Car or e-bike to work? We compared nine commuter routes during the morning rush hour

Everyone “knows” that driving is fastest. But is that really true when the morning rush hour begins and city-centre traffic grinds to a halt? EcoRide decided to put it to the test. We compared journey times by car and bicycle on nine typical commuter routes in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö at 8:00 on a normal weekday morning during rush-hour traffic.

The result goes against the instincts of many car commuters. On most routes, the bicycle arrives first precisely when traffic is at its busiest. And even then, we have given the car the benefit of the doubt. Here is how we carried out the comparison and what we found.

We used Google Maps to measure the journey time for each route by both car and bicycle. The departure time was set to 8:00 on a weekday, placing the journeys in the middle of the morning rush hour. Google Maps gives car journey times as a range because traffic conditions vary. We have included the full range, from free-flowing roads to heavy traffic.

The cycling times are calculated for a conventional bicycle. In practice, an electric bike will often match or slightly improve on these times, particularly on hills and when setting off from traffic lights. To avoid exaggerating the difference, however, we have kept the cycling times exactly as Google Maps presents them.

One important detail is that the car journey times only cover the drive itself, from street to street. The time needed to find a parking space and walk the final distance to the destination is not included. In central locations, this often adds several minutes to the driver’s journey. The comparison therefore favours the car.

When traffic is at its heaviest – when the car journey time is at the slower end of the range – the bicycle is faster on seven of the nine routes. The difference is most noticeable on journeys into city centres, where cars get caught in queues and at traffic lights while bicycles keep moving. Here are some of the routes we compared.

Route

Car (rush hour)

Bicycle

Solna centrum–Stureplan (Stockholm)

18–35 min

21 min

Hornstull–Odenplan (Stockholm)

14–24 min

18 min

Majorna–Central Station (Gothenburg)

12–20 min

14 min

Linné–Korsvägen (Gothenburg)

9–14 min

8 min

Västra Hamnen–Möllevången (Malmö)

12–20 min

14 min

Journey times from Google Maps at 8:00 on a weekday. Car times cover driving from street to street and exclude parking.

On the Solna centrum–Stureplan route, the car takes between 18 and 35 minutes depending on traffic. The bicycle takes 21 minutes regardless. As the queues build, the bicycle is therefore almost 15 minutes faster. The same pattern appears on the Hornstull–Odenplan route, where the 18-minute bicycle journey is clearly faster than driving in heavy traffic – even before the time needed to find parking is included.

In Gothenburg, the bicycle roughly matches the car on the Majorna–Central Station route even when traffic flows freely, and beats it when congestion builds. On the Linné–Korsvägen route, the bicycle is fastest regardless of traffic conditions: eight minutes compared with nine to fourteen minutes by car.

The same pattern appears in Malmö on the Västra Hamnen–Möllevången route: as soon as traffic becomes heavier, the bicycle wins. The common factor is clear. The more urban the route and the heavier the rush-hour traffic, the better the bicycle performs.

The car won clearly on two routes: Angered–city centre in Gothenburg and Rosengård–city centre in Malmö. Both begin in outer districts, where drivers can quickly reach major roads and take advantage of higher speeds, while cyclists follow a longer route along local streets. On these journeys, the car can travel around 20 km/h faster and arrive several minutes earlier.

This highlights something important: an e-bike is not magic. The car still has an advantage on longer journeys using major roads. But for a typical commute of a few kilometres into a city centre, the picture is different. The bicycle is at least as fast and often faster – even before the time needed to park is included.

Journey time is really only one part of the argument. Even on routes where the car is a few minutes faster, the driver still faces costs for fuel, parking and possible congestion charges. Cycling costs next to nothing, provides daily exercise and takes the same amount of time regardless of traffic. That predictability is worth a great deal on a stressful Monday morning.

Knowing that the journey will take 18 minutes – full stop – is a luxury that car commuters rarely enjoy. The car’s range of 18 to 35 minutes on the Solna–Stureplan route means that, in practice, you must plan for the worst-case scenario to avoid being late. The cyclist only needs to plan around one reliable journey time.

The most common reasons for avoiding cycling to work are hills, headwinds and arriving sweaty. With an e-bike, those barriers disappear. Electric assistance helps you arrive feeling fresh even after longer journeys, making far more everyday trips feel manageable on two wheels instead of four.

That is also why our cycling figures are conservative. They are based on a conventional bicycle, while an e-bike will often match or slightly improve on those times, particularly when pulling away from traffic lights and climbing hills – exactly the situations that make up much of urban cycling. In reality, the e-bike rider’s advantage is therefore likely to be even greater than the table suggests.

The car is no longer the obvious fastest choice for travelling into the city. During the morning rush hour, on the routes most people actually commute, the bicycle usually arrives first. When parking time is included, its advantage becomes even greater. The car remains faster on longer journeys using major roads, but for everyday commuting into a city centre, the bicycle is often the clear winner.

For a growing number of people, an e-bike is simply the smartest way to travel: just as fast or faster, cheaper, more predictable and with daily exercise included. Want to find the right model for your commute? Explore our full range of electric bikes.

Question 1: Is an e-bike faster than a car in the city?
Answer: Often, yes. In our comparison of nine commuter routes during the morning rush hour, the bicycle was faster on seven of the nine. The difference was most noticeable on journeys into the city centre. Cars get caught in queues and at traffic lights while bicycles keep moving – and parking time was not even included.

Question 2: When is the car still faster?
Answer: On longer routes from outer districts, where drivers can quickly reach major roads and maintain higher speeds. In our test, the car won on the Angered–city centre route in Gothenburg and the Rosengård–city centre route in Malmö by several minutes.

Question 3: Was parking included in the car journey time?
Answer: No. The car times only cover driving from street to street. The time needed to find a parking space and walk the final distance to the destination comes on top – often adding several minutes in central locations. The comparison therefore favours the car.

Question 4: Does an e-bike make much difference compared with a conventional bicycle?
Answer: The cycling times in the test are based on a conventional bicycle. An e-bike is often just as fast or slightly faster, particularly on hills and when setting off from traffic lights. The biggest difference is that you arrive feeling fresher and have enough energy to make more journeys by bicycle.

Question 5: Does commuting by e-bike save money?
Answer: For most people, yes. You avoid fuel, parking and possible congestion charges, while the running costs after purchasing an e-bike are very low. You also gain daily exercise and a predictable journey time regardless of traffic conditions.

Method: Journey times were taken from Google Maps with the departure time set to 8:00 on a weekday, during the morning rush hour. Car journey times are shown as ranges and cover driving from street to street, excluding the time needed to find parking and walk the final distance to the destination. Cycling times are based on a conventional bicycle; an e-bike is expected to be equally fast or slightly faster. Journey times vary depending on the weather, road conditions and the rider’s fitness on the day, so they should be treated as indicative rather than exact.