When it comes to legislation supporting investment in sustainable transport, electric bikes are frequently overlooked in favor of electric cars and more “flashy” projects. We’ve talked about it at Magnet before. Even some media outlets have relegated electric bikes to “niche items” recently. But the truth is that the best-selling electric vehicles are no longer cars, but those that move on two wheels.
Welcome to the age of the electric bike.
sales boom. The electric bike market in the United States, in fact, continues to set records according to the latest figures from the Association of Light Electric Vehicles. The country imported almost 790,000 electric two-wheelers in 2021, no less, according to the LEVA estimate. All this against 463,000 in 2020. While not a sales figure, the LEVA count is a useful indicator of the state of the market. Meanwhile, people bought 652,000 electric cars in 2021, according to this Bloomberg article.
E-bikes vs. EV’s
Import data shows e-bikes market surpassing electric cars👇👇
Via https://t.co/9SUO6g8Ahc pic.twitter.com/o6rJdyKU9y
— Daniel Moser (@_dmoser) January 22, 2022
Why? They were part of a broader boom in outdoor gear during the pandemic. People looked for alternatives to go out on the street, in the open air. And its continued growth this year suggests it will be more than a fad. Let’s just say that the pandemic gave it a boost and that boost has resulted in many people finding that electric bikes have a valid use in their life.
Furthermore, the growing appetite for electrified travel is the product of three simultaneous trends. First, the rapid development of lithium-ion batteries. Used to power electric cars, these batteries “have become smaller, more efficient and cheaper”, allowing them to be used in scooters, mopeds or smaller applications such as a bicycle. The second is a worldwide resurgence of interest in urban cycling over the last decade. And the third is what they call the “gateway drug” of bike-share programs, which allow cyclists to try electric bikes without actually buying one.
What are we talking about? For those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting these two-wheelers, they are basically regular pedal bikes with the addition of a battery and electric assist motor. Sometimes it’s a low-power motor designed to help riders get up a hill more easily or reduce the effort needed to get to work.
Other times, it’s a higher horsepower motor complete with hand throttle like a motorcycle that can actually replace the need for full pedaling and run more like an electric moped. And then there are all kinds of special electric bikes, like folding models for taking the subway or cargo models for carrying groceries or kids. What do they have in common? They all share electric motors and can be used to replace kilometers of gasoline.
An international trend. In Europe, electric bikes are even more common and, in fact, are expected to outsell cars by the middle of this decade. And Asia is already years ahead of Europe in terms of two-wheel adoption, where it’s common for families to forego a car altogether in favor of a bicycle.
In Norway, for example, they have a national bicycle network and car use decreased among users as they learned how far they could go with them. In Britain, the government offers tax credits for electric bicycles and funds local efforts to expand cycle paths. According to the company Mintel, the electric bicycle market experienced a jump of 70% last year. But experts point out that cyclists will not use them if they do not feel comfortable and if there is no infrastructure that allows them to feel safe.
Help for the bike. We have reached a point where, as effective as they are as a transportation alternative, they are still being overlooked in favor of expensive electric cars, especially when it comes to public policy. That’s not to say that EVs aren’t an important part of the equation: People still travel by car more than any other vehicle. But not everyone can afford one.
In Spain, those who wish to purchase an electric vehicle can receive aid of up to €7,000 as long as they get rid of a car that is up to seven years old. Alone two communities autonomous, Madrid and Valencia, today contemplate subsidy programs for two wheels (€600 per device as long as it is not sporty or high-end). A tiny fraction compared to the aid that the car gets.
The ones that do. In Italy, a legislative decree allocated €120 million for purchase subsidies covering 70% and up to €500 of the price of both conventional and electric bicycles with the aim of promoting sustainable mobility in cities across the country. during the recovery phase. In France, the Ministry for the Ecological and Solidarity Transition announced a €20 million plan to promote the use of bicycles, in order to avoid, in particular, massive displacement on public transport. Among other measures, it includes €50 vouchers for bike repairs. Lyon, for example, gives a €500 subsidy to buyers of an electric utility.
And going back to America, this year sees the best chance yet for electric bike tax credit legislation to pass Congress to give Americans up to a $1,500 credit toward the purchase of a new electric bike. In Spain, we will continue waiting.