‘We gave up our old banger for an e-bike – now we’re saving £3k a year’

“Can we replace our car with a cargo bike?”

That’s the question exasperated Peter Fairchild asked his wife Emily after spending more than £600 repairing his 12-year-old mansion Ford Mondeo, which still couldn’t start in second gear.

It’s a debate, in one way or another, in a growing number of households this year.

With no noticeable decline in oil prices following the war in Iran and the ongoing cost of living crisis, many families are being forced to rethink how they travel, from going to school to running to the shops to going on camping holidays.

“After the birth of our child we were using the car more and more, so much so that it became a routine and it was hard to even think about cycling for everything,” said Mr Fairchild, 41, director of the East Anglian Film Archive.

But when the couple’s car needed repairs, including £600 for a new set of tyres, they bravely decided to take the plunge.

Using the government’s Work Cycle Scheme, Mr Fairchild opted for a £4,500 family cargo e-bike, which he paid for with his £250-a-month salary.

“Before we knew it, we were using e-bikes for everything,” he says. “We would take my daughter [Aubery] I ride a mile to daycare, then bike three or four miles to work. We would do the shopping, I would use my records to take to DJ sessions. We even rode bikes to go camping.

“The feeling of anxiety about leaving the car disappeared, and soon the car became a useless piece of metal resting on the driver.”

A few months later Mr Fairchild decided to put the Ford Mondeo on Facebook, selling it for £600 despite the transmission problem. The family has only rented a car twice since ditching it a year ago and now consider themselves car-less.

Mr Fairchild believes they cut more than £3,000 a year from household expenses thanks to savings on petrol, car insurance and repairs.

“We were already strapped financially, so the extra money gives us flexibility, from being able to buy coffee at work to facilitating the food shop,” he said.

Mr Fairchild says using an e-bike has also improved his health, losing three kilos since he started cycling and making family journeys more enjoyable. She wants other families to “step in”, promising they won’t look back.

“Traveling as a family is now much more fun,” he says. “We don’t stress about traffic or parking, and we chat, play games, and just spend time outside while we bike. Once you get into the mindset of not owning a car, it’s easy.”

It’s not just families who switch to cycling. Latest data published by the City of London Corporation this month showed that the number of bicycles in the capital has outstripped the number of vehicles for the first time.

But groups such as Cycling UK have called for greater focus on improving cycle routes to meet growing demand.

Last week the Ministry of Transport set a new goal By 2035, more than half of short journeys in towns and cities are predicted to be done by foot, wheelchair or bike, with £4.5bn to be spent on active travel over the next five years.

Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said: “This is about creating healthier communities, helping households keep more money in their pockets and creating a transport network that works better for everyone.”

Have you given up your car for cycling? Email your story to alexander.ross@independent.co.uk