Both pedal bicycles and electric-assist bicycles are important alternative forms of transportation, helping to reduce private car use. But electric bikes have long been the quickest growing category of two-wheelers. This year Germany is set to hit a major milestone that will see e-bikes outsell pedal bicycles for the first time.
Germany has spent years enjoying a leadership position in the European electric bicycle market. Not only is it home to several top brands of electric bikes, but most mid-drive electric bike motors used in Europe come from German manufacturers such as Bosch and Brose.
According to the German Bicycle Industry Association, sales of bikes in Germany reached a new record of €7.36 billion last year, or roughly US $7.8 billion. E-bikes made up nearly half of that total, but now the group is forecasting that German riders will buy more e-bikes than conventional models this year.
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Electric bicycles have already proven incredibly popular in Germany, with surveys taken last year showing more than twice the adoption compared to electric cars in the country.
According to a Deloitte study, survey respondents in Germany were 2.5 times as likely to report using an electric bicycle compared to an electric car. Approximately 7% of respondents reported driving an electric car while 18% used an electric bicycle.
Other countries in Europe have also seen high rates of e-bike adoption, with similar trends of e-bikes outpacing electric car usage. Interestingly, some analysts predict that e-bikes in Europe could even outnumber all cars, electric or combustion engine-powered, by the end of the decade.
The Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI) expects the size of the European e-bike market to grow to around 7 million units by 2025.
Other experts have even loftier predictions, projecting around 10 million e-bike sales per year by 2025, according to Bike Europe.
The outpacing of cars by e-bikes could be further accelerated by a shift away from private car ownership predicted by PWC, which forecasts as much as a 25% drop in car ownership in the next five years.
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via: NYT
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