Originally Posted by
prj71
Not only do they make hills shorter they require less effort.
Sorta, but I can't tell if you're being deliberately obtuse by this point, because you have some kind of e-bike grievance. Jealousy?
If I put 100w into a manual bike up a hill for 1 minute, I'll burn 6kj (6 calories) of energy (100x60)
If I put 100w into an e-bike up a hill for 1 minute, I'll still burn the same 6 calories of energy, I'll just be further up the hill.
Granted, if I did the same course in the same time on both bikes, I'd use less energy on the e-bike. But the point you're deliberately missing is that there's nothing stopping me putting the same effort in, getting the same workout, and travelling further or getting home faster, by using an e-bike.
How many calories I burn is only related to how hard and fast I move my legs whatever I'm sitting on.