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GROWTH OF MARKET FOR E-BIKES

Greta Jonyniate | 31.08.11

As the world’s population grows and the roadways become more crowded, electric bikes are becoming an increasingly popular eco-friendly transport solution for short distance travel. The latest report from Pike research anticipates that the global market for electric two wheeled vehicles including: e-bikes, e-scooters and e-motorcycles will grow 9 per cent through to 2016. By the end of this year alone there will be an impressive 30,000,000 e-bikes on the streets worldwide. It seems incredible that, despite the global electric-bike industry being at virtually zero ten years ago, today it is an $11 billion market.
 

So, how did this trend start? As The Times reports, it all began in China where there are now an estimated 120 million electric-bikes, up from only a few thousand in the 1990s. “They are replacing traditional bikes and motorcycles at a rapid clip and, in many cases, allowing people to put off the switch to cars,” the article says. Beijing and Shanghai are swarming with e-bikes as The Economist reports, “the (Chinese) government wants to encourage electric bicycles to curb the pollution and congestion created by other vehicles…The authorities are also trying to make e-bikes themselves greener: manufacturers are being compelled to invest in lighter materials and to replace lead-acid batteries with lithium ones.”

It's no wonder that India, Asia’s other upcoming economic juggernaut, which had virtually no sales until two years ago, is also expanding at an incredible rate and could surpass Europe’s in the next year. “The growth has been tremendous in the last two years,” says Naveen Munjal, managing director of Hero Electric, a division of India’s largest bicycle and motorcycle maker. Indian Entrepreneurs are also challenging the development and mass production of the electric bike components which should reduce the production cost of the bike and ultimately the cost to the customer.

Yet, these exotic electric two-wheelers remain the most popular in European countries with Germany and Netherlands leading the way. Pike research forecasts Western Europe as having the largest market for two wheeled vehicles with 1.941 million vehicles for CAGR of 17.3% between 2009 and 2016. Interest in the U.S. is also increasing; an estimated 200,000 electric-bikes were sold last year.

As for the UK, electric bicycles are becoming extremely well-liked being that they are a sensible, eco-conscious, and less costly mode of transportation. The recently formed British Electric Bike Association (BEBA) is predicting dramatic growth for the e-bike market this year, with further sales acceleration in the years to come. Halfords, Evans Cycles, Tesco and Argos are all selling and promoting e-Bikes in the UK while BEBA is about to start a major promotion of e-Bikes to independent bike dealers. BEBA secretary and co-founder Mark Loveridge said that “sales jumped from 15,000 in 2008 to over 20,000 in 2009” and the trend does not appear to be stopping there.
 

Julia Hailes, an environmental consultant and writer, has recently had an opportunity to trial two electric bikes herself: a mountain bike (Haibike eQ Xduro FS) and a more sedate upright bike (Koga). She has been using the bikes mainly for pleasure when exploring the beauty of Somerset’s countryside, without having to worry about being out of breath whilst trying to tackle this extremely hilly region. With three teenage sons, she has also found that the bikes are great as part of her family routine too.

For those who want to hear more about how did Julia get on with using e-bikes watch this space as we will feature the full Julia’s review soon.
 

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