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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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E-bikes are brilliant

Greta Jonyniate | 05.09.11

By author: Julia Hailes is a freelance consultant and speaker on social, environmental and ethical issues. She has written nine books, the most recent of which is The New Green Consumer Guide. Here she shares her thoughts & experience on E-bikes. 

We've had great fun with our E-bikes. I've been lent a couple for the Summer holidays from Just E Bikes. One's a mountain bike - Haibike - which my teenage boys like the best. And the other is a Koga, which I prefer because it's more comfortable, although not quite as powerful.

The bikes only give you power when you're pedalling, so it's nothing like riding a scooter. And you do get some exercise. Actually, it feels like you've got bionic legs. Going up hill is a breeze.

The best thing about the bikes is that we've really used them - including for journeys when we would have gone by car. My sons have cycled to the station, to friend's houses and to the shops. They're quite fit, so they could easily have cycled without using the E-bikes but the truth is they wouldn't have. My partner, Jamie, and I are the same. We've used the E-bikes much more than we would have if they didn't have the extra power. And we've gone much further afield.

Now for some of the technical details. The bikes can go for about 65km (about 40 miles) before they need to be re-charged - a bit less if there are lots of hills, as there are where I live. Apparently, it takes about 2 hours to fully re-charge them but we generally left them for several hours - or overnight - and the process is quite simple. The cost of re-charging works out at about £1 per 1500 miles.

The bikes come with a small screen that you simply click on the handlebars to start the electrics working. You can ride them without getting any extra power, if you want to get more exercise - or on one of three settings, number three for full power. And the Koga has a little device on the handle bars to give you an extra boost when you need it - I found it rather useful.

My main gripe with both bikes was that the screen information appeared to be a bit erratic. So if you wanted to get your average speed, trip time, range etc it didn't appear to be accurate. This could easily have been because I never managed to work out the system. But if that's the case, it needs to be simpler, because I like getting the stats!

Sadly, our bikes have to be returned soon, so we have to think about whether we want to buy our own. That's the biggest drawback. These bikes are not cheap. Over £2,000 each. Before you reel over in horror though, you should consider how much they might save you. For families with one parent working within 5 miles of home (22% of UK workers) - or even a bit further afield - an E-bike could actually replace a second car. Work out how much that would save in tax, insurance and fuel. And you'd be fitter and healthier too.

You can get cheaper E-bikes, but the Dutch ones I've borrowed are good quality and should last a lifetime. So perhaps we shouldn't be working out how much they are to buy, but how much they cost over 20 years. It's a bit like buying an energy saving light bulb - the up-front costs are more but the actual cost over the life of the bulb is less. And let's not forget that the bikes are a lot more fun than a light bulb!

But we won't be buying them for the children - they'll have to get back onto normal bikes, or persuade us to lend them ours!

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