Aided by Government Incentives, E-Bike Sales Surging Sharply in Asia-Pacific

The rising air pollution in several countries because of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles coupled with the increasing road traffic congestion in the major cities and towns is fueling the popularity of electric bikes or e-bikes across the world. Moreover, the governments of various countries are providing subsidies and incentives, in the form of discounts and price reductions, on the purchase of e-bikes, which is, in turn, driving the sales of these vehicles.

The decision of the Swedish government to grant a subsidy of as much as 25% or up to nearly $1,119 per e-bike to all citizens of the country for up to years after 2018 is one of the major examples of such government subsidies. This decision of the Swedish government caused a sharp surge in the sales of e-bikes in the country, from more than 67,000 unit sales in 2017to over 100,000 unit sales in 2018.

The mushrooming sales of e-bikes is causing the global e-bike market to grow rapidly. Shared and personal are the two types of ownership associated with these bikes. The personal ownership of e-bikes was significantly high during the last few years, primarily because of the large-scale usage of these bikes for personal usage all over the world. Moreover, the presence of only a few e-bike sharing service providers also contributed toward the high prevalence of personal e-bike ownership in the past.

Geographically, as per the findings of P&S Intelligence, a market research firm based in India, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) e-bike market was very lucrative in the years gone by. The presence of a strong bike commuting culture in India, China, Japan, and many other regional countries and the large-scale utilization of low-speed electric two-wheelers in Japan, Indonesia, and China for commuting are the key factors responsible for the surge of the industry in the region in the past.

Thus, it is quite clear from the above paragraphs that the sales of e-bikes will rise sharply all over the world in the upcoming years, primarily due to the increasing air pollution and road traffic congestion and the rising preference of people toward bikes for commuting in several countries around the world.