The automotive money pit

What if wealth wasn’t demonstrated by a driveway full of cars—but the freedom to not need them?

I sometimes write for other outlets. A version of this article was originally published by Fast Company.

There’s a financial crisis hiding in plain sight: the American household vehicle fleet. Families are hemorrhaging money through car payments, insurance, fuel, maintenance, depreciation, parking, and registration. In many cases, this adds up to more than a family’s annual savings—or the cost of sending a child to college every four years.

Car ownership is nearly universal in the U.S., with 92% of households owning at least one vehicle. 37% own two cars and 22% own three or more. In 2023, the average annual cost to own and operate a new vehicle climbed to $12,182. For households with two cars, that’s nearly $25,000 per year—a recurring expense that too often escapes scrutiny.

Now consider how those vehicles are used. In 2021, more than half of all daily trips in the U.S. were under three miles. Nearly 30% were under one mile. We’re paying a fortune to go nowhere. The rise of remote and hybrid work has amplified the mismatch between cost and use. As of 2023, more than a third of U.S. employees worked remotely full-time, with another 41% following hybrid models. Pew Research Center reported that almost half of remote workers would look for a new job if their employer took remote work off the table.

Cars are parked roughly 95% of the time, depreciating as they collect pollen and bird droppings. And yet they demand monthly payments, insurance, fuel, and maintenance. The long-distance commute has been the primary reason for every working member of the family needing their own vehicle, but our travel habits have changed.

What if owning fewer cars was a sign of more success?

A growing number of families are experimenting with a car-lite lifestyle—ditching the second or third car and rediscovering local travel through bikes, transit, or walking. They’re not doing it to make a statement. They’re doing it to make ends meet—and to take back their time. At the center of this quiet shift: the e-bike.

Part appliance, part liberation machine, e-bikes are redefining what a “vehicle” can be. School drop-offs, grocery runs, commutes, and social visits—trips once assumed to require a car—are increasingly accomplished with battery-assisted pedaling. Terrain and distance fade as barriers.

In 2022, over 1.1 million e-bikes were sold in the U.S., nearly quadruple the number from 2019. E-bikes now account for over 20% of total bicycle sales in the U.S. and represented 63% of revenue growth in the bike industry between 2019 and 2023. Bikes have become robust enough to handle everything from kid pickups to bulk grocery runs, and more cities are creating rebate programs to accelerate adoption.

Replacing a car with an e-bike can save a household $120,000 over a decade—enough to wipe out debt, fund a college account, or boost retirement savings. And as infrastructure improves with more protected lanes, slower streets, and secure parking, the e-bike can graduate from practical to preferable.

• What if you spent less on movement and more on meaning?

• What if streets worked as well for bikes as they do for cars?

• What if getting around town felt like a lifestyle upgrade?

For too long, success was measured by how many vehicles fit in your driveway. But those cars aren’t status symbols—they’re financial sinkholes. Remember, more than half of America’s car trips are under a few miles. If you're going broke to go nowhere, the journey needs a new map.