 miles a day, and our eTrikes can run up to 50 miles. You can even stop off at the store on the way home.

We hope you agree that whether you’re born to be wild or mild, or somewhere in between, an eTrikeCo vehicle is the transportation of the future. Get outside and see your friends, better still meet them for an eTrikeCo adventure, it’ll raise your spirits. And if you’ve been considering new ways of approaching life, riding to work on an eTrike or eBike will not only save you money, but it will also help create a less polluted and quieter world. What’s not to like?