Manufacturing a car also has a non-zero carbon footprint. It is hard to imagine that the carbon footprint for manufacturing any e-bike is even a tiny fraction of that for manufacturing the typical IC car.
You don't even have to take my word for it: Ask the Union of Concerned Scientists:
Over their lifetime, battery electric vehicles produce far less global warming pollution than their gasoline counterparts—and they’re getting cleaner.
www.ucsusa.org
New analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows that in 70 percent of the country, driving electric produces fewer emissions than driving a traditional gasoline car that gets 50 miles to the gallon.
www.ucsusa.org
I'll leave the argument that manufacturing an e-bike has a smaller carbon footprint than manufacturing an electric car as an exercise for the reader.
You also might want to check out:
Or so says bike engineer Zach Krapl in this TED talk: This astounding figure is reached only if you charge your ebike battery via a solar panel. Otherwise, the equivalent mileage goes down to around 500 mpg. Not shabby! I assume those numbers are reached via a math formula that takes into...
electricbikereview.com